A Conservative Manifesto

If you’re not familiar with Mark Levine, I can help you get a sense of the guy. Think of a small, thoughtful, white-bearded man on television who sits in a chair with a library in the background and speaks about politics in a sincere, softspoken way, like a kindly old uncle or college professor—but then he gets riled up and purple-faced because of something some asinine Democrat has done against the Constitution, his brain works faster than his mouth and so he just screams at the camera: “Who the HELL do they think they are!?“

That’s Mark Levine. If you’re not a far-Left nutjob, I think you’d like him.

I’ve been following Levine on X for quite some time. He most often promotes his live shows, but he also keeps his followers updated on which political personalities out there are total sleaze-bags—like his monthly update on Matt Drudge who apparently “hates America.” It’s one man’s opinion, sure, but I find it helpful information nonetheless.

I picked up this book recently during an international trip for two reasons: 1) I chose this earlier publication because I wanted to view the background of a guy that I’ve come to admire, albeit late in the game; and 2) I chose this particular title because it’s now election season, and I wanted to reawaken my senses to the legitimate “threats to democracy” and the Constitution—and what better way than to be reminded of the key points of battle that have been raging, lo, these past 2 decades? Liberty and Tyranny is a book that unravels the mess that America was facing during Obama’s first administration, yet since Levine develops the issues in their proper historical contexts, it’s still quite poignant today. I’ll just touch on a few favorite portions.

Some Essential Reading

I found the first two chapters enlightening and well worth the price of the book. In fact, I’d call these introductory chapters essential reading for anyone caring to understand better the moral strength of Conservatism. As often as I’m tempted to think that our country is swirling down the drain faster than ever, I have to remind myself: It’s nothing new! Things have been bad (or worse) before, so don’t lose heart!

Academia, Hollywood, and the Media

Much of this book is a contrast between the Conservative and the Statist. Statists seem to be synonymous with today’s Big Government proponents, a.k.a. “The Deep State.” According to Levine, they get their greatest support from academia, Hollywood, and the media. During this election season, it seems like those 3 institutions have become (or at least have finally proven themselves at long last to be) the true enemies of the people. Look at antisemitism on our college campuses. Look at all the celebrities suddenly groveling over the Harris-Walz ticket, whose key talking point is merely “We’re not Trump.” Look at the constant deception and gaslighting we see in the Legacy Media day after day (will 60 Minutes even survive their most recent breach of journalistic integrity?).

It’s a mess out there! Yet suddenly, it also all makes sense to me. I’m sure you’ve seen the chart of what today’s Liberals call “the Far Right”: it’s basically everyone from Moderate-left all the way to the extreme right. They even consider their own Democrats “Far Right,” simply because they don’t believe in the woke-Communism the Left is pushing. Elon Musk, Bobby Kennedy, and Tulsi Gabbard are just the most famous from a whole slew of folks declaring that they didn’t leave the Democratic Party, but “the Democratic Party left me.” Academia, Hollywood, and the media are the pillars supporting this egregious shift, and far too many folks are falling for it—not because the Left if the party of Truth, but because people actually think their favorite professors, celebrities, and talking heads won’t lie to them! Common Sense is far less common than it used to be—the result that comes when Relativism replaces Truth, I guess.

Feeding Off Fear

Chapter 8 “On Enviro-Statism” was incredibly interesting to me, where Levine describes how Statists thrive on disaster. They crave a public that lives in abject fear, because it creates a false sense of doom and thus greater dependency on the government. One need only looks at the history of COVID-19 to see how true that is, though 2009-Levine names DDT as his specific example. DDT was a hot topic at the time, a problem agent that saved millions of lives from Malaria but that was also vilified by big government because it might cause cancer in some. Levine reminds us that cancer has been on the rise because so many other dangers have been removed as threats in our modern world, and he then begs to ask: is it better that millions of children continue to die of malaria or that some might get cancer because of DDT? Why the fearmongering over something that’s been 99.9% helpful to humanity? Because fear breeds dependence, which in turn strengthens the Deep State.

Roosevelt’s New Deal

Another portion of this book that I found insightful was Levine’s description of the New Deal. It’s something I’ve heard about all my life, but never quite so clearly as Levine describes it here. Essentially the New Deal resulted in more government, bigger government, and longer feelers of government into the lives of people. A misuse of the Supreme Court allowed it all in the first place (not to mention Roosevelt’s unconstitutional multiple terms as President). I’m still working my way through Dutch, and even in that book the characters distinguish politicians by the New Deal: if you were a New-Deal American, then you were all right. Reagan was such an American in the beginning, but the older he got and the more he saw, the further he moved from the Big-government ideals—which is why so many Americans still love him! I wonder which of the 2024 candidates would be the most New-Deal today. I think you know my answer.

A Conservative Manifesto

Levine ends his book with a conservative Manifesto based upon his ten chapters. I can’t quote the entire thing verbatim, but I think I can whet your appetite by offering his ten main points with a single example statement from each. Perhaps you’ll be intrigued enough to look it up one your own someday.

1. Taxation: “Limit federal spending each year to less than 20 percent of the gross domestic product.”
2. Environment: “Eliminate the special tax-exempt status granted to environmental groups, since they are not nonpartisan charitable foundations.”
3. Judges: “No judicial nominee should be confirmed who rejects the jurisprudence of originalism.”
4. The Administrative State: “Reduce the civilian federal workforce by 20 percent or more.”
5. Government Education: “Eliminate tenure for government schoolteachers and college/university professors, making them accountable for the quality of instruction they provide students.”
6. Immigration: “Secure the nation’s borders and discourage those who violate them—illegal alien and citizen lawbreaker alike—by enforcing the immigration laws.”
7. Entitlements: “Social Security is going bankrupt. Medicare is going bankrupt. Medicaid is going bankrupt…. Educate the young people about the intergenerational trap the Statist has laid for them—which will steal their liberty, labor, opportunities, and wealth—and build a future electoral force for whom the elixir of entitlements is understood as poisonous snake oil.”
8. Foreign Policy and Security: “Ensure that America remains the world’s superpower. Ensure that at all times America’s military forces are prepared for war to dissuade attacks, encourage peace, and, if necessary, win any war.”
9. Faith: “Oppose all efforts to denude the nation of its founding justification—that is, God-given unalienable, natural rights that the government can neither confer on the individual nor deny to him.”
10. The Constitution: “Defeat all efforts to unconstitutionally regulate the content of political speech on broadcast outlets, such as radio. The Statist now seeks to consolidate the power he has accumulated by silencing noncompliant voices through a variety of schemes that would regulate broadcast content [or more recently social media posts].”

Conclusion: It’s Just Plain Common Sense

Common sense might not be so common anymore, but that’s what Conservatism is about, especially this time around. Common sense and morality have always guided my own personal vote, and they’ve done so already this election (I voted absentee from overseas 2 weeks ago). I don’t think politics will ever save America, but dang it, good politics sure make life a whole lot easier to go about doing things that will save America.

©2024 E.T.