"Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
But, we're not telling them. So says Ann McElhinney of Not Evil, Just Wrong and Mine Your Own Business fame.
She has a great conversion story. She was a typical European liberal living in Romania working as a freelance journalist. She came upon a story of an "evil" Canadian mining company which was planning to open a gold mine in Transylvania by first tearing down a village, and, of course, raping, pillaging, and plundering the villagers. At least, that was the story she presupposed while riding the train to the area. What she found when she got there was somewhat different. May I present the incomparable -- Ann McElhinney!
Ms. McElhinney is a fabulous mess of a speaker (John Fund), which makes every one of her speeches a trove of riches for conversation. Just in this short clip there's the brain dead liberal story, the liberal media bias story, the DDT story, the environmentalist tyranny story, the CO2 as the new DDT story, the wrong versus evil story, and probably more that I missed.
However, this post is just about conservatives telling their conversion stories. Or, if you've always been conservative, what's the most potent story you tell which reinforces the conservative facts of life?
P.S. Has Ann McElhinney ever been on Ricochet and, if not, wadda we waiting for -- Al Gore's apology for the global warming farce?
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Comments:
Apr '12
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
A Canadian company has a hard time being bad. The immigrated to a Canadian mining town and it gave us a very generous life style for many years, including giving a job to my daughter. When she got to university and was told that evil mining companies were raping the earth, she was confused and then disgusted. You can take a trip there now in Google Earth. The three unions killed the mine as copper dipped in price, the management halved their pay, but not the union. So it got closed, there is the govt there still. Can you see the mine? The BC govt was green and refused exploration.
Dec '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Lucy Pevensie: ....
Late in high school I encountered my first really conscious Christians, a youth group of very mature and engaging kids from a wide variety of denominational backgrounds--evangelical, Anglican, and Catholic--and I became serious about my faith. For some reason, the Christian kids I knew over the next few years tended to be wildly lefty Sojourners types, and gradually I became depressed. Ann McElhinney talks about how depressed kids are when exposed to lefty ideas--well, I was like that. Everything was a cause for guilt--I was told that taking a shower every day was wrong, when people in Africa didn't all have water to drink. It was humorless and miserable.
Then I stumbled across National Review at the library, and it was as if a light switch had been flipped on. There was humor, and laughter, and gratitude for a good world under God. I never looked back. · 26 minutes ago
Love this, Lucy. Thanks for sharing.
Jul '11
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Nice find WC. More and more thinking folks will embrace conservatism as our country falters from it's current socialist vibe.
Dec '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
CJRun: ...
Yes, we should reconsider the ban on DDT, but as conservatives, we should advocate for very careful use.
Sorry to appear to dodge responses, but I really have to run, for now.
Peace. · 1 hour ago
You'll get no argument from me there! In another McElhinney speech, she talks about the proper use of DDT -- twice a year application to the inside walls -- versus the big push for mosquito nets. It's a very moving story about a family sleeping under a net when the child's foot slips out from under, exposing enough skin for one anopheles mosquito to change the family's life forever.
Conservatives know life is a series of trade-offs. If DDT saves enough lives to prevent the tragedy described above, to save the 370 children who die in Uganda each day, I think we can agree it's worth the costs which may be levied later. I know their parents would say so.
Dec '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
That's sort of the joke, isn't it Alainnah? It's hard to imagine Canadian anything being sinister. Well, except for the speech police Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant have been battling.
Welcome to Ricochet, neighbor.
Edited on April 15, 2012 at 5:12amApr '11
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Her lively, articulate and oh so Irish presentation shows the power of testimony.
The first time my personal light bulb lit up was about thirty years ago when I was a member of those many environmental organizations who have spent the ensuing time trying to destroy capitalism and modern life. Back then I was reading an article in the Sierra Club Magazine and noticed a mention of some tests of pollution in the Arctic. Evey bit of Arctic pollution carried markers that could be traced to the Soviet Union, which was a going concern in those days and still a favorite of the New York Times. None was traced to the US, Canada, or Scandinavia. How could this be I asked myself? I thought the great polluters were capitalistic and the Soviet Union was a model of state planning. That was what the NY Times often said.
Since then I have learned the most polluted parts of the world are those most under state control. The old now defunct Soviet Union is one of the most devastatingly polluted places on earth. The most polluted parts of the US are on those acres controlled by the US government.
Edited on April 15, 2012 at 2:48pmNov '11
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
It will be fun listening to these videos today, and I love conversion stories. I was born an economic conservative plus not being a joiner. Daylight came when I was in school majoring in forestry in the late 70's and 'Save the Trees' was gaining steam. I thought it through realizing that trees have to be the best invention ever made: renewable, biodegradable and recyclable. The answer is good management. From then on I was highly suspicious of environmental propaganda. Another wake up came when in the late 80's I started hearing and reading about the problems with evolution and geology. We were taught this was gospel and I was shocked into a paradigm shift. I was really angry that I'd been duped, thought is this some huge conspiracy, then realized it was a commentary on human nature. I was socially very liberal until I started thinking about abortion seriously but it didn't come together until my next step. I became a Christian in the early 90's and began the great adventure which included allowing for joy in life (even an abundance of joy).
Edited on April 15, 2012 at 3:09pmJul '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
prometheus
Mama Toad: She isn't undeservedly harsh on Rachel Carson. Ad hominem attacks are a violation. Calling 'em like ya sees 'em is not.
...
How objectively, deminstrably wrong you are. First, there is no mention in the code of conduct of the word "ad hominem" meaning "appealing to people's emotions and prejudices instead of their ability to think". You made that up. Rather, the COC prohibits " Personal attacks on an individual, group, or class."
...
1) The wording of the CoC recently changed, that clause used to forbid ad hominem attacks.
2) Your definition of ad hominem is spurious. It is Latin for "to the man", as opposed to "to the argument or deeds". An ad hominem attack is calling Rachel Carson evil, and pointing out that she did evil is not. Anyone with the slightest training in rhetoric or debate knows this.
3) Presenting an argument without support (as Mama Toad did) hardly means the point is wrong or unsupported, it certainly is not. DDT's affects when applied as directed never warranted anything like the hysteria Carson fomented, and would potentially eliminate malaria in Africa and elsewhere, a huge source of human suffering and death.
Edited on April 15, 2012 at 8:03pmNov '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Western Chauvinist
CJRun: ...
Yes, we should reconsider the ban on DDT, but as conservatives,we should advocate for very careful use.
Sorry to appear to dodge responses, but I really have to run, for now.
Peace. · 1 hour ago
You'll get no argument from me there! In another McElhinney speech, she talks about the proper use of DDT -- twice a year application to the inside walls
Question from someone who knows nothing about these things: this would seem like a strategy for containing the damage from the mosquitoes. But we've eliminated malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the US. Shouldn't it be our goal to do so in Africa and Asia as well?
(By the way, I just did a little reading and changed this post a bit; I had originally said "anopheles" mosquitoes had been eliminated from the US and Europe, but it turns out that they haven't. The mosquitoes are still here; we've just eliminated the malaria.)
Jul '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
In response to the actual topic, my political awareness began at seven with a mix of Heinlein, Jefferson, Washington, Adams, and Homer. I am not and never have been a conservative, although friends forensically categorize me as a movement conservative based on my political sensibilities.
Christians originally came here to enjoy a libertarianism unimaginable in Europe, a place where they could worship and govern themselves in accordance with their own conscience rather than the dictates of tyrants. (Of course, being fallen creatures, they proceeded directly to the Salem witch trials, but I digress.) Nothing from my many years experience working on government site has dulled that early libertarianism. A view that believes that Man in commerce is evil but Man in government is good is too childish an idiot to be tolerated.
In America, there is nothing more moderate than aligning with the Founders and the Constitution. It is the fundamental center of the Republic, the compact on which all else stands. The notion that such positions are right wing or marginal is pure left wing hooey. When "they" started saying it, suddenly we were a "center-right" country. Pffft.
So Buckley was an excellent moderate self-indentifying as conservative.
Mar '11
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
I was raised as an emotional conservative, by parents who had lived in a Blue state for so long that they got kind of fuzzy. Nurture can do that. So I was a combative conservative, but not in a very consistent, thought-out kind of way.
Then I went, at the age of 19, I got a scholarship to a week course at the Institute for Humane Studies. It blew my mind.I still remember my shock when a professor said, simply, that she opposed taxes because the money she had was her money. How can someone say that in public?!
I was astonished to meet principled, intelligent, cheerful, scholarly libertarians. And while I may have been the only non-Atheist in the bunch, I have been working on developing my own brand of G-d-fearing libertarianism ever since.
My parents, bless them, continue to be Oregoniated, even while my mother, a brilliant academic, gives Tea Party lectures. To be in the Tea Party in Oregon is worse than being a communist in the 1950s, so I forgive her relative squishiness.
Oct '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
If Mitt Romney could talk about the goodness of wealth for everyone the way McElhinney does, he would definitely beat Obama. Wouldn't this message be a winner? "Mr. Obama wants to make everyone materially equal. I want to make everyone materially rich."
Jul '11
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
My family kept it no higher than 62, living in Vermont, and not because a president felt it was his job to tell them how to live their lives - they did it because it costs money to heat the house, and if you're cold, put another layer on. If you're hot, take one off. There. Problem solved, without presidential interventionism. When a president feels he needs to advise us on household temps and air pressure, he's clearly in over his head. He's lost.
Oct '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Sisyphus: In response to the actual topic, my political awareness began at seven with a mix of Heinlein, Jefferson, Washington, Adams, and Homer...
...So Buckley was an excellent moderate self-indentifying as conservative. · 6 hours ago
This is worthy of a post rather than just a comment. Expand, Expound, Elucidate, please. At your pleasure, of course.
Edit: I meant the whole thing, not just what I quoted.
Edited on April 16, 2012 at 3:03amNov '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Margaret Sanger and Rachael Carson have been responsible for more innocent deaths than Mao and Stalin combined.
Dec '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Sisyphus:...
Christians originally came here to enjoy a libertarianism unimaginable in Europe, a place where they could worship and govern themselves in accordance with their own conscience rather than the dictates of tyrants....
Slightly off-topic, I just have to share an anecdote about my mother. Mother had a heart attack many years ago and after a stint in the hospital, she was due to be checked-in to rehab. The administrator checking her in was giving her the run-down of what to expect during her stay and informed Mother that she would be allowed to shower every other day. My mother stood up to her full 5-feet, 5-inch height (which looks like 6 foot 5 when she's indignant -- trust me) and proclaimed, "My ancestors came to this country so that they could bathe daily. I'm leaving!" Mother stayed and got her daily shower.
And you thought America was founded by pilgrims seeking religious freedom, didn't you?
Jul '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Severely Ltd.
Sisyphus: In response to the actual topic, my political awareness began at seven with a mix of Heinlein, Jefferson, Washington, Adams, and Homer...
...So Buckley was an excellent moderate self-indentifying as conservative. · 6 hours ago
This is worthy of a post rather than just a comment. Expand, Expound, Elucidate, please. At your pleasure, of course.
Edit: I meant the whole thing, not just what I quoted. · 39 minutes ago
Edited 37 minutes ago
You have made a serious, serious mistake, inflating my ego when my wife is unavailable to provide corrective measures...head...expending,...room...too...small...>POP<
[Echoes from down the hall..."Hey dad, someone smashed a ketchup bottle in the...EWWWW!!!!! (wait, am I in the will?)]
Dec '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Lucy Pevensie
Western Chauvinist
You'll get no argument from me there! In another McElhinney speech, she talks about the proper use of DDT -- twice a year application to the inside walls
Question from someone who knows nothing about these things: this would seem like a strategy for containing the damage from the mosquitoes. But we've eliminated malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the US. Shouldn't it be our goal to do so in Africa and Asia as well?
(By the way, I just did a little reading and changed this post a bit; I had originally said "anopheles" mosquitoes had been eliminated from the US and Europe, but it turns out that they haven't. The mosquitoes are still here; we've just eliminated the malaria.)
I'd characterize it as a strategy for saving humans from the ravages of malaria. But I suppose malaria could still be carried by animal vectors and therefore not eradicated even if humans don't die from it anymore. Does anyone know?
The concern with DDT application in the US was the widespread crop dusting method which resulted in malaria's eradication, but perhaps at too high an environmental price.
Good question, though.
Dec '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
Western Chauvinist
The concern with DDT application in the US was the widespread crop dusting method which resulted in malaria's eradication, but perhaps at too high an environmental price.
Yes, the ravages of that environmental disaster were truly worrisome.
They were so severe and wide spread that it if you look around, you . . . can't tell that anything happened at all.
Huh.
Dec '10
Re: "Conservatives Have All the Best Stories"
And honestly, if eradicating malaria meant that the double titted warbler owl went extinct, I think I could live with that.
If the choice is people dieing en mass, or a critter(s) going extinct, the critter loses that toss every time IMO.
But then again, the people who choose the owls over humans also don't believe that killing an unborn baby is a bad thing.
At least they're consistent.