Hi. My name is John Zoller and, as the website name implies, I am a conservative. I am also a lifelong student of history and political philosophy. I am writing this blog as I find that the conservative movement in western civilization is not well understood and, in most media and by too many politicians, is lied about. My intent is to present why I believe conservatism is a philosophy that is much better suited to keeping the USA, the greatest country in human history, free, prosperous and happy. I will do this by preparing periodic posts that may comment on recent political events and others that will present the overriding principles of conservatism. To quote Winston Churchill, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Many have never learned or have forgotten the history of the US and this has led to our harm.

At the outset I want to clear one of the basic misunderstandings of conservatives, the idea that we want to return to some other time in our history that was better than today. That time does not exist. While conservative life principles should be enduring, it is a philosophy that evolves to deal with changing culture. While we may look nostalgically on the 50’s as being a time that represented some better family values; church attendance was much higher, marriages lasted longer, abortions were almost unheard of, crime rates were lower, I lived in that decade and well remember the terrible denial of voting and other rights to Blacks, the reality of segregated facilities and the need for a powerful civil rights movement. I also remember the unequal status between men and women, the persecution of Hispanics and the burden of shame placed upon gay people. Those are all things to which we should never return. The beauty of America, and what makes it exceptional, is that our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, allow for these problems and other problems to be overcome. They do so as they place the sovereignty of the nation in the hands of the people, not an all powerful national government. They also accomplish this by acknowledging that our rights come from a higher power (in my view God) not from man. This was the great distinction between the two revolutions of the 18th century, the American and the French. The French revolution was based upon the concept of the Rights of Man, in other words rights were created by man and thus could be revoked by man. This philosophy led to the guillotine and the rise of a dictator, Napoleon. The American revolution, based upon inalienable rights from God that Man could not revoke and the the rights of the individual states being greater than the federal government, has led to the most free, creative and prosperous nation in human history. Despite those today that want to cast the country as being the source of evil in the world because of historical errors like slavery, it actually remains a beacon of light and freedom to the entire world. If it were not so why are people in other countries, including people of color, willing to do anything, break our laws, risk their own and their children’s lives, to immigrate here? It is because they still believe, even if some of our own citizens and politicians no longer do, that the USA is still a land of freedom and opportunity. The celebration of these timeless principles form the basis of conservatism and makes it the political philosophy that will assure these freedoms, prosperity and happiness will continue far into the future.

My goal will be to present the value of Conservative Truths, I will endeavor not to harshly criticize the proponents of modern day progressivism. To make my points I will compare and contrast these two opposing points of view, but I will endeavor to do so without anger or hatred. What we are missing today is calm and rational discussion of important principles. Name calling and hollering are detrimental to this effort. I look forward to hearing contrary opinions. May God continue to bless our great country and it’s citizens.