The Observer, December 9, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 13
The Right Stuff: Final words from an American conservative
When I began writing for The Observer in spring 2004, my contributions were limited to the sports section of the newspaper. Had it not been for the tight presidential race in 2004, I probably would not have started writing this column which has endured for over a year now. I am proud that the column has received the praise and defamation since its inception. It saddens me to say that this column will no longer be able to generate the same discourse as before because I will be graduating in a mere few weeks from now. But before my departure, there are a few final messages I hope you will consider.
Remember that the United States Constitution entitles its citizens to nothing, save for due process under law. A democracy requires that its citizens play an active role in their own governance, something that is as true today as it was over 200 years ago when our founding fathers drafted the document through which our government operates. The fact that our nation is over 100 times larger today than it was at birth means that its citizens must work some fraction harder in order to maintain the efficiency of its government. Being an educated, civically minded person is far from nerdy, but rather your responsibility as a citizen.
Along those lines, remember that no political party exists to represent you. Political parties exist to support their leadership and grow in size and influence. Though at times I may sound like a Republican, anyone who has consistently read this column knows that I am an American first, a conservative second, and a Republican third. I will continue to support the Republican Party as long as they continue to show the ability to support ideas and legislation that are nearly consistent with my own. In order to support a political party, intelligently it is important to understand the ideals for which each of the parties stand. At a place like Case with so many educated individuals, I find it shocking that there still exists a large contingent of people who hate and distrust the Republican Party for no substantiated reason.
Because many people here at Case are not from the Cleveland area, I ask that everyone recall their responsibility to their community. The Old Testament calls for all people to tithe, a practice that was once enforced by taxation. Many point to the lack of mention of tithing in the New Testament as reason for the disappearance of the practice. That does not mean that people are not obligated to give back to their communities today the same way they always have been. Whether you are tithing through financial support of specific causes, donation of goods and clothing, or giving of your time to support a cause, it is important that you never lose sight of that responsibility. Similarly, when choosing between Newman's Own and Valu-Time salsa, you may want to consider which company's profit goes to benefiting a genuinely good cause and which goes to obsessive cost-cutting and investor dividends.
To those of you who are graduating this spring, I wish you all success in your future endeavors, and to those remaining here at Case, I hope you keep up the good work started by recent generations of alumni. As for my future, I am happy to report that in the coming weeks I will be torn between job offers from Exxon-Mobil as a price (extortion) analyst and from Newscorp as a propaganda specialist. For anyone claiming the job market is poor, I contend you're merely voting for the wrong party, or maybe just reading the wrong newspapers.
However, if you would still like to hear what I have to say about all things political and social, visit the future home of The Right Stuff at http://hickmania.blogspot.com/.
