By LEIGH SLOAN
People like Thomas Sowell and Milton Friedman (the late Father of School Choice) are known as prominent conservative thinkers. However, both of them acknowledge that the word “conservative” is not the word they would choose to describe themselves. Milton Freidman classified himself as a liberal in the classic sense of the word.
A classical liberal is someone who wants to preserve the freedom of the individual as much as possible, regardless of whether or not the individual acts within societal norms. A conservative is someone who would like to conserve traditions and methods and norms of the past. In the purest sense, liberals focus on the future and conservatives’ focus is on the past.
You can understand, then, why someone like Milton Friedman would balk against the conservative label. The majority of his ideas were not ideas that he retrieved from the past, but ones that envisioned a better future. He foresaw a better path toward educational liberty, where families could choose the educational services that worked best for them without unnecessary government interference.
So whether you call yourself a conservative or liberal depends on your frame of reference. What from the past are you trying to conserve? Conversely, what are you trying to liberate people from?
The United States of America began its history with visionaries who were desperately trying to break free from the chains of the past. They were breaking free from the chains of over-taxation, from England forcing them to do things against their will, from religious tyranny that was happening all over the world. Whether they’d choose to wear the conservative or liberal label, freedom lovers then and now choose We The People.
We no longer have a king from overseas dictating our every move, but in Alaska today we have found ourselves with big and powerful national organizations like the National Education Association dictating how and what our children will be taught and where our taxpayer dollars will go. We have deep pocketed individuals actively seeking to influence voters to maintain the status quo that will continue to feed the bureaucratic beast.
At a time when just about everyone is running for public office and clamoring for your attention— the majority of Alaskans remain unaware of the opportunity we will have to vote for or against a Constitutional Convention on the November ballot. A Constitutional Convention is a safeguard put into place by the framers of our constitution. It is there to make sure that our state government remains firmly in the grasp of We The People. When legislators act as though they don’t have to follow the rules, when judges legislate from the bench, when the will of the people is ignored— such is the time for We The People to “hire ourselves” to rectify the situation.
Much of what you may have heard about the Constitutional Convention has likely been from deep-pocketed power brokers who know that if we vote to “hire ourselves,” their power will be jeopardized. Attempting to appeal to conservatives, they claim that a convention will take gun rights away, impose taxes, limit subsistance fishing, and more.
Alaskans are independent people. We are reasonable, and as a whole, moderate. By and large, we want our gun rights, we want our PFDs, and we want the ability to decide for ourselves how to live and how to educate our children. We are independent and we are tolerant of others to live life the way they see fit as long as they are not hurting anyone else.
If we pass a Constitutional Convention, it will give us the opportunity to elect our own delegates to fix what our legislators have not been able to fix. After these delegates deliberate, they will submit suggested constitutional changes to the public. The decision will then be returned once again to The People for a vote, making doubly sure that The People’s will is accomplished.
We have the choice to grant ourselves the opportunity to cast a vision a brighter future, perhaps to open up new innovative strategies for solving our educational crisis, to enumerate for ourselves freedoms in the constitution that have been misinterpreted and commandeered by our judges.
This November, 2022 election is perhaps the most important election we will have in a very long time. The Constitutional Convention, while it is perhaps the least understood and discussed, is the possibly the most important issue of all.
It’s time for We the People to step up to the plate and trust our own ability to lead ourselves. It is time for us to have the bravery to engage in the tough conversations and trust ourselves to make the right choices for our own future.
The next time you hear an ad, pay attention to one thing: who is backing the message and whether or not they speak for you. Don’t let fear guide your decisions. We are living in a time when inaction may be the greatest risk of all. A YES vote on the Constitutional Convention is a YES to the voice of The Alaskan People.
Leigh Sloan is producer of Brave Conversations podcast.
