I began my interest into politics for religious reasons. Now that might sound crazy or threatening to some people, but there has to be some kind of personal standard that makes justice… well… just. This doesn’t mean I’m a “theocrat” as I’ve seen so many times on the internet. If conservatives were theocrats we’d be trying to tear down the 1st Amendment for protecting ALL religions. On the contrary, I believe our greatest commandment is to do unto others as we would want done to ourselves. With that in mind I fully support the freedom of speech and religion, because if I do not allow opposing views at what point are my views taken away from me? These Constitutional issues are the foundation to our Republic, and that is what I’ve always had my primary focus on. We can reach more of society voluntarily and with much greater ease than if the government dictates what can and cannot be believed. Since my primary focus is on Constitutional issues I’ve always overlooked foreign policy. Under Barack Obama I believed the biggest threat to our Constitution (and our rights) was not overseas, but right at home. However Donald Trump has lessened that concern just a tiny bit. Unlike Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton I do not believe Donald Trump’s goal is to tear down our Constitutional Republic. At the most Trump is simply ignorant, not an enemy. With that his intentions are to bring jobs back to this country, and protect the people. Now security has been used as an excuse to overstep the Constitution before, but it is also something that needs to be considered in order to protect the Constitution from foreign enemies. I will stand against any rights violations in the name of “security” but as our current administration seeks answers to eliminate ISIS, I thought it was finally time for me to refine my foreign policy.
What is, or what should be, an American approach to foreign policy? For many years it was “friend to all, ally to none.” This gives us independence and room to approach an issue. However over the years the United States has become involved in globalist unions and nation building. We can find ways of leaving unions that overstep our Constitution, but it would be immoral to abandon allies we have already created. Over time I do believe America can and should become more independent if we ever want to gain the sort of peace we had before the time of WWI. Even after WWI Americans were skeptical of whether it was worth joining, and that contributed to why we joined WWII so late. Many things under FDR seemed good at the time, but caused increasingly greater problems over time. Besides welfare spending, the basis for our modern foreign policy started under FDR as well. What people don’t realize is for 150 years our country didn’t need a constant draft registration. It formed for WWII, when it was greatly needed, but then stuck around until modern day. Every adult male is still required to register for the draft “just in case” another global war happens. I find this ridiculous, because if we are using WWII as an example, then why don’t we end the registration up until it is needed like we did for WWII? Currently it is a threat to our liberty that our government at anytime could send us off to a war that may or may not be justified. Also it is still insulting that the Democrats fight so hard for “women’s right” to fight along side men, yet only force men to register for the draft. Sure, “everyone’s equal” up until you’re sending citizens to war against their will. Also during the time the United Nations formed, Israel reformed and America was there since the beginning. Till this day we suffer issues from the United Nations, and other Middle Eastern countries that hated western influence. Sadly, while the United Nations helped create modern Israel, the union has currently outnumbered Israel. Even as friends I still believe it would be for the better interests of Israel and the United States if we left the United Nations in defense of our self-government.
While all those social issues are important, how do we defend ourselves? Originally our military was never suppose to be as large and everlasting as it is today, however our enemies, weapons and speed of travel has never been greater. In these times specifically we should maintain a large, prepared and educated military to deter our enemies and keep peace without firing a shot. This can be costly however, and as a fiscal conservative I do believe we should work to create the best on a logical budget. Over the years we became very strong on defense, but then with every new conflict we double-up on that “strong defense” which only expands the costs. Instead of throwing trillions of dollars at every issue, there has to be some kind of plan if this kind of military has the vision of running indefinitely. Donald Trump has brought up solving issues like Illegal Immigration, North Korea and ISIS that our past president tried to hide under a rug. Now social conservatives, including myself, have to ask ourselves what can be done to put an end to these threats?
Illegal Immigration has been a problem for many years. Back when Hillary Clinton was running against Barack Obama she use to talk of securing our borders and how Mexico is “pushing” people this way (hypocrite Hillary strikes again). What do we do to fix this problem? Trump says build a wall, but I do not believe that is a viable long-term solution. As long as Mexico is corrupt and the US is prosperous, people will try to find ways to escape. This is a great opportunity to welcome people to our country and promote the idea of becoming an American. Currently whole families struggle with getting out of Mexico, so their sons come here, fill up our jobs, and send money back to their families in a foreign economy. Not only does this hurt us, but when a border is insecure that allows corruption to exploit it. Drug cartels can spread their poison across our borders as long as there’s a gap. To fix both these issues there has to be a simultaneous effort to promote American citizenship, and make this process easier than illegal immigration through BOTH reform and security. With the process of citizenship can come all the cultural hurtles that people are worried about. Also, if the system works well Americans will no longer be debating over immigration policy and common immigrants will be met with more hospitality than scrutiny. As Ronald Reagan said, “And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” The only other answer is to spend more of our money in rebuilding the Mexican government itself, so their people will not have to immigrate here in the first place. That’s harder and more costly than it sounds.
Now on the other end is not immigrants, but our enemies. Up until 11th grade I was never shown what North Korea looked like today. It shocked us to learn that the Communists we saw in 50 year old videos are still around. North Korea continues to threaten us, enslave their people and test missile. There leaders do not understand our strength and they cannot be ignored forever. Although they might be weak, and their socialistic government might be crippling their economy, even a starving bratty child can create a tragedy if you let him handle a weapon. Currently there is so much unknown to the public about North Korea I don’t know where to start. I do know that Donald Trump is strong on defense, and has to be both a threat and a negotiator to defuse North Korea. As a chaotic businessman he might actually be the right choice for the task.
In good news, during the first month of Donald Trump in office the Pentagon finally announced the terrorists we’ve been fighting all this time are indeed “ISIS.” Maybe now that we’ve named an enemy we can work on defeating it. Sadly the Islamic State is much more complicated than any enemy we’ve come up against. They might be easy to defeat on ground combat, but they are not a nation. It’s more than just killing dictators or toppling a capital, this is an ideological war. We’ve sent our men and women overseas to kill Islamic Terrorists before, but new organizations grow and old ones stick around. In response many have suggested cutting off immigration and let the Middle East deal with itself. Many Americans want peace, but haven’t gained it through negotiations or war. In my eyes there are only two ways of dealing with this kind of enemy. As long as we ignore them they’ll eventually find a way inside. Right now closing our boarders is only a temporary fix. We can either do what the terrorists claim we’re doing, and concur the entire Middle East. Or defeat these organizations by restoring some kind of order in their countries. Not by “jobs for terrorists” or deals with Iran, but constant pressure. People are being killed and it’s time we do something about it. Although I am conservative and am tired of this war that has lasted the majority of my lifetime, history has shown that when our people are killed we do something about it. First I think we need to start fresh and see what we can do to defeat our enemies without sending our own people to war. But if that fails, or nations threaten us, there is reason for action. This is not Donald Trump’s call however, if we’re going to fight a nation that enables terrorism Congress needs to declare war. ISIS is growing, and innocent people will keep dying unless we rebuild the Middle East from the ground up, or actually start pressuring the governments to get their terrorist problem and temperaments under control. Doing neither of these things leaves too little Americans in the Middle East to defeat ISIS and too many Americans in the Middle East to say we’re at peace.
Once again there is a social problem in the world. As Christianity and America becomes more and more hated within our borders, those radicals are still dangerous. Someone who shoots a cop or shoots up a black church or tortures a white guy or burns our flag might not be an Islamic terrorists, but they definitely help aid ISIS in weakening our civilization. These are signs that we are losing our culture, that people are no longer getting along. ISIS wants to concur anyone who is not them, even Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. They really are that insane. My understanding is ISIS would want nothing more than for us to kill each other before they come in to finish everybody off. If we cannot unite within our borders, we’re a divided force against an enemy that wants us all dead. We need to regain our culture and values. As long as we’re united within our communities no enemy can concur mainland USA. That is very important. And as for radicalization; ISIS relies on radicalizing Muslims who hate where they are. Maybe if certain people would stop trying to convince the population that our nation is evil (as the case in an Iowas State University where students had to write about 9/11 from Al-Qaeda’s perspective), we can restore some patriotism in America, including to our Muslim communities. Obviously a patriotic Muslim is less likely to be swayed by ISIS propaganda. Oh and if Hollywood would stop calling Christians xenophobes for not wanting to be eradicated that would be awesome.