A New Compassionate Conservative

In the past couple of months, I’ve seen an emergence of new thought in regards to compassionate conservatism. I first saw this new approach a few months ago in advertisement for a website called “Values and Capitalism”. I couldn’t resist clicking through the link. At first I dismissed it as a ploy by the free-market think tank American Enterprise Institute but with the rise of Rick Santorum, the idea is starting to pick up steam.

Santorum touts himself as religious man and a compassionate conservative but doesn’t exactly line up with his predecessor Bush Jr. Instead of promoting social programs like PEPFAR or No Child Left Behind, Santorum proposes that churches and charities do the work, that we should cut the government intervention and allow churches and non-profits the space to work.

This was a similar idea I had many years ago but now spending the past 8 years doing work related to poverty, I will admit this idea was a bit naïve.

Unfortunately the church or non-profits are in no place to pick up the slack of the hurting social scene. I don’t know the numbers domestically but charities provide only 4% of aid internationally. I would imagine it being very similar domestically.

I want to believe in the church and that it will rise to the occasion but I just don’t see any signs of it. On average, churches keep over 90% of the money they bring in inside the walls of the church.

Some have said, oh when things get bad enough, the church will step up. A recent report in the United States found that 30% of children in America are in poverty. When will it get bad enough to act?

With all that said, there are many things that more free markets could benefit those in poverty. The Farm Bill protects large American “farmers” while distorting food markets overseas making it harder to compete with American subsidies. Aid programs can learn from the free market. Groups like Toms, who does “shoe drops” distorts shoe markets in the area they are giving out shoes, usually taking jobs away from shoe makers, sellers and transporters. Micro-finance has exploded onto the scene in the last 10 years, creating a more even playing field for millions, allowing them to get decent credit in unbalanced markets.

All in all, we are at an interesting time in politics. Although I disagree with this libertarian hands off, let churches and NGOs take care of things, there are many things to learn from this approach. Neither side is right or wrong and if we actually came together (i.e. Farm Bill), putting people before politics, we might be able to help a lot of folks at the stroke of a pen.