Dear Editor:
Re: "Old, white guys' at Conservative helm," In my opinion, Keith Baldrey, Burnaby NOW, Aug. 15.
Keith Baldrey is bang on in the way he describes the makeup of the B.C. Conservative Party. For the most part, anyway. Being a conservative, old white guy, I have often thought about the missing young faces in our ranks, though.
Because I am concerned about it I had to take a trip to the mirror. Where was I at a younger age? Missing in action! The old cliche comes to mind: anyone under 30 who is not a socialist has no heart. And, anyone over 30 who is still a Socialist has no brain!
Then reality sets in: certain students at university are required to be involved in grassroots politics in order to be taken seriously. They do have a choice which party they wish to work with. Really? The artificial climate at university has stunted the growth of most professors who have retained their left leanings even way past the age of 30.
If, as a student, you then show to prefer the right, you actually tell your professor that, in your opinion, s/he does not know what s/he is talking about. Not a smart move! Right there it explains in part why the left sees more young helpers than we do.
The matter of "social conservatism" has to be taken a bit more seriously. There are so many areas where we conservatives can do better: smaller government, education, law and order, bankrolling of political parties, the environment or the economy, including the building of pipelines! Social conservatism seems of importance only to the media because a candidate may have expressed leanings which could hurt him at the polls if blown out of proportion. Reporters will do their utmost to trip the candidate to do just that.
These leanings would, however, never ever make a difference in government, as demonstrated by Mr. Harper, because there are more important messes to be cleaned up. Social conservatism, if it ever comes up in my circles, is like expressing a preference for Chinese or Indian food. I happen to like both. After all is said, who cares?
Ziggy Eckardt, Burnaby
