The Seven Points

I have posted an image depicting "the Seven Points," before, but I do not believe I have ever posted their text.  The Seven Points could be seen as an early draft of the Twelve Points.  In 2003, Grand Old Cause (an Indiana University conservative student organization) and I created them for use as the GOC's guiding statement of principles.  In 2007, I realized that a modified version of the Seven Points could be useful to the conservative movement on a national level.  In early 2008, I began to make those adaptations to the Seven Points, which quickly became the Twelve Points.

Now, from 2003, the following is the text of the Seven Points:

The Seven Points

I.

EQUALITY AND UNITY. The foundation of all of our beliefs is the understanding that “all men are created equal,” and that this understanding is inconsistent with the arbitrary use of force by a person in or out of government against his equal. This understanding calls for equality before the law, for all people to be held to fair, appropriate, and equal standards, and for unity instead of division of peers over insignificant differences in physical form, culture, or origin.

II.

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. The Constitution is an important obstacle for those who would use the government to violate our rights.

It explicitly guarantees vital specific rights, including those indispensable to a free society, freedom of the press, the right to bear arms, freedom from unwarranted search and seizure, fair trials, and the Bill of Rights as a whole.

This document should be strengthened, as it has been in the past, by amendments enhancing the constitutional system and extending rights to those who deserve them but have been denied them in the past.

It must not be weakened by ignoring it for temporary or fantasy gains, which weakens its ability to restrain those who would violate our rights.

III.

LIFE. Life is the right on which all others depend, and destruction of the right to life is the most total and irreversible form of coercion there is.

IV.

FREEDOM. General freedom is a basic and essential right, and restrictions on liberty, other than to prevent arbitrary coercion, which itself destroys liberty, including unjustifiably causing injury to a person or his possessions, should be avoided and prevented.

V.

PROPERTY RIGHTS AND CONSERVATION. Property rights are fundamental to both the preservation of freedom and the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the earth. The government's most important role in protecting our natural resources from abuse or destruction is the enforcement of property rights.

Private property enjoys better stewardship than public property, and so the private protection of resources is preferable to public ownership and management. Where private ownership is not practicable, public policy should hold individuals responsible for the effects of their actions on public and private property.

Conservation for these purposes, and based on sound science, will enhance property rights and even liberty, promoting the economy and quality of life. Measures enacted without regard for the effect on property rights, the economy, and liberty will eventually harm all three.

VI.

ECONOMIC GROWTH. Economic prosperity and well-being are not rights, and must be worked for within the boundaries set by the fundamental rights of man, not assumed as entitlements. However, economic growth lengthens lives and improves living standards, and governments should protect the economy by maintaining economic freedom through low tax rates, free trade, fiscal restraint, and avoiding unnecessary regulations.

VII.

PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.  The defense of justice, when all other options have been exhausted and often even as those options are still being pursued, depends on the ability and will to defend it with military force.