The Twelve Points are the Top Statement of Conservative Principles

Many of us, as conservatives, know very well what we believe, but for the conservative movement to succeed, we have to restore clarity and definition of conservatism to the larger conservative community. Read the Twelve Points, the strongest and most concentrated statement of conservative principles, and spread the word!

Confidence That They Understand Conservative Principles, Or Have A Plan For Advancing Them

Though last November's election was unusually important, too much faith was placed in the likelihood that voters' anger, without greater organization or refinement of their sentiment into a plan or intelligible (and reasonably complete) set of principles, would naturally work to change the course of American governance for the better. I doubted this, because experience has shown us that many well-meaning, instinctively conservative people who call themselves "conservative" do not, in fact, have a firm grasp of the conservative philosophy, or of other important, related matters that affect the success and desirability of any concrete attempt to implement it. Additionally, it has not always been clear that those who actually do understand and believe in this philosophy have any sort of long-term plan for addressing the problems in government that we have had for decades, other than to continue to attempt to win elections and hope for the best.

Last year, our method for selecting candidates for Congress was not different than it had been in the past. I do not believe that there was any change in whatever arrangements we have for teaching conservatism to those who do not yet quite understand it -- the adoption of the Mount Vernon Statement would have been a great opportunity to do this, as a major, united act of prominent conservatives, but those behind the Mount Vernon Statement instead chose to focus on energizing the "base" and on uniting the three allegedly opposing conservative factions, rather than using the power of well-communicated ideas to draw the conservatives of each faction into actual philosophical harmony.

Ultimately, a landslide election took place, and it is certainly good for this country that this did happen. However, it is not too late to avoid reading too much into these results, and thereby wasting an opportunity as historic as the present one (for conservatives) -- if we recognize what November 2010 left undone, we can begin to address some of the problems that we ought to have faced last year. After all, over this past decade, it became clear that congressional Republicans either had no real desire to cut spending or did not know what they wanted to cut. Even though many "Tea Party" candidates were elected, last year, do we have any evidence, yet, that the new Republicans actually have an answer to the question: if you were in control of the government, then what, specifically, would you actually cut? There are many other questions that we could also ask -- questions to which we received disappointing answers over this past decade, from their predecessors.

A statement of conservative principles may or may not be the best way to spread the conservative philosophy, in all its fullness, throughout the conservative community, or to bring some intelligible sense of a strategy to the movement. (If so, the Twelve Points are the best statement of conservative principles around, and ought to be adopted.) However, it is up to those of us who recognize what needs to be done to consult with each other and decide how to proceed. We cannot simply leave the future of conservative principles in American government up to a succession of elections, without more.

Fourteenth Amendment Conservatives

An example of one of the issues in our movement (the conservative movement) that I would like to get cleaned up: opposition to the Fourteenth Amendment.

I would call myself a Fourteenth Amendment Conservative. I am in favor of the Fourteenth Amendment, and though I am aware that strange things have been done with the Due Process clause, that is no more a reason to repeal that amendment than it is a reason to repeal the Fifth Amendment or to condemn the Magna Charta. The Fourteenth Amendment is one of the best amendments we have.

Even though I am in favor of the Fourteenth Amendment, I doubt that it would bother me nearly as much that some self-described conservatives oppose it but for the fact that their arguments against it suggest that they have not put any thought into their opposition to it. Generally, they dislike that the Fourteenth Amendment ensures that anyone who is born within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States is a citizen of the United States. When that is their reason, at least it can be said for them that they actually have a reason for opposing the amendment, even though so-called "birthright citizenship" is a sensible rule, and was the rule before the Fourteenth Amendment was passed (and was a rule that the United States inherited from the laws of England). At other times, they make argument-like statements (generally not coherent enough to justify calling them arguments) about the Fourteenth Amendment somehow (and most certainly not as a result of any language to this effect in the Amendment itself) replacing our governments with corporations and giving them general, plenary legislative powers. At yet other times, they claim simply that the Fourteenth Amendment turned the Constitution on its head and gave the federal government the kinds of powers that the states used to have, individually. (The Fourteenth Amendment did give the federal government new powers, but nothing even remotely that sweeping. Most of the growth of the federal government has been by the use of provisions from the original body of the Constitution, to the extent that it had anything to do with the Constitution at all.)

For those of us who have actually thought our beliefs through, what kind of unity or common agenda can there be with people who, for example -- and it is only a single example -- oppose the Fourteenth Amendment for no reason or for unreasonable reasons, and who believe that repealing one of our best amendments is one of the most important things that our coalition could be doing? To accept and welcome a range of views within the conservative movement is not at all inconsistent with teaching and promoting conservative principles, and that teaching is needed -- certain views are, at best, a distraction.

The people who oppose the Fourteenth Amendment may not be bad people. They may mean well, and they may even be intelligent, but they are mistaken, and their errant views must not be allowed to derail the conservative movement. Those of us who do understand conservative principles and are familiar with the wisdom of the Founders, among others, need to formally agree on the essential ideas and make that agreement known to ourselves and others.

If there is a better medium than the Twelve Points through which we might do this, then let me know; I would like to support it. However, the Twelve Points were meant to be just such a medium, and I believe that they are fit for that purpose. Until and unless something better is found or made, I need your help in promoting the Twelve Points.

The Twelve Points are the definitive statement of conservative principles and aim to form a usable definition of conservatism. (Also, the Twelve Points are awesome.) Spread the word!

Ensure Understanding of Conservative Principles, Before the End

For those who spend a good deal of their time interacting with some of the more prominent or otherwise distinguished members of the conservative community, it may seem as though conservative principles and the conservative philosophy are well-understood throughout the conservative community and the conservative movement. Such people (distinguished conservatives) have doubtlessly given these ideas a good deal of thought, and they may have been selected in some way for the fact that they have not ultimately formed absurd, unfounded, or shockingly unjust beliefs. Dealing with them tends to make it appear that the conservative community is in great shape, and that we do indeed have our "intellectual house in order."

Unfortunately, such people evidently are not a representative cross-section of the conservative community as a whole, and I have serious doubts about whether they are representative of conservative politicians. On the internet, which admittedly may itself not be an entirely representative cross-section of the conservative community, the failure of many people to have mastered conservative principles and conservative wisdom is more than apparent; however, it would be more difficult to draw this information together in any sort of statistical form than it would be to stagger the audience with a profusion of anecdotal evidence. To be satisfied that what I claim is true, it would be necessary for the audience to explore the facts for itself.

I invite the audience to do so. Read the comments under any newspaper article on a controversial topic. Read the comments under Facebook posts on the pages of the Heritage Foundation or the American Conservative Union, where one would expect that even the readers would have a mastery of conservatism and sound critical thinking habits. It should not take a long time to get a sense of the problem that I have so often argued needs to be addressed and solved.

The Twelve Points, delivering this information in a concentrated yet high-quality format, in the form of a statement of conservative principles, are one possible way of addressing the problem. With the right kind of support, these simply-phrased but well thought through, well-tested statements can bring a firm understanding of conservatism and conservative principles to everyone who we need to reach, and to everyone who will listen.

If there is a better way to deliver these ideas, I am interested in pursuing that option as well, but leaving our fellow Americans in the dark, or leaving them to rely on scattered, over-simplified, low-quality sources on our philosophy is not an option.