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.

Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address II

"I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

"Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter -- with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." - President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address

"About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration.  I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations.  Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people -- a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected.  These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.  The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment.  They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety." - President Thomas Jefferson

Important Posts on Conservatism and the Conservative Movement

Here is an updated list of what I consider to be some of the most important posts from this site concerning the future of the conservative movement:

The Theme
The Twelve Points
Why the Twelve Points Are Needed -- Relatively Long Version
Why the Twelve Points Are Needed -- Short Version
Memory
The Twelve Points Are Unique
Conservatism: Many Principles, One Philosophy
The Twelve Points -- Just the Points
"Up To Speed"
We Can Make This Happen
All the Pure, Concentrated Conservatism that Five Pages Can Hold
Origin of the Twelve Points
No Ordinary Year
165 Sub-Points
The Purpose of the Twelve Points as a Definitive Statement of Conservative Principles
Americans Still Have Responsibilities Under the Constitution
The Idea of Conservatism, Which I Believe Is Well-Expressed By the Twelve Points, Too
The First Point
Another Discussion of the Division of Conservatives
Small-Government Conservatives and Conservative Principles Survived
Misunderstandings Concerning the Conservative Position on the Judicial Branch
Definitive Statements of Conservative Principles: the Text, Not the Test
They Are Not Conservatives
The Only Statement of Conservative Principles We Need?
One Year Ago
On Social Conservatism
Links Relating to Freedom
On the Uses of a Bill of Rights
Recurrence to Fundamental Principles
Among Other Things
One of Many Questions
Educating Legislators
The Twelve Points Compendium
Reagan
A Shared Feature, Used By the Twelve Points to Promote Conservative Principles
What is Our Plan For Communicating Conservatism and Its Principles To New Conservatives?

What is our plan for communicating conservatism and its principles to new conservatives?

As conservatives, we ought to have some plan for communicating conservative principles -- in all the detail that is needed for them to be implemented and followed -- to the largest number of people possible. This should extend beyond conservatives alone, but the movement cannot succeed unless these ideas are well-known and understood within the conservative community itself.  When the movement's memory fails or its attention wavers, we lose.  (If we win, it would be by accident. How could we intentionally implement a program of conservative reform without remembering what we're doing, and why, and how, and what we need to avoid?)

In the conservative movement, right now, what is our plan for communicating all of these ideas? Do we have one?

There are organizations and people who are making valuable efforts to make these ideas known to conservatives, among others, but the Twelve Points distill and concentrate the conservative philosophy and state it clearly, concisely, and memorably. For the conservative movement to continue on without the Twelve Points would be like traveling across the country without a vehicle. It could be done, but it would take a longer time than necessary, it would be difficult, and there would be a substantial possibility that we would fail.

The answer is clear: read and re-read the Twelve Points.  Endorse the Twelve Points.  Spread the word!  Recent history makes it clear that we can no longer simply assume that other self-described "conservatives" agree with us; that they truly understand the Constitution, rather than simply using it as a slogan or rallying point; that they are as interested in freedom as they are in invoking its name; that they understand that morality and responsibility are not incompatible with freedom, unless they are made incompatible by people who understand neither morals nor liberty; and that the future of the conservative movement may depend upon our ability and willingness to give greater emphasis and care to applications of our principles that, though familiar to us, have not yet been given prominence.  If we want to be united and strong, and if we want conservatives to understand conservatism itself, we will have to make it so.  We need the Twelve Points.

http://www.the12points.com/p/twelve-points.html

Jeffersonian Wisdom

"With those, too, not yet rallied to the same point, the disposition to do so is gaining strength; facts are piercing through the veil drawn over them; and our doubting brethren will at length see, that the mass of their fellow citizens, with whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to principles and measures, think as they think, and desire what they desire; that our wish, as well as theirs, is, that the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public good, that peace be cultivated, civil and religious liberty unassailed, law and order preserved; equality of rights maintained, and that state of property, equal or unequal, which results to every man from his own industry, or that of his fathers.

"When satisfied of these views, it is not in human nature that they should not approve and support them; in the meantime, let us cherish them with patient affection; let us do them justice, and more than justice, in all competitions of interest; and we need not doubt that truth, reason, and their own interests, will at length prevail, will gather them into the fold of their country, and will complete their entire union of opinion, which gives to a nation the blessing of harmony, and the benefit of all its strength."

- President Thomas Jefferson, Second Inaugural Address

Comment on the Political Climate

At InTheAgora, recently, I posted this comment on the current political climate in the United States:

"...I do actually agree that the political climate has really soured and that it has been worse for the past several years than it was in either 2001 or early 2005.  Actually, I also think that it is snowballing and that something needs to be done about it...."

"I do not think that angry political commentary caused the shooter to do what he did.  Those YouTube videos of his make me wonder whether he was even capable of following that kind of commentary enough that he would be able to react to it or act on it in some way.  Still, for two reasons, I think that the shooting ought to be making people think about how things have gotten out of control, in politics.

"First, even if paranoid rumors and caustic political commentary did not cause this shooting, they could lead to something similar in the future.  It would be worthwhile for people to calm down and keep their claims about the other side rooted in reality, at least.

"Second, until Saturday, there would have been a lot of people who would have claimed that Rep. Giffords is a subversive agent of some sort of 100-year 'progressive' plot to uproot Americanescence and import socialism, who cannot be trusted, and who intends to cause us harm.  (There are others, of course, who assume similarly unlikely things about conservatives or Republicans.)  I do not know how many people would still say that about her, now, but I think that a lot of people have been shocked back into reality and into realizing that, first, she is a person (which is the most important fact, since people are something that we ought to treat with respect and care about), second, there is no evidence worth acknowledging that she is a part of some ominous plot against America, and third, she very likely meant/means well.

"The lesson is that we should make a point of recognizing these things even when the person in question hasn’t been shot.  I do not expect politics to become perfectly civil and honest, but we need to build up some sort of 'herd immunity' to guard against the spread of anti-[the other side] hysteria.  More people need to remember that even though criticizing the 'other side' is normal in politics, we need to be responsible, stay calm, avoid assuming the worst about the other side, and stop buying into everything that we hear others saying against them."

It is important for each of us to remember, also, that this excess is not just something that our opponents do.  Recognize the possibility that you, yourself, need to be a little more calm and a little more careful in deciding what to believe and who to accuse.