Conservative columnist William F. Buckley, Jr., smiles after a luncheon for Vice President Spiro Agnew held at Buckley’s residence in New Yor, Dec. 14, 1970. (AP Photo/Harry Harris)
The number of people claiming to be conservatives has increased over the past few years, though only a portion of them are “principled conservatives.” That distinction is important, because a person who isn’t a principled conservative likely isn’t a conservative at all.
A defining characteristic of conservatism is an embrace of certain time-tested principles. In 1960, 100 young conservatives convened at National Review editor William F. Buckley’s home in Sharon, Conn., to draft a set of 12 principles, referred to as the “Sharon Statement,” which defined the post-war conservative movement. Recently, the Principles First group and the Freedom Conservatives adopted a similar set of principles, as has Our Republican Legacy.
Liberals and progressives, by contrast, adopt goals instead of principles, such as striving for a government-run health care system, universal basic income, and a unionized workforce. For them, principles are obstacles to their goals. The ends justify the means.
To be a principled conservative, one needs to generally agree with the basic principles that have defined a conservative worldview for decades and stand by those principles even if doing so doesn’t lead to a preferred outcome.
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Congratulations on an absolutely spectacular editorial. It needed to be said.