Initial reaction to the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles
Hundreds of thousands of readers on the first day of publication.
As journalists, commentators, scholars, politicos, and others continue to react to the publication of the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles, we’ll collect the most interesting pieces and send them your way. Hundreds of thousands of people read the statement within the first few hours, either at freedomconservatism.org or on social media, while many more read about our announcement in news articles, columns, and posts.
Here’s a sampling of what we saw on release day:
In a popular Twitter thread, signatory Avik Roy, president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, explained the statement of principles in detail. He also described how it came to be. “I’m honored by the diverse and impressive group of freedom conservative leaders who signed onto this Statement of Principles,” Roy said. “They hail from every corner of the movement, geographically and intellectually.”
John Hood, president of the John William Pope Foundation and one of our signatories, wrote this piece for RealClearPolitics. “We stress what we are for, not what we’re against,” Hood wrote. “We offer real solutions to pressing problems, not utopian dreams or authoritarian schemes. We believe in free enterprise, free trade, free speech, strong families, balanced budgets, and the rule of law. We champion equal protection and equal opportunity. We think Washington has too much power and our states, communities, private associations, and household have too little. We believe Americans are safest and freest in a peaceful world that is led by a United States committed to pursuing its just interests.”
Stephanie Slade covered the announcement for Reason magazine, where she is a senior editor. “Whereas the New Right is loosely united by skepticism, if not hostility, toward classical liberal norms and institutions,” she wrote, “the ‘FreeCons’ seek to revive a fusionist approach.”
The Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Press-Telegram, and several other California newspapers republished the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles in its entirety.
The Independent Women’s Forum issued a press release about its president, Carrie Lukas, signing the statement. “So much media coverage today focuses on personalities and tries to obscure the principles that are at stake in ongoing policy debates,” Lukas said. “This makes it more important than ever that we are clear about the principles that bring us together and animate our movement.” Lukas also did an interview about the statement on Washington’s news/talk station WMAL.
Writing in Carolina Journal, John Locke Foundation president Donald Bryson explained his rationale for signing the statement: “As some seek to make conservatism more relevant in American politics, now is not the time to abandon its rich history of preserving freedom.”
The Nevada Policy Research Institute issued a press release about its president, John Tsarpalas, signing the statement. “It is through policies that encourage free market solutions, protect individual liberties, eliminate unnecessary government restrictions and seek equality of opportunity rather than equality of outcome that we can build a better America and offer hope of freedom and prosperity to all,” Tsarpalas said.
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