No hollow creed
Freedom Conservatism is deeply rooted in American history and values
Although hundreds of policy practitioners, scholars, journalists, and activists left our inaugural Freedom Conservatism Conference last month energized and eager for more such conversations, not everyone in the audience liked what they heard.
A correspondent for The American Conservative called the gathering “unhappy” and its speakers “completely unfit for anything that might approach effective American political leadership in 2025.”
He also claimed to hear a “negative tone” about Christianity — despite multiple speakers proudly affirming their faith and discussing its central role in their political thought and policy work — and claimed that this FreeCon 2025 keynoter was former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger:
In other words, the TAC writer described a moody gripefest from his own imagination, not the actual conference held Feb. 24 at the National Press Club in Washington.
In reality, our initial conference explained the principles of Freedom Conservatism in great detail, explored its political context, and highlighted many opportunities for FreeCons to pursue policy victories for Americans in Washington, state capitals, and local communities.
The current political momentum in favor of government downsizing and deregulation is “bigger than Reagan,” said Hoover Institution economist John Cochrane, a FreeCon signatory and speaker at the conference.
“This is bigger than Calvin Coolidge. This is the size of [Franklin] Roosevelt, in the opposite direction.”
Today we feature additional reflections on FreeCon 2025 from three young attendees.
Unapologetically American
David McGarry is research director at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and a FreeCon signatory.
In a recent piece for Fusion, he rejected claims that the FreeCon policy mix of free markets, fiscal responsibility, peace through strength, and the rule of law can no longer meet the country’s needs. For starters, Freedom Conservatism “is quintessentially, unapologetically, uniquely American,” he wrote.
“Even as American government has evolved from the system prescribed by the Constitution, certain assumptions about the nature of man and justice still obtain among the American people, hardwired into our habits, worldviews, and sympathies.
“Most Americans have not read John Locke or The Federalist, but we remain a ‘classically liberal’ people insofar as we tend to be skeptical of centralized power, are disposed to believe individuals should generally be left free to conduct their own lives and finances, and regard the United States as a successful alternative to European models of state and society.
“The fact that some antagonists cannot see that Freedom Conservatism — aside from its philosophical merits — deserves consideration because it fits the character, history, and traditions of the American people calls into question their judgment on political matters, generally.”
McGarry cheered the announcement at FreeCon 2025 that follow-up events would be held outside the nation’s capital. “Restoring constitutional balance means not just reforming the federal government, but returning many of its accumulated powers to the states.”
“Better yet,” he continued, “are private associations and institutions of civil society, especially the church and the family. As the government — and especially the federal government — cannot coerce virtue, it also cannot coerce happiness.”
Building a majority
Sam Raus is a Tech and Consumer Freedom fellow with Young Voices and a FreeCon signatory.
In his piece about FreeCon 2025, published by RealClearPolitics, Raus praised the range of voices presented throughout the daylong conference, writing that it “captured the very essence of political coalition-building and independent thinking on the Right.”
With voters decisively rejecting progressive governance during last fall’s election, now is the time for American conservatism to broaden its message, he argued.
“Whether it was the Black Lives Matter riots, the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the girls’ sports issue, the education system, or numerous other instances of ideological overreach by the Left, cultural attitudes against censorship and intellectual orthodoxy ultimately drew countless Americans into the conservative fold who otherwise might never have considered it their political home,” he wrote. “Now the Right holds the opportunity to build the majority it needs to win.”
The essence of Freedom Conservatism “isn’t lockstep agreement,” Raus continued, “but rather a shared commitment to individual liberty, economic opportunity, and the freedom to speak without fear of cancellation.
“Reagan’s success was one of a big tent — not an echo chamber. Working-class and anti-communist Democrats backed the Republican nominee for the first time ever in 1980 because of his embrace of the messy process of coalition-building.
“If conservatives work through their differences, they might just stand athwart history yelling, ‘Welcome aboard!’”
Empower civil society
Karl Beckstein is a conservative activist in Raleigh, North Carolina who attended the Freedom Conservatism Conference on Feb. 24 at the National Press Club.
“What attracts me to Freedom Conservatism is its consistency with the ideals of America’s founding,” Beckstein explained in a recent Carolina Journal column.
“As an evangelical Christian, my worldview is shaped by the belief that all people are made in the image of God — the imago Dei — and endowed with inherent dignity and purpose,” he wrote. “This conviction aligns with the Declaration of Independence’s affirmation that ‘all men are created equal,’ which informs the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.
“At the Freedom Conservatism Conference, I found high esteem for founding principles,” he continued.
“The dignity of the individual informed economic policies that encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship, while expanding opportunity for the poor. The skepticism of big government shaped strategies to reduce the size and scope of government, including balancing the budget and reforming entitlements.
“This wariness of government leads Freedom Conservatives to empower civil society — the family, churches, businesses, and civil organization — to take the lead in solving our country’s problems.
“Freedom Conservatives and National Conservatives agree on much — from cutting government spending to securing our border and stopping illegal immigration. Conservatives of all stripes, including those who don’t align strictly with either camp, will need to work together to address these challenges.
“However, in the years ahead, the competition between Freedom and National Conservatives will play a pivotal role in shaping our governing vision.”
In the mix
• In the New York Post, FreeCon signatory Stephen Moore urged the Trump administration to prioritize tax cuts over tax increases — the latter being its on-again, off-again tariff policies.
“Thanks to the Bidenomics hangover, the US economy is fragile — as the most recent job numbers and GDP estimates are signaling,” wrote Moore and Steve Forbes, both co-founders of Unleash Prosperity.
“That means America needs a shot of economic steroids to steer clear of the post-Biden recession iceberg.”
Focus now on extending and building on the 2017 tax cuts, they argued, and the administration can then turn to negotiating trade deals in the future from a position of greater strength. “Given the wobbly economy, now is not the time to risk even short-term pain.”
• At National Review Online, FreeCon signatory Charles C.W. Cooke also argued that President Trump was putting his second administration at risk by picking trade wars and other unnecessary fights.
“Americans don’t care what ‘influencers’ have to say, they do not consider themselves to be represented by them, and they do not believe that they are a part of some world-historical revolutionary vanguard,” wrote Cooke, an NR senior editor and host of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast.
“They disliked the Democrats and wanted the basics fixed, so they chose Trump and the Republicans to run the federal government. That’s it. That’s literally all there is to this.
“The Republicans can either do the job well or do the job badly, but they will have to deal with the consequences of their choice.”
• In The Washington Examiner, FreeCon signatory Jessica Melugin warned that the president’s latest nominee to the Federal Trade Commission, Mark Meador, is more likely to continue the Biden administration’s heavy-handed policies than to champion free markets.
“Advocates of traditional conservative ‘light touch’ antitrust regulation” had hoped the FTC would return to a consumer-welfare standard for assessing mergers and acquisitions, wrote Melugin, director of the Center for Technology & Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, but Meador and Trump-appointed chairman Andrew Ferguson may be headed toward “ a more interventionist, populist approach.”