Posted on 07/30/2004 3:46:39 PM PDT by Doug Loss
This is the beginning of a statement of principles for the organization we're trying to start. It came out of a Townhall meetup, where we decided that we wanted to be more than just a kvetching get-together. I envision it as an educational society, to explain conservatism to people in terms they will understand and agree with. Once we get them to understand the fundamental underpinnings of our beliefs, we should be able to enlist their help in putting them into practice. This is just the beginning of this statement of principles, and any observations and suggestions will be greatly welcome. The following is the statement as I've written it so far.
"Our organization is dedicated to explaining the principles that underlie our conservative political and moral philosophies, and to convincing others of the rightness of those principles.
"The first and foremost principle of conservatism is personal responsibility. Wherever a person stands in the conservative field, be he a fiscal conservative, a social conservative, a libertarian, or some blend of these, personal responsibility underlies his beliefs. By personal responsibility we mean the understanding that the individual is ultimately responsible for what happens to him, and is the best person to make the decisions that affect him, his property, and his relationships with others.
"A related but somewhat different principle is stewardship. We are each responsible for creating and maintaining a just and civil society and must not stand by and depend solely on the beneficence of an overarching authority to do so for us, but must be active in doing so for ourselves and our fellow citizens. In this sense we are all stewards of our society."
That's all I have so far, but I have high hopes that you can help me expand it and that it might even be useful to others for purposes similar to what we have in mind. Thanks for your input!
The turn will come when we entrust the conduct of our affairs to men who understand that their first duty as public officials is to divest themselves of the power they have been given. It will come when Americans, in hundreds of communities throughout the nation, decide to put the man in office who is pledged to enforce the Constitution and restore the Republic. Who will proclaim in a campaign speech: "I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' 'interests,' I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can.
I like your statement! May I use it? But I see it as best used in educational and motivational material after we've convinced people ot the fundamental correctness of our principles. This describes very well some of the means of putting those principles into practice!
To take back the legislative power from the activist court justices [the "oligarchy"] (who illegally in my mind make laws or declare laws unconstitutional, that they are not authorized to make) and give it back to the legislative branch [Congress] where it belongs. Congress should also limit the court's powers. I'm not sure, but I think that is the job and responsibility of the House of Representatives?
Check out the GOP platform of 1900 AD.
Good stuff in there.
Is it on-line somewhere?
The bus stopped to let on (or off, I forget) a passenger. They driver and the man started arguing about how much the fare was. The driver said it was 18 drachma, the passenger said it was only 17 drachma.
At first they were arguing in Greek but after several minutes switched to English because there were several foreigners on board; the rest of us were getting perturbed at the delay, and each man wanted to make his case.I was doubled over and almost passed out in pain. Several passengers offered to pay the extra drachma to settle the dispute but the driver would not accept it and the man would not allow it.
Both the driver and the passenger were standing up facing the other passengers and shouting, "IT'S THE PRINCIPAAAL, IT'S THE PRINCIPAAAL!". Yhis went on for about 15 minutes but it seemed like hours to me.
At that time a drachma was worth about 1/2 cent.
I no longer worship principles solely for the sake of principles. They're OK for making quick decisions, such as following the principle that one should always stop at red lights, or never eat raw oysters in a month without an "r" in it, but there is no absolute principle except perhaps survival of the species.
If an issue is really important, it should be resolved by the application of facts, logic and reasoning, not blind allegiance to some principle.
So my suggstion for a principle is: "No principle is absolute." Good luck.
I think you missed my point, Rod. Principles are the organizing bases of our beliefs. I'm not calling for a blind obedience to specific tenets of some political faith; rather, I'm trying to define what the basic ideals are from which the conservative programs and activities are derived. What you're calling principles are what I'd call rules of thumb.
As long as you don't get them confused with holy commandments.
I'm not entirely sure of this, but I think he may have just been quoting a Goldwater speech. In which case, anybody can use it.
The realization there is greater wealth then money and possessions. I don't like double standards, especially when one is tied to money, and nothing more. I get perturbed, maybe too easily sometimes.
The recent flag burning amendment perturbed me. The idea of protecting the flag is commendable, but the amendment fell quite short. It would allow the continued commercialization of the flag. Using the flag to promote sales or make garments is disgraceful. Unfortunately, very few people still remember protecting the flag means from all misuse.
I don't like that our government makes every effort to end recognition of Saturdays and Sundays as days of family and faith, and just so some businesses can pursue greater wealth.
Some things are much more valuable then money. Unfortunately, we are at a place in time where people have envisioned money and wealth as conservative values. In so doing, the United States of America is for sale.
So, for me, a conservative is someone that protects tradition and principles, especially when tempted by money.
Respectfully, I believe your approach leads to a slippery, slippery slope that leads to where we are today. The primary principle of the Founders was that government is a necessary evil that should be kept as small as possible, and from that the Bill of Rights was passed to define what it may (and more importantly, by omission, may NOT do). Had we kept this primary principle at the forefront the last 160 years, rather than ignoring it in the interest of "need" or "pragmatism", we would not be in the shape we are in.
"The first and foremost principle of conservatism is personal responsibility.
Wherever a person stands in the conservative field, be he a fiscal conservative, a social conservative, a libertarian, or some blend of these, personal responsibility underlies his beliefs.
By personal responsibility we mean the understanding that the individual is ultimately responsible for what happens to him, and is the best person to make the decisions that affect him, his property, and his relationships with others."
"A related but somewhat different principle is stewardship. We are each responsible for creating and maintaining a just and civil society and must not stand by and depend solely on the beneficence of an overarching authority to do so for us, but must be active in doing so for ourselves and our fellow citizens.
In this sense we are all stewards of our society."
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Our basic principles for maintaining a just and civil society are declared in the first ten Amendments to our Constitution, the supreme Law of the Land.
All citizens are bound by oath or affirmation to support our rights to life, liberty and property under due process of law; -- thus it is not only their right, it is their duty, -- to throw off those who abuse the powers of government.
That which is "...long established should not be changed for light and transient causes."
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