Differ on Preference

“He’s a principled conservative.”

After working within the conservative movement, it’s not clear to me what this statement means.

But I think it means something like this: There’s a conservative view of things that is the truth, therefore, he stands on that truth no matter the costs, achieves top marks on legislative scorecards, and those who don’t hold to principles might be nice to people but they’ll never be champions in political terms, and so ultimately, they will be the downfall of the Republic. But unfortunately sometimes conservatives don’t stand on principles because of the needs of their district, personal preferences, or political pressure.

In this context “principles” are confusing and disorienting rather than providing clear direction and standards for excellence.

President Thomas Jefferson, who authored the Declaration of Independence at 33 years old, as the American states separated from the British Crown, offered us relief from the tyranny of poorly defined principles in his First Inaugural Address:

“Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.”

Ultimately, by separating from Great Britain the founders made a bet that we could govern ourselves—and we can, when we differ on preference and have the intellectual honesty to admit that we differ on preference. When we acknowledge that that there are principles at the root of our preferences, and that much of our conversations are about those preferences, we have the relief of being able to create new solutions without violating any principles. You can view a list of principles for American unity here.

Finally, inspiration for American unity is about the human story and the policy research of how we govern ourselves to get the best out of ourselves. You can get your copy of Volume One with a $55 donation here.  

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Mission: Inspire American Unity

Liberatus is a political organization and publication exploring how we make our country more just and free for the next generation. We create inspiration for American unity in beautiful, well-researched and faith-rooted illustrated journals, written by professionals across the spectrum, to inspire lifestyles where we collaborate, build trust, and build endurance—because nothing changes if nothing changes.

Journal Entry #152

ISSUE 022: FOUNDATIONAL ETHOS — PART 3