About
The Twelve Points are a statement of conservative principles, objectives, philosophy, and additional guiding considerations, composed by Karl Born, a young Indianapolis writer and attorney, beginning in early 2008, completed on July 2, 2009. The idea for the Twelve Points, along with several of the points, came from the "Seven Points," an older statement of conservative principles, created by a group of young conservatives at Indiana University, in 2003: Grand Old Cause. The purpose of the Twelve Points is to serve as a delivery mechanism for distilled, concentrated conservative thinking, offered in order to return completeness and clarity to popular conservatism, to spread knowledge of the true principles of conservatism throughout the conservative community, and to focus and promote agreement among conservatives. Over the past two decades, the conservative movement has lost its uniting sense of direction, which has rendered it confused, frustrated, and impotent. Certain crucial conservative principles and concepts have faded from our common memory and lost their rightful influence and, consequently, our fellow conservatives (including conservative leaders) too often can no longer be relied upon to understand them, to be committed to them, or to apply and advance them in a coherent way. No conservative should be satisfied with the results that this has produced in American public policy. The Twelve Points will help to solve this problem, this statement of conservative principles being an instrument by which we may frequently recur to these fundamental principles and keep points of conservative thought freshly in our minds, teach conservative thought to the newer and younger conservatives, and provide all conservatives with a means of together affirming that, yes, we still care about these conservative principles, and conservative principles still define this movement. Send your questions or ideas to the12points@gmail.com! | Best of the Old BlogThe following are links to some of the most important posts from the older, blog version of this site:The Theme Why the Twelve Points are Needed Memory The Twelve Points are Unique Conservatism: Many Principles, One Philosophy Just the "Points" Up to Speed We Can Make This Happen All the Pure, Concentrated Conservatism That Five Pages Can Hold Origin of the Twelve Points 165 Sub-Points No Ordinary Year Misunderstandings Concerning the Conservative Position on the Judicial Branch Small Government Conservatives and Conservative Principles Survived Another Discussion of the Division of Conservatives The First Point The Idea of Conservatism Americans Still Have Responsibilities Under The Constitution The Purpose of the Twelve Points as a Definitive Statement of Conservative Principles They Are Not Conservatives Definitive Statements of Conservative Principles: The Text, Not the Test Helping to Confirm that "Social Conservatism" Used To Be Understood As Concerning a Broader Range of Issues On the Twelve Points and Conservative Principles, One Year Later The Only Statement of Conservative Principles We Need? Just A Good Thing To Keep In Mind On The Uses of A Bill of Rights Links Relating to Freedom Among Other Things One of Many Questions Educating Legislators Reagan A Shared Feature What Is Our Plan for Communicating Conservatism And Its Principles To New Conservatives? Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address II Ensure Understanding of Conservative Principles, Before The End |