Modern political conservatism is fond of occasional statements of comprehensive principles, letting the world know there is something deeper at work than mere political jockeying. An eloquent new entry in that field came July 12 with the publication of something aptly called “ Freedom Conservatism .”

Explicitly paying homage to the tradition of the venerated Sharon Statement , promulgated by about 100 young people at the Buckley family estate in Connecticut in 1960, the Freedom Conservatism statement (which I, too, have signed) makes clear that what we would “conserve” is not some immutable natural order but, instead, the ideals of ordered liberty on which the United States was founded. Neither reactionary nor stultified, conservatism (correctly understood) allows for free men with free choice, working through free markets and freely formed cultural institutions, to build communities without heavy-handed government compulsion.

Free conservatives may be nationalists and may be traditionalists, but it is the system guaranteeing freedom, not the nationalism or traditionalism, which is primary and essential. Likewise, conservatism may at times embrace populist elements (as former President Ronald Reagan’s conservatism surely did), but it is not and cannot be defined by a populist instinct.

For that reason, the very first principle in the new statement is liberty, with this elegant explanation: “Among Americans’ most fundamental rights is the right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force: a right that, in turn, derives from the inseparability of free will from what it means to be human. Liberty is indivisible, and political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom.” Much of that language comes directly from the 1960s Sharon Statement, by the way, establishing a continuity of purpose and belief.

Implicitly arguing against industrial policy, “nationalist” economics, and (of course) crony capitalism, the statement gives full endorsement to the essentials of the “economic freedom” described above.

“The free enterprise system is the foundation of prosperity,” it says. “We commit to reducing the cost of living through competitive markets, greater individual choice, and free trade with free people, while upholding the rule of law, freedom of contract, and freedom of association.”

Somewhat daringly (considering today’s political climate), the statement says that an openness to outsiders is a salutary part of freedom, so that “immigration is a principal driver of American prosperity and achievement.” But note this, and note it well: this is not a call to lawlessness nor a diminution of sovereignty. Liberty must have order. Thus, “The United States, as a sovereign nation, has the right to secure its borders and design a rational immigration policy — built on the rule of law — that advances the interests and values of American citizens.”

And on foreign policy, Freedom Conservatism continues to insist that this is a good and moral nation with interests, values, and actions that make the whole Earth better. Thus, again borrowing language directly from the Sharon Statement, it says, “American foreign policy must be judged by one criterion above all: its service to the just interests of the United States.”

There’s more, of course. The whole thing is worth a read at https://www.freedomconservatism.org/ .

Granted, there’s nothing earth-shattering here. There is, however, a not-explicitly-stated but very real importance, in that the document amounts to an attempt to stand athwart current trends in the Republican Party and among some, uh, “ professional” elements of what once was the conservative movement. Conservatism must not be in thrall (or hock) to one leader or one orthodoxy (aside from that of the primacy of ordered liberty itself), much less to one set of mindless slogans.

Consider Freedom Conservatism, then, a flag of principle around which the wise and honest can repair . It is a standard that should be neither trumped nor torn.