What is “the Right”? Over the next several months, Giving Ventures will be exploring this question through a series of interviews with leaders in the conservative and libertarian space. From the libertarians to the traditionalists, the national conservatives and the New Right—this series will give you a sense of the scope and diversity on the American Right.
In this inaugural episode, we’re considering Freedom Conservatism. Launched in response to the increasingly popularity of nationalism and populism in conservative quarters, Freedom Conservatism aims to preserve a Reaganite understanding of classical liberalism. To help unpack what it means to be a “FreeCon,” Peter is joined by Avik Roy and John Hood, who helped launch the Freedom Conservatism movement with a
Statement of Principles in the summer of 2023. That statement boasts signers like former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, columnist George Will, and former Heritage Foundation President Kay Cole James.
John Hood is president of the John William Pope Foundation, based in Raleigh, and previously spent many years running North Carolina’s free-market think tank, the John Locke Foundation. Avik Roy is the founder and chairman of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a think tank focused on promoting market-based solutions to economic and social issues affecting low- and middle-income Americans.
The Need for a New Label
While the American Right has always been divided into warring factions, most conservatives and libertarians have agreed on the importance of classical liberal values like limited government, free markets, and personal liberty. Avik points out that the tensions between freedom and virtue or order are not new; thinkers have been debating these issues since the dawn of classical liberal thought. “These are very old questions,” he says. “Donald Trump was a catalyst of reigniting those debates within the conservative movement.”
While something of a consensus balancing freedom and order seemed to emerge in the Reagan years, the 21st century has seen a breakdown in that consensus. Today, many on the Right take issue with free markets, envision a more expansive role for the federal government, and seek to limit personal freedoms in pursuit of cultural victories. As John tells Peter, issues that “traditionally divided the American Right from the American Left now are dividing groups on the American Right.”
Recognizing the need to plant a flag for Reaganite conservatism, John and Avik launched the “FreeCon” movement two years ago. “We could have called ourselves ‘classical-liberal conservatives’ or ‘LibCons,’” John jokes. But Freedom Conservatism seemed the more marketable label. While detractors might criticize the FreeCons as stuck in the 1980s, John insists it’s a movement that looks forwards while remaining rooted in the history of the conservative movement.
And those fresh ideas coming from the New Right and National Conservatives? “These are the oldest ideas in human experience,” John says. “What the NatCons want to do is take us to a discredited, unsuccessful past.” The FreeCons, on the other hand, seek to conserve the revolutionary agenda of the American Founding and its classical liberalism.
A Big Tent for Freedom
Freedom Conservatism may stand united in its opposition to both the Left and illiberal ideas on the Right, but not all FreeCons think alike. “We have robust disagreements,” says John, “mostly on matters of tactics or timing or priorities, but I would say a third of the time the differences are more substantial than that.”
The signers of the Statement of Principles reflect this diversity. From former Republican elected officials to thinkers and researchers associated with a wide variety of organizations FreeCon signatories span a range of policy preferences with shared conservative principles. John cites the challenge of the American family: “Most FreeCons recognize that we’ve got a problem with family structure and with fertility rates. … But exactly what should you do about that? How much should the government be involved? … Those are the kinds of conversations that FreeCons can have where they’re not going to agree.”
If you want to learn more about the ideas driving Freedom Conservatism and how its leaders are working to shape the future of the American Right, listen to the full conversation on Giving Ventures, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
