Young Americans, Old Freedoms

[Valin]

The American Spectator:

Quin Hillyer
9.10.10

A few hundred conservative activists will be gathering at the Mayflower hotel in Washington D.C. today and tomorrow to celebrate one of the seminal events of the conservative movement, which happened 50 years ago on these same two days of the calendar. "A Tribute to Sharon: Celebrating 50 Years of Advancing Liberty" will commemorate the founding of Young Americans for Freedom and the adoption of what for 50 years has stood as the single best compendium of American conservative movement beliefs -- the Sharon Statement.

If you read the statement itself, you'll immediately grasp its eloquence and the importance of its timeless values. The statement, and the conference, deserve a column-cum-virtual-advertisement all their own, which will follow this paragraph. But there's a wonderful back story, too, so please stay tuned for later paragraphs even if the conference itself doesn't interest you (although it ought to do so).

(Snip)

Imagine you are a conservative activist on a decidedly liberal campus down south. You receive a letter dated August 16, 1960, from recent Georgetown graduate Douglas Caddy and the "Interim Committee for a National Conservative Youth Organization" (the committee included Suzanne Regnery of the conservative publishing family, and Kolbe, later a congressman, and 10 other worthies). "America stands at the crossroads today," the letter opened. "Will our nation continue to follow the path towards socialism or will we turn towards Conservatism and freedom? The final answer to this question lies with America's youth…. An intercollegiate society for Conservative youth has been in operation for several years… in bringing about a Conservative intellectual revival on the campus. Many feel that now is the time to organize a complementary nationwide youth movement which would be designed almost solely for political action -- implementing and coordinating the aspirations of Conservative youth into a dynamic and effective political force."

(Snip)



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We've come a long way.....ok break times over...get back to work!