Category: Conservatism
-
Did the United States Defeat the Soviet Union Only to Become Another Soviet Union?
I have posed this question in several forms over the past few years. In his latest, Publius Decius Mus offers an excellent exposition and answer: Comprehensive Conservative Failure If I may address professional conservatives directly: It seems to me undeniable that you have already failed. Don’t take it personally. I can rephrase that as “we”…
-
Conservatism, Inc. Wants Trump to Lose
The latest from Publius Decius Mus.
-
Scholars and Writers for Trump
How could any decent person vote for the obnoxious, self-absorbed, truth-indifferent jackass Donald Trump? Here are reasons you ought to consider.
-
Further Questions About the ‘Alternative Right’
Jacques, in a debate in an earlier thread with Bob the Ape (sic!) writes: [. . .] The mere fact that conservatism, or western civilization more generally, is the product of a specific group does not _imply_ that "it must remain the exclusive property of that group, or that that group is essential for its existence".…
-
More on the Alternative Right
What exactly is the alternative right (alt-right), and how does it differ from other views on the right? Yesterday I argued that John Derbyshire's definition is useless because too broad. Jacques by e-mail contributes the following: If the alt-right is simply the (or a) right-wing alternative to the mainstream or dominant kind of conservatism, you…
-
So What is Alt-Right Anyway?
John Derbyshire gives the following answer (HT: Malcolm Pollack): So what, in my opinion, makes the Alt-Right a distinct thing — not by any means a party, a faction, or a movement, but a collection of souls with something in common? Here's my answer: We don't like flagrant nonsense in the discussion of human affairs. We…
-
Immigration, Nationalism, and Xenophobia
R. R. Reno talks sense over at First Things: Trump insists that anyone residing in the United States illegally is subject to deportation. Many commentators regard such comments as inflammatory. I am baffled by their outrage. What, exactly, is meant by “illegal” if the lawbreaker is immune from consequences? I am baffled too. No reasonable…
-
Why a Conservative Should Vote for Trump
Dennis Prager makes the case. He concludes (emphasis added): Therefore, with another four years of Democrat-left rule — meaning a nearly permanent left-wing Supreme Court and left-wing-controlled lower courts; the further erosion of federalism; an exponential growth in the power of the federal government; further leftist control of education; and the de-Americanization of America in…
-
Trump and the Conservative Cause
A very rich and perceptive essay by Charles Kesler. The following passage illustrates what Keith Burgess-Jackson calls 'academentia': It’s no coincidence that the two loudest, most consequential socio-political forces in America right now are Political Correctness and Donald Trump. One is at home on college campuses, the other in the world of working people.…
-
Will the ‘True Conservative’ Please Stand Up?
Every morning I find a new batch of anti-Trump articles by so-called conservatives. These anti-Trumpsters clearly see the man's many negatives, but most of them refuse to come clean on the question: "Do you advocate not voting for Trump thereby aiding and abetting a Clinton victory? Yes or no?" Add to the list Michael Gerson…
-
Conservatives in Academia
Virginia Postrel: A few days after the 2004 election, Gabriel Rossman went for a job interview with the UCLA sociology department. Rossman was finishing a doctorate at Princeton, and his research on how ownership affects mass-media content was a good fit for a school in the entertainment capital. He got the job as an assistant…
-
Can Evil be Eradicated?
To be precise, my question is this: Is there one root of all evil such that this root is (i) empirically identifiable, and (ii) eliminable by human effort alone? Can we humans locate and remove the one source of all evil? My claim is that an affirmative answer is at once both false and extremely…
-
What Some of Us Conservatives Have in Common with Some Muslims
A neo-reactionary I was arguing with a while back claimed in effect that I have more in common with Muslims than I do with contemporary liberals. This entry will begin an exploration of this theme. A reader the other day referred me to to Sayyid Qutb (Milestones p.120): If the family is the basis of…