Former Republican Ethan Grey explains what Republicans really want
Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. —Frank Wilhoit
Then much of progressivism is actually conservative, or at least very similar (social norms often replace law here).
The word “progressive” is the wrong word choice here, but you are definitely following the bread trail toward the right conclusion. ;-)
Can you explain more? I think I get what you mean, but I can’t think of examples.
The dynamic of “oppressed” and “privileged” groups contains elements of this, where the “oppressed” groups are protected and not bound, while the “privileged” groups are bound and not protected. Scare quotes are used primarily because some groups that I would say are oppressed are sometimes deemed privileged.
Can you give a specific example? Christians, homosexuals, gun owners? I think the article deals with white male hierarchy, are they oppressed AND privileged?
Jews are the group I was thinking of. A lot of left-wing anti-Zionism leans into antisemitism, justified by a false sense that Jews are privileged.
Wait are you talking the center right leftist in the United States or actual left leftists. Because the former isn’t really a thing. And even the latter is a pretty specious claim. I mean I could definitely see a few communists etc being upset with bankers and capitalists in general. But that =!= Jews/antisemitism.
Well, nazbols exist but I can’t say that there’s enough of them to really qualify. Maybe in eastern Europe? I’ve heard its a more common ideology there. I wouldn’t really call them leftists though
Wouldn’t that make them intrinsically conservative and not actual leftist/progressives? There are pro-life homosexuals.
Yep, republicans hate Americans and want to control every aspect of our lives. They hate freedom, whenever they see anyone expressing their liberty in a way they themselves wouldn’t they want to ban it.
The same line of thought is quoted in a noteworthy article (archived) by Cory Doctorow.
This goes quite nicely with the post where I learned about Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
Was that post related to politics? I find sovereign citizens fascinating.
Indeed, it was a post over on kbin titled “Nearly a quarter of Republicans say classified docs charges make them more likely to support Trump: poll” https://kbin.social/m/politics/t/160848
Republicans are for small government? What? Hahaha are they minarchists now? Lololol
Wow, you guys need to touch some grass
Funny you mention touching grass. Michael Parenti dedicates an entire chapter about how marijuana was used by Nixon to galvanize white moderates against the hippies during the Vietnam War in “Blackshirts and Reds.” You can even read it outside… on the grass.
I thought it was all about “sticking it to Mexico.”
ok
No, it isn’t.
In your opinion, what is it then?
Heh, see, the user you replied to is doing the thing. A rational and logical argument that leads you towards a specific conclusion. That sounds a lot like being told what to do. Their response was essentially “you can’t tell me what to do”.
My journey into trying to understand the conservative ideology began after Trump. I wanted to know what makes them tick. After exploring, I settled on Religion/Racism. But something wasn’t right. Which led me to authoritarianism and hierarchy. That was it. But why preserve hierarchy? Which led me to social dynamics and capitalism. What baffles me is that most are unaware that this is what they are preserving.
I had a similar journey, around the same time. As an engineer, I tried to evaluate the situation in the same way that I’d analyze a system failure - that is, by conducting a “5 whys” (otherwise known as an RCA) in an attempt to drill down to the true root cause. I came to the exact same conclusions, along pretty much the same lines of investigation and research.
Fascinating. Good to know I’m not the only one. I try to tell others about it, but they make me feel like a leper.
Lol are you me?
I’ve been low key trying to broach the subject with my family for fucking YEARS, and until about a month ago, nobody seemed concerned at all. I’d try to build a logical argument, and get shut down by “oh our society and government has guardrails for these sorts of things”.
Like, ok, fine. Let’s for the sake of argument assume that’s true (though I think at this point, that’s been decisively disproven). Tell me what the guardrails are, and let’s discuss how effective they’ve been at limiting authoritarian oversteps by one particular political party (and yes, I’m also very done tiptoeing around the fact that there is one political party that’s turning into overt fascists, and that the party in question is the GOP).
Answer: our guardrails haven’t been effectively guarding anything. The only reason January 6th wasn’t a successful coup by the Republican Party is because a handful of people were like “ok this is a little too fucked up for me to go all in on”. We CANNOT rely on the ethics of a half dozen or so bureaucrats slamming on the brakes next time, because next time, they’re going to replace all the people with a semblance of ethics with people who don’t have any ethics before they go for it.
I’m glad people are starting to actually see and understand what’s been going on with the seriousness it deserves, but it still feels like it’s too few people, and they’re not realizing it fast enough. We’ll see how this all pans out in a few years, I guess…
I’m pessimistic in the short term, but optimistic for the future. I don’t think the current iteration of fascism can be stopped (hope I’m wrong). We’re not taught this stuff in schools, by design. And people don’t have the educational foundation nor the psychological ability to break down why we do what we do. On January 6, I laughed because they were doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.
To add: this is why my comment history is so cynical. All the posts about Trump, DeSantis, etc. aren’t getting to the root cause, just noise.
If you have any idea on how to get from here to there, let me know. I’ve been listening to David McRaney recently, he has some good ideas about how to talk to the less aware.
What thing? I didn’t put nearly as much thought into my comment as you think I did.
That much is patently obvious
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@momotimetodie is a huge troll. Worth a block.
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I’d be interested if you did put some thought into it. I genuinely want to know what you think 🤔
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Not trying to demonize. I think todays conservatives meet the criteria for fascism.
Fascism is generally defined as a political movement that embraces far-right nationalism and the forceful suppression of any opposition, all overseen by an authoritarian government. Fascists strongly oppose Marxism, liberalism and democracy, and believe the state takes precedence over individual interests. They favor centralized rule, often a single party or leader, and embrace the idea of a national rebirth, a new greatness for their country. Economic self-sufficiency is prized, often through state-controlled companies. Youth, masculinity and strength are highly fetishized.
Can you help me understand how that’s not MAGA?
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Umberto Eco defined fascism (well, ur-fascism - or the warning signs of fascism-on-the-rise) across a detailed 14 point list of traits.
The GOP checks all 14.
They are fascist because the literally meet all the criteria & traits of fascism.
For those wondering what ideology the U.S. Presidents fall into here you go. When you strip away the political party you can see the trends in U.S. History. This is also U.S. Presidents’ ranked as well.
