https://twitter.com/DrGW0/status/1350347226170712066
Spoiler: Yes, partly because the GOP isn't
conservative.
I think this is an interesting question. (Time to get philosophical 🤔)
The place to start, I think is how political psychologists define conservatism.
1/
2/ True conservatives, according to prof. @Jonhaidt, form a kind of yin-yang balance with liberals
ted.com/talks/jonathan…
Liberals embrace forward-looking change.
Conservatives value order.
From Haidt: the conservative insight is that order is hard to achieve and easy to lose.
ted.com/talks/jonathan…
Liberals embrace forward-looking change.
Conservatives value order.
From Haidt: the conservative insight is that order is hard to achieve and easy to lose.
3/ Reactionaries, on the other hand seek rapid change—backwards to a bygone era.
Other political psychologists (see @karen_stenner) describe conservatives as embracing a desire to maintain the status quo.
Other political psychologists (see @karen_stenner) describe conservatives as embracing a desire to maintain the status quo.
4/ If reactionaries want to go back to the past, and conservatives want to maintain the status quo, it seems to me that the nation’s history and politics change the nature of conservatism and reactionism.
5/ America, in the past—say, before the 20th century—was ruled entirely by white Christian men.
America still has racial inequality.
So a desire to keep things the same and a desire to go backwards both end up with racist objectives.
America still has racial inequality.
So a desire to keep things the same and a desire to go backwards both end up with racist objectives.
6/ Reactionary politics as embraced in the United States is extremely destructive because to get back to a bygone era when white men could do as they pleased, you have to dismantle almost the entire federal government, which will cause widespread suffering.
7/ Look what happened with Covid under the leadership of a party that doesn’t want a functioning federal government.
When people say “conservatives” they often mean reactionaries because the current GOP is not conservative. It’s reactionary.
When people say “conservatives” they often mean reactionaries because the current GOP is not conservative. It’s reactionary.
8/ So it's certainly destructive.
Whether it is self-destructive remains to be seen.
The most interesting thing happening in politics right now is that the GOP appears to be on a collusion course with time.
Whether it is self-destructive remains to be seen.
The most interesting thing happening in politics right now is that the GOP appears to be on a collusion course with time.
https://twitter.com/DrGW0/status/1350347226170712066
9/ By collision course with time, I mean that in a two party system, it will become impossible for a white-nationalist reactionary party to win national elections.
The demographics willing to embrace such a party are shrinking.
The demographics willing to embrace such a party are shrinking.
10/ All errors in my threads are entirely the fault of keyboard gremlins.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
https://twitter.com/RacTube/status/1352818376033390593
Adding: In my most recent NBC Op Ed, I argued that American politics is likely to shift from left v. right to pro-democracy v. anti-democracy.
https://twitter.com/ericowensdc/status/1352818576009420800
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