Trump: Not a "Conservative" but an "Anti-Progressive"

[TJ in Oregon]

Anti-progressive?  Do we really need a new word to replace "reactionary"?

Are the only two options here "progressive" and "reactionary"? I mean, there are a zillion ideologies: liberal, libertarian, nationalist, mercantilist, interventionist, etc. that are neither inherently progressive nor inherently reactionary. It makes perfect sense to say Trump is neither progressive nor reactionary, though he is clearly actively anti-progressive while he couldn't care less about reactionaries.

[TJ in Oregon]

Anti-progressive?  Do we really need a new word to replace "reactionary"?

Are the only two options here "progressive" and "reactionary"? I mean, there are a zillion ideologies: liberal, libertarian, nationalist, mercantilist, interventionist, etc. that are neither inherently progressive nor inherently reactionary. It makes perfect sense to say Trump is neither progressive nor reactionary, though he is clearly actively anti-progressive while he couldn't care less about reactionaries.

Whether Trump himself is really reactionary is beside the point. His whole campaign was waged on classic reactionary themes such as Make America Great Again that invoke a past that never was.

If simple allusion to 'past' and 'future' are what makes someone a progressive or a reactionary, then only a moron could be either. Who really thinks that just because something was in the past it was either good or bad, or simply because we're heading a certain direction that makes it the right direction? A similar sort of argument can also be made for what some people consider the definition of conservatism, the idea that we should make slow careful changes (but never undo changes that have already been made because that would be reactionary). Who in their right mind could ever hold an idea as silly as that? Support the same positions as the progressives, just do it ten years later? All of these terms are silly and pointless when viewed as referring to the trajectory of time rather than a disagreement about which direction our politics will take while continually moving forward in time.

Anyway, Trump's theme was more restorational than reactionary: restoring America to its "rightful place" in the world.

[TJ in Oregon]

Trump is a self-loving right-wing populist and protectionist with an authoritarian streak. Not a conservative. Reagan and Dubya were conservatives, Trump is not.

The significance of this is that future GOP Presidential nominating contests will not merely be a test of "Who's the REAL conservative?".  Republicans are no longer going to say, "If only we nominated a REAL conservative, we'd have won."  Those days are past.

Yeah, now it's a test between who is the most batsh**t insane. That's why Moore won in Alabama, Stewart nearly won in Virgina, and Joe Arpairo is surging in the primary.

You may like where the GOP is going, but there are a ton of millenials like me who have gotten completely turned off by the GOP partly because of Trump.

So what's your point? Is there some set of actionable suggestions you'd like to see the GOP take or have you simply dropped by to grind an axe?

[TJ in Oregon]

I'm a reactionary and I'm proud of it.

Yeah, I'm starting to agree with this. Nationalist was dumb way for Trump to phrase it. It's not that I'm pro-America. Why would I support its oppressive liberal ideals?  He should replace all references to nationalist with reactionary in the re-election bid. A return to the better times is all we seek.

But you aren't Trump. Trump is far less reactionary and more nationalistic than you are. You're also more honest.

[TJ in Oregon]

Anyway, Trump's theme was more restorational than reactionary: restoring America to its "rightful place" in the world.

That is literally the definition of what it means to be reactionary.

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I suppose one could argue that Trump is reactionary only in certain regards, but you'd hard pressed to find anyone who truly is a perfect reactionary, so quibbling in that way would be an attempt to render the term "reactionary" meaningless.

But if you take that definition as written, then virtually everyone is a reactionary in some way. For example, if the Wisconsin Democrats want to repeal Act 10 (the collective bargaining act) does that make them reactionary? They want to restore the status quo ante.