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

[JA]

It has been pretty obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of political philosophy and history that Trump and his base aren't Conservative. They aren't trying to conserve anything; they're past that point because they no longer believe the institutions are in their hands. Since the institutions and positions of power they once held no longer belong to them, they're determined to undermine, overthrow, or "restore" them to their previous state - under the dominance of White Christian heterosexual men.

Trump is more or less using this real reactionary element in American society for his personal benefit.

Um, this is all what "conservative" means in America today. The "True Conservatives" you talk about don't exist in the United States today, no more than "True Communists" exist in 21st Century China. If conservatives didn't wants to be marinated in Trumpstink, then they ought not have spent decades encouraging exactly what he supports. Trump is discrediting the name of conservatism for a generation (if not more), and that is absolutely something conservatives have earned, fair and square.

Yeah, the claim that Trump isnt' a conservative has always struck me as strange. These people's idea of a True Conservative is a tiny Washington elite... the Hillgoose and RINO Tom types. Trump is a conservative, albeit a dangerously erratic one.

I’m not talking about the narrow political definitions that exist within a single country. I’m referring to political philosophy itself, which I clearly stated in my prior post. We can discuss whether or not American “conservatism” before Trump fits the definition of Conservatism or Reactionary, but that’s a slightly different issue. Trump and the current GOP are reactionaries - not conservatives (in the philosophical meaning).

[Meclazine for Israel]

Trump is a conservative in the sense he wants USA to go back to 1956.

And when you look at what the country was like then, who could blame him.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Trump is a conservative in the sense he wants USA to go back to 1956.

And when you look at what the country was like then, who could blame him.

Ike would have been too progressive to get the 2016 Democratic nomination.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Trump is a conservative in the sense he wants USA to go back to 1956.

And when you look at what the country was like then, who could blame him.

Ike would have been too progressive to get the 2016 Democratic nomination.

What happened to THAT Republican Party?

The problem with the 1956 Republicans is that they enacted a party platform that a majority of their Representatives and Senators did not believe in.  That's what did Dewey in; Truman challenged the GOP Congress to enact their platform into law, and they didn't do it, mainly because they didn't believe in it.  That's why the "Do-Nothing Congress" label stuck.

[Badger]

Trump is a conservative in the sense he wants USA to go back to 1956.

And when you look at what the country was like then, who could blame him.

Rosa Parks? MLK? Cesar Chavez? Every gay kid who committed suicide? Every writer or intellectual who  shaved under  the utter sameness  and uniformity 50s culture mandated? and don't forget about every single person who worried about dying and nuclear Annihilation from the Cold War turning hot.

But yes, the robust social safety net and Progressive taxation rate which kept us from running a horrible national debt and kept income stratification relatively narrow are enamoring memories.

[dead0man]

Trump is a conservative in the sense he wants USA to go back to 1956.

And when you look at what the country was like then, who could blame him.

Ike would have been too progressive to get the 2016 Democratic nomination.

yes, that would be nice. Other fun stuff in there, they wanted DC to have congressional representation, they were cool with refugees (only if you were fleeing Communism though), they called Taiwan on the phone and said "hi China!" when they answered, they still thought free trade was a good thing (of course that was true until about a year ago....sigh), some sh**tting on Dems for ignoring parks before bragging about how much money they've spent and how much more they plan on spending, oh and they were worried about wetlands and fisheries.  Amazing.


They also boasted about a Communist free Vietnam.  and this about the Middle East

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eeeegads.  They vigorously supported the UN (of course the UN was much less a Hall of Bigots back then, so that was easier to do).  Some bragging about starting the VA, they shouldn't have done either.


I've started skimming the Dem one from 56, it's pretty funny too.  Mostly it's "and here's another thing Ike sucks at!" and "did you know the Republicans only want a second rate military?  Not us fella, we want our Army on easy street if war breaks out see?  The best of the best for our boys fightin' the evil reds!"

[pbrower2a]

Trump is a conservative in the sense he wants USA to go back to 1956.

And when you look at what the country was like then, who could blame him.

Ike would have been too progressive to get the 2016 Democratic nomination.

What happened to THAT Republican Party?

The problem with the 1956 Republicans is that they enacted a party platform that a majority of their Representatives and Senators did not believe in.  That's what did Dewey in; Truman challenged the GOP Congress to enact their platform into law, and they didn't do it, mainly because they didn't believe in it.  That's why the "Do-Nothing Congress" label stuck.

Conservatism as I used to understand it implied a desire to preserve old decencies and some residual class privilege; to that end it sought to ensure that the common man would have something worthy of protecting from radical causes seeking radical redistribution of assets and income. Old decencies included the protection of the vulnerable from abuse and exploitation that could rend the social fabric. It thus rejected Communism and any form of fascism (including Ku Kluxism). It was also rather prudish on sex. This sort of conservatism was simply anti-radical. Capitalism would be protected, but never its worst depravities, the sorts characteristic of the vile social orders on the brink of proletarian revolution. It saw unrestrained greed more as a menace than as an ideal.

The 'conservatism' that we now have as an ideological label is mostly an exultation of crony capitalism, crass greed, government choosing winners (extant elites of ownership and management) and losers (everyone else), contempt for the intellect, a punitive economy, and even a personality cult (now that Donald Trump is available). It mythologizes history. It endorses oppression and monopoly.

 

[Middle-aged Europe]

Donald Trump ist not a conservative, he is a reactionary. He doesn't want to preserve things as they are. He wants to roll things back.

[Yank2133]

This is an attempt to intellectualize reactionary politics with no underlying philosophy other than “lol owning the libs”

Pretty much.