Why do people on this forum think younger Republicans are neocons?

[I Stand With TRKL1917]

I've seen a number of posts on this site implying that when the boomers die off, Trumpism will disappear and the GOP will go back to being the George Bush/Mitt Romney party. What planet are these people living on? Neoconservatism is the most boomer ideology on earth. Reaganism is likely to further decline in the GOP over time. I can understand arguing that the GOP will become more of a Justin Amash party, but Bush? LOL!

[HillGoose]

Neocons slap brah. In 2025 President Liz Cheney is going to liberate Iran from theocratic tyranny 😍😍😍

[Coldstream]

In my experience in the UK, young Tories are either Neocons or hardcore libertarians. There’s very few genuine social conservative types. Not sure if that’s the same in the US but it wouldn’t surprise me. Though I expect genuine Neocons of the Bill Kristol variety are probably quite thin on the ground, I expect they are more like Tom Cotton hawk types if they aren’t libertarians.

[vitoNova]

There is no such thing as neoconservatism.  

There is no such thing as paleoconservatism.

They are one and the same.  

I don't see any Google images of Cucker Carlson protesting the Iraq War in 2002.   Do you?

[vitoNova]

There is no such thing as neoconservatism.  

There is no such thing as paleoconservatism.

They are one and the same.  

I don't see any Google images of Patrick J. Buchanan or Cucker Carlson protesting the Iraq War in 2002.   Do you?

I think to some extent the degree to which neocons and paleocons differ is overstated (even from 1980-2014, the GOP still had some elements of protectionism and unilateral foreign policy). That said...

Carlson has shifted on Iraq a bit, so you can say he was inconsistent. But with regards to Buchanan, I don't like some of his religious right positions but your post is incorrect, and I mean I'm in my mid-30s...anybody who was around then should remember Buchanan's opposition.

Pat was consistently anti-Iraq War (and consistently isolationist in general), and I remember him at the time opposing it on the ground at events, on TV/radio in appearances, and in print in books/articles. So you should edit your post.

Okay, edited.

But wasn't he an ultra hawk when it came to Vietnam? 

That's even more absurd--and far worse--than calling yourself a paleo and being inconsistent and/or a supporter of Iraq War 2. 

[dw93]

I think they're younger Republicans are more split. Some are full on libertarians, while others are Nationalists, and others are economically populist and center right socially. One thing they have in common however is they aren't neocons on the whole.

[Indy Texas]

Being hawkish or wanting more military spending is not the same thing as being a neoconservative.

Neoconservatism is a specific set of ideas that arose in a Cold War context and stopped having any real coherent meaning once the Cold War ended. An attempt was made to slot in Radical Islamic Terrorism for communism during the Bush Years and the disastrous way that ended (and broke the GOP and paved the way for Trump's rise) is emblematic of how neoconservatism stopped being a real thing by that point.