Defining American Conservatism

[corplinx]

It seems to me that the problem with the conservative movement in America is that that there are three movements really which though intertwined are altogether different. I started thinking about this after reading the "no true conservative thread" and the article linked within.

The Buckley/Reagan conservatives. These were the low-tax, pro-growth, anti-communists who were also people of strong faith. Their faith was part of their motivation but wasn't their remedy for things. It should be noted that one of the objections to communism was its militant atheism and repression of religion.

The Neocons. As the Buckley/Reagan conservatives were to communism, the neocons are to militant theocratic regimes and terrorism. Economically they are pro-growth. Faith doesn't seem to be their motivator and you will even find some atheists in this camp. Their pro-growth economic agenda is second however to their foreign policy since they look at things in the long term. Technically, they are actually foreign policy liberals so the use of the term "neocon" is a bit weird.

The Contemporary Conservative movement. They listen to Hannity, protest Terry Schiavo being unplugged, and use direct democracy to discriminate against homosexuals. They support the neocon agenda somewhat, but one wonders what their motivations are and if they understand the intellectual side of it. Economically, they are low-tax but not necessarily pro-growth. Religion isn't just a basis for their principles, but also an excuse for interventionist action or policy (Schiavo).

There is one more group of people I should mention, the "godless capitalists". I define these as your wall street conservatives and academic economists who can't be defined by definitive foreign policy views like the classic conservatives or the neocons.

This is just how I see american conservatism at a glance. As always, the usual "these are just ends of a spectrum", "its just my opinion", and "i could be chemically retarded" tags apply.

 

[firecoins]

conservatives give more than liberals

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/204/story_20419_1.html

 

[Darth Rotor]

The Neocons. As the Buckley/Reagan conservatives were to communism, the neocons are to militant theocratic regimes and terrorism. Economically they are pro-growth. Faith doesn't seem to be their motivator and you will even find some atheists in this camp. Their pro-growth economic agenda is second however to their foreign policy since they look at things in the long term. Technically, they are actually foreign policy liberals so the use of the term "neocon" is a bit weird.

Yes, their foreign policy is most Wilsonian. A neoconservative has been described as "a liberal, mugged by reality."

Take this with a grain of salt, and FWIW, here's a taste of neocon lore.

The ranks of the Neoconservatives were largely composed of former sectarian Marxists of mostly Jewish academic origin, who transferred their intellectual allegiance to capitalism and American military power but retained their obsession with theological disputation and political purity.

The impresario at the center of this attack was Irving Kristol, a onetime Trotskyist who had since become a passionate defender of capitalism. The job of the Neoconservative intellectual, Kristol once remarked, was "to explain to the American people why they are right and to the intellectuals why they are wrong."

Beginning with the early days of the Nixon administration this is just what they began to do. Spreading the Word was a costly proposition in America, however. There were think-tanks to be started, journals to be founded, scholarships to be offered, and university chairs to be endowed. Like Willie Sutton, Kristol had to go where the money was...i.e. corporate America.

You missed the dyed in the wool Evangelicals, the Dispensationalists, and I think confuse "Hannity's listeners" with the Religious Right.

Hannity is a neocon shill.

I think Pat Buchanan calls himself a "paleoconservative" which is different, I think, from the Buckley Reagan gang.

DR

 

[Lurker]

There is one more group of people I should mention, the "godless capitalists". I define these as your wall street conservatives and academic economists who can't be defined by definitive foreign policy views like the classic conservatives or the neocons.

My father-in-law falls into this category. He expressed his philosophy on voting to me, "I vote for whoever puts the most money in my wallet." That was it, the sum total of how he votes. Clearly he favors lowering taxes (for his income group).

He's a banker (no surprise there, eh?).

Lurker