FrankTrollman
Serious Badass
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 16265
|  Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:42 am Post subject: |     |
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That is a very good point. The Right is also a completely non-homogeneous group who believe all kinds of different things. The Republican Party Leadership presents a very unified face and exert a level of control on legislators so severe that they can get former POWs to retract condemnations of torture so as to present a more unified message. But the actual people who identify as Republicans do not share the same opinions, values, or goals.
When someone says that they consider themselves a conservative, or that they vote Republican in US elections, they are saying that they are one or more of an: Evangelical, Classical Liberal, Libertarian, Corporatist, Neocon, Militarist, Legalist, Aristocrat, Supply-Sider, Fundamentalist, Isolationist, Racist, or Objectivist. Or you know, one of the more obscure or controversial designations like Fascist (which should probably just be considered Militarist, Racist, Evangelical Corporatism anyway).
Nominally "Right Wing" identification of and solutions to problems usually rely on one or more of: Appeal to Tradition, Open Market Action, Use of Force, Fiscal Savings, Power Consolidation, or Intuitive Assertion. Right Wing justifications for a course of action are often composed of one or more of the following: Nationalism, Tradition, Religion, Danger, or Money.
Let's consider our most vocal conservatives: Tzor, Doom, and Psychic Robot. Tzor is a Religious Supply-Sider, Doom is a Classical Liberal Austrian, and Psychic Robot is an Isolationist Libertarian. Once you get away from conservative identity questions like "How bad is Hilary Clinton?" or "Should we punch hippies?" they agree on pretty close to nothing.
-Frank | |
