1. A brief riff: the American intellectual right was very anti-democratic before mid-1970s (see National Review on Franco) & very anti-democratic since (Thiel being prime example). What was exception was brief window (1970s-2008) when right was relatively pro-democratic https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1159495342204887040 …
-
This Tweet is unavailable.Show this thread
-
2. The brief pro-democratic interlude on right was largely a result of foreign policy: After Vietnam debacle USA needed new rationale for global hegemony. Cold War liberals who migrated to right (neo-cons) provided that: democracy promotion & human rights.
2 replies 11 retweets 141 likesShow this thread -
3. In early cold war, it was almost exclusively liberals who talked about democracy promotion & human rights as arguments against communism. Rightwingers were happy to support Franco & based anti-communism on religion (Godless communism) & culture ("Western Civ")
3 replies 15 retweets 127 likesShow this thread -
4. Vietnam debacle and also crude Nixon/Kissinger realpolitic created a crisis on right, which led them to try to revive anti-communist consensus by foregrounding previously liberal arguments. It's only in 1970s that the right started talking about democracy promotion.
5 replies 8 retweets 96 likesShow this thread -
5. The rightwing embrace of democracy promotion (and new argument that free markets & democracy went hand in hand) was very useful during Cold War & also post-1991 as tool for legitimizing American global hegemony. It was ideological underpinning of Iraq War.
2 replies 13 retweets 107 likesShow this thread -
6. Right-wing democracy promotion was ultimately undermined by Iraq debacle (which discredited neo-conservatism on right) but also of Arab Spring (which showed that actual Middle Eastern democracy would threaten many longtime USA allies).
3 replies 24 retweets 132 likesShow this thread -
7. And Obama's two electoral victories (the first time a Democratic presidential candidate won 50%+ of the popular vote twice in a row since FDR) scared conservatives, as did popular support of marriage equality. This was background for right's renewed anti-democratic push.
4 replies 21 retweets 131 likesShow this thread -
8. Ultimately, the synthesis Yglesias calls for ("the virtues of free markets were fused with the virtues of political democracy to create humane, sustainable mixed economies") is incompatible with conservatism: any really robust democracy will trend towards social democracy.
5 replies 19 retweets 192 likesShow this thread -
9. Really believing in democracy means being willing to give up what you love if it goes against the popular will. Part of the greatness of Tocqueville & JS Mill is that they accepted democracy meant giving up aristocratic high culture & laissez-faire economics.
7 replies 21 retweets 172 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @HeerJeet
Helen Andrews has an interesting piece in First Things suggesting that as the United States becomes more Latin American (or non white) the right will increasingly resemble third world right wing movements too. She just scratches the surface, but it's a big idea.
4 replies 2 retweets 4 likes
That's very plausible although I would also say that elements of the right have always felt an affinity for Latin America (Buckley family's longstanding ties to Mexico is instructive and, going back, many confederates went south after 1865).
-
-
Replying to @HeerJeet @ScottMcConnell9
I think it has much more to do with Latin American levels of income inequality than it has to do with Latin American people
0 replies 1 retweet 1 likeThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.