Paleoconservatism

{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|Forward, America! Forward! —to the hallowed principles of our forefathers! Forward! —to the sweet tranquility of the status quo! Forward to ''[[Good old days|yesterday]]!''|||Sen. Billboard Rawkins, ''Finian's Rainbow''}} 
'''Paleoconservatism''' is a neologism created by those within the larger [[Conservatism|conservative]] movement who wish to distinguish their so-called "traditional" values from [[neoconservative]] ones. Paleoconservative policies are primarily based on the idea that 
[[producerism]]
 moar [[capitalism]] and 
[[racism]]
 [[xenophobia]] can solve everything, and they reject [[Globalization|globalism]], a lasting progressive goal of the early [[New Right (United States)|New Right]].

Paleoconservatism is characterized by a strong mixture of [[Christianity|Christian]] social conservatism (with related tendencies toward [[antisemitism]], [[homophobia]], and a fondness for [[patriarchy]]), [[nationalism]], [[isolationism]], and economic protectionism. Most paleoconservatives are opposed to [[immigration]], modern economic theory, and any intervention by the [[US]] anywhere, and have little regard for any benefits of an egalitarian society. Their economic views are more likely to tend toward [[distributism]] and [[producerism]] than modern [[capitalism]], although there is a contingent of ultra-capitalist [[Austrian school]]ers as well. They claim to stress rigid "[[traditional values|traditionalism]]", a sense of self gained from understanding their personal and cultural heritage, and being "deeply rooted" in history and place.  However, their definition of that [[Historical revisionism|history]] is a [[loaded language|bit off]].

The most notable living paleoconservative is [[Patrick Buchanan]], who is the only important political figure to have openly identified with the ideology. While "paleoconservatism" typically refers to an intellectual movement that has had little public influence, a more "popular" form of the same (or a very similar) ideology has been seen in the [[militia movement]], elements of the [[Tea Party movement]], and even the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. Paleoconservatism in this sense overlaps heavily with [[populism|right-wing populism]], and has seen growing influence since the rise of [[Donald Trump]]; many paleoconservatives have also been identified with the [[Alt-Right]] in recent years. Paleoconservatism can also overlap with [[neo-Confederate]] ideology.

==Old Right origins?==
Paleoconservatism claims its roots in the "Old Right", a loose grouping of people, many of them former [[liberal]]s, who emerged during the [[Great Depression]] and [[World War II]] as opponents of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s domestic and foreign policy. As the [[Cold War]] got underway after WWII, these people remained isolationist and opposed the Cold War, grouping post-war foreign and domestic policy together as two sides of the same coin, the "[[welfare]]-[[war]]fare state".

Contemporary far-right activists identifiable with paleoconservatism are associated with and frequently praise the [[New Right (United States)|New Right]] over the Old Right.<ref>https://sports.yahoo.com/cawthorn-says-time-rise-primary-224147607.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall</ref><ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/26/paul-gosar-far-right-republicans</ref>

Early examples include journalists John T. Flynn, Garet Garrett, Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Albert Jay Nock, revisionist historian George Morgenstern (who claimed that FDR had dragged America into WWII by deliberately goading the Japanese to attack), [[libertarian]] [[Murray Rothbard]], and U.S. Senator [[Robert A. Taft]]. With internationalist anti-communism in vogue on the American right, they found themselves marginalized within the conservative movement and shut out from outlets like [[William F. Buckley]]'s ''[[National Review]]'', their continued isolationism getting them accused of being [[useful idiot]]s for Moscow. However, they continued as an outside tendency through such groups as Leonard Read's [[Foundation for Economic Education]] and an emerging [[Austrian school]] of economics led by [[Ludwig von Mises]] and Henry Hazlitt, who later became libertarian icons. It was not until the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] that isolationism re-emerged on the right (outside of the libertarians, who had become a distinct movement from conservatism), led by people like Pat Buchanan who had been interventionist during the Cold War.

However, the [[laissez-faire]] economics of the Old Right are at odds with the protectionism and anti-immigration views espoused by modern paleoconservatives. Similarly, the strong religious conservatism of today's paleocons was not a significant factor in the Old Right. More likely influences on modern paleocons include Cold War-era groups like the [[John Birch Society]] and the [[Liberty Lobby]], which espoused all the elements present in today's paleoconservatism ([[Conspiracy theory|conspiracism]], religious conservatism, isolationism, etc.)

==See also==
*[[Chronicles (magazine)]]: The premier paleoconservative magazine.
*[[Compassionate conservatism]]
*[[Radical traditionalism]]
*[[Reactionary]]
*[[Paleolibertarianism]], which belongs even ''further'' in the past, and has a lot more adherents.

==References==

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Alt-lite]]
[[Category:Atheophobia]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:Anti-Catholicism]]
[[Category:Antifeminism]]
[[Category:Far-right politics]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Islamophobia]]
[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Paleoconservatism| ]]
[[Category:Political movements]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory promoters]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Right-wing politics]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]
[[Category:Trumpism]]
[[Category:Xenophobia]]

Categories: Alt-lite, Atheophobia, Antisemitism, Anti-Catholicism, Antifeminism, Far-right politics, Fascism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Neologisms, Paleoconservatism, Political movements, Pseudohistory promoters, Racism, Right-wing politics, Transphobia, Trumpism, Xenophobia