Discussion
For conservatives, virtue is "whatever the people who are born to rule desire." Hence Frank Wilhoit's definition of conservativism, "exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." It's not a crime if the president does it. It's also not a crime if your boss does it, or if a monopolist does it, or if ICE does it.
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I collect definitions of "conservatism," and one of my favorites comes from Corey Robins's book, *The Reactionary Mind*. Robinson asks how it is that we can call so many disparate, irreconcilable ideologies - various ethno-nationalisms, imperialism, financialism, patriarchy, Christian nationalism, libertarianism, white supremacy, etc - "conservative"? What binds all these views together?
https://pluralistic.net/2025/07/22/all-day-suckers/#i-love-the-poorly-educated
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Robin's answer: the foundation that all these otherwise disparate views share is that some people are born to rule, while others are born to be ruled over. When these lesser people are elevated to positions of power, their inferiority creates a system of misrule, by which we all suffer. The best outcome for *everyone* is for us all to know our place and defer to our social betters.
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That's why conservatives are obsessed with affirmative action, DEI, and antiracism. For them, the discriminatory outcomes we see in the wild are *natural*, reflecting the in-born defects in the people at the bottom of the social order. That's why, after every plane crash, every collision between a cargo ship and a bridge, every spectacular corporate bankruptcy, conservatives race to uncover the race, gender, religion and sexual orientation of the captain, the pilot or the CEO.
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If the person who oversaw the catastrophe has anything remotely resembling a marginalized identity, then this is loudly trumpeted as confirmation that "diversity hires," promoted above their station, are ruining our society and wrecking our bridges. Naturally, if the person in charge was a wealthy, well-born, straight white guy, that's just proof that shit happens - it definitely doesn't prove that white straight guys, as a class, should be removed from positions of power.
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For conservatives, virtue is "whatever the people who are born to rule desire." Hence Frank Wilhoit's definition of conservativism, "exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." It's not a crime if the president does it. It's also not a crime if your boss does it, or if a monopolist does it, or if ICE does it.
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“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:
There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind,
alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
There is nothing more or else to it,
and there never has been."
~Frank Wilhoit, composer
https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288
#Conservative #Conservatism #Politics #Quote #Quotes #Meme #Memes
It's not a crime if the IDF do it, or if the Epstein Class do it. "Taxes are for the little people":
https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/guillotines-and-taxes/#carried-interest
The attack on antitrust law was part of the attack on the *rule of law*, the campaign to put everyone back in the their place. It's a piece of the effort to establish a new hereditary aristocracy, and every hereditary aristocracy requires heredity serfs (that would be *us*):
https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/06/the-end-of-the-road-to-serfdom/
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