Paleoconservatism is a
political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...
and variety of
conservatism in the United States
Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy based on a belief in limited government, individualism, traditionalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states. Conserva ...
stressing
American nationalism,
Christian ethics
Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system: it is a virtue ethic which focuses on building moral character, and a deontological ethic which emphasizes duty. It also incorporates natural law ethics, whic ...
,
regionalism, and
traditionalist conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere ...
. Paleoconservatism's concerns overlap with those of the
Old Right that opposed the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
in the 1930s and 1940s as well as with
paleolibertarianism and
right-wing populism
Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Estab ...
.
The terms ''
neoconservative'' and ''paleoconservative'' were coined following the outbreak of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
and a divide in American conservatism between the
interventionists and the
isolationists. Those in favor of the Vietnam War then became known as the ''neoconservatives'' (interventionists) as they marked a decisive split from the nationalist-isolationism that the traditionalist conservatives (isolationists) had subscribed to up until this point.
According to
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...
scholar
Michael Foley, "paleoconservatives press for restrictions on immigration, a rollback of multicultural programs and large-scale demographic change, the
decentralization of federal policy, the restoration of
controls upon free trade, a greater emphasis upon
economic nationalism
Economic nationalism, also called economic patriotism and economic populism, is an ideology that favors state interventionism over other market mechanisms, with policies such as domestic control of the economy, labor, and capital formation, inclu ...
and non-interventionism in the conduct of American foreign policy". Historian George Hawley states that although influenced by paleoconservatism,
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
is not a paleoconservative, but rather a right-wing nationalist and populist. Hawley also states that paleoconservatism is today an exhausted force in American politics, but that for a time it represented the most serious right-wing threat to the mainstream
conservative movement. Regardless of how Trump himself is categorized, others regard the movement known as
Trumpism
Trumpism is a term for the political ideologies, social emotions, style of governance, political movement, and set of mechanisms for acquiring and keeping control of power associated with Donald Trump and his political base. '' Trumpists ...
as supported by, if not a rebranding of, paleoconservatism. From this view, the followers of the old right did not fade away so easily and continue to have significant influence in the Republican Party and the entire country.
Terminology
The prefix ''paleo'' derives from the
Greek root
παλαιός (''palaiós''), meaning "ancient" or "old". It is somewhat
tongue-in-cheek
The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...
and refers to the paleoconservatives' claim to represent a more historic, authentic conservative tradition than that found in
neoconservatism
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and co ...
. Adherents of paleoconservatism often describe themselves simply as "paleo".
Rich Lowry
Richard Lowry (; born August 22, 1968) is an American writer who is the former editor and now editor-in-chief of '' National Review'', an American conservative news and opinion magazine. Lowry became editor of ''National Review'' in 1997 when sel ...
of ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'' claims the prefix "is designed to obscure the fact that it is a recent ideological creation of post-Cold War politics".
Samuel T. Francis,
Thomas Fleming, and some other paleoconservatives de-emphasized the ''conservative'' part of the ''paleoconservative'' label, saying that they do not want the ''status quo'' preserved. Fleming and
Paul Gottfried
Paul Edward Gottfried (born November 21, 1941) is an American paleoconservative political philosopher, historian, and writer. He is a former Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. He is editor-in-chief of the paleoco ...
called such thinking "stupid tenacity" and described it as "a series of trenches dug in defense of last year's revolution". Francis defined authentic conservatism as "the survival and enhancement of a particular people and its institutionalized cultural expressions".
Ideology
Paleoconservatives support restrictions on immigration,
decentralization
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.
Conce ...
, trade
tariff
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...
s and
protectionism
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulation ...
,
economic nationalism
Economic nationalism, also called economic patriotism and economic populism, is an ideology that favors state interventionism over other market mechanisms, with policies such as domestic control of the economy, labor, and capital formation, inclu ...
,
isolationism
Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangl ...
, and a return to
traditional conservative
Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adher ...
ideals relating to gender, culture, and society.
Paleoconservatism differs from neoconservatism in opposing
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
and promoting
republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. ...
. Paleoconservatives see neoconservatives as
imperialists and themselves as defenders of the republic.
Paleoconservatives tend to oppose abortion,
gay marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constitutin ...
, and
LGBTQ rights.
Human nature, tradition, and reason
Paleoconservatives believe that tradition is a form of reason, rather than a competing force.
Mel Bradford wrote that certain questions are settled before any serious deliberation concerning a preferred course of conduct may begin. This ethic is based in a "culture of families, linked by friendship, common enemies, and common projects", so a good conservative keeps "a clear sense of what Southern grandmothers have always meant in admonishing children, 'we don't do that'".
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, ...
argues that a good politician must "defend the moral order rooted in the old and
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
and
Natural Law
Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
"—and that "the deepest problems in our society are not economic or political, but moral".
[Pat Buchanan Responds To Lenora Fulani's Resignation – Buchanan Campaign Press Releases – theinternetbrigade – Official Web Site](_blank)
Southern traditionalism
According to historian Paul V. Murphy, paleoconservatives developed a focus on
localism and
states' rights. From the mid-1980s onward, ''Chronicles'' promoted a Southern traditionalist worldview focused on national identity, regional particularity, and skepticism of abstract theory and centralized power. According to Hague, Beirich, and Sebesta (2009), the
antimodernism of the paleoconservative movement defined the
neo-Confederate movement of the 1980s and 1990s. During this time, notable paleoconservatives argued that
desegregation, welfare, tolerance of
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , ...
, and
church-state separation had been damaging to local communities, and that these issues had been imposed by federal legislation and think tanks. Paleoconservatives also claimed the
Southern Agrarians
The Southern Agrarians were twelve American Southerners who wrote an agrarian literary manifesto in 1930. They and their essay collection, ''I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition'', contributed to the Southern Renaissance, t ...
as forebearers in this regard.
Influence on the alt-right
The
alt-right
The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
movement emerged from the younger generation of paleoconservatives. The movement was founded in 2008 by noted
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
, former paleoconservative, and American white nationalist
Richard B. Spencer, who launched ''Alternative Right'' to disseminate his ideas after working as an editor for several paleoconservative outlets. The alt-right was influenced by paleoconservatism, the
Dark Enlightenment
The Dark Enlightenment, also called the neo-reactionary movement (sometimes abbreviated to NRx), is an anti-democratic, anti-egalitarian, reactionary philosophical and political movement. In 2007 and 2008, software engineer Curtis Yarvin, writin ...
, and the
Nouvelle Droite
The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
.
Notable people
Philosophers and scholars
*
Mel Bradford (1934–1993)
*
Paul Gottfried
Paul Edward Gottfried (born November 21, 1941) is an American paleoconservative political philosopher, historian, and writer. He is a former Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. He is editor-in-chief of the paleoco ...
(born 1941)
*
E. Christian Kopff (born 1946)
*
William S. Lind (born 1947)
*
Clyde N. Wilson
Clyde Norman Wilson (born 11 June 1941) is a retired American professor of history at the University of South Carolina, a paleoconservative political commentator, a long-time contributing editor for ''Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture' ...
(born 1941)
Commentators and columnists
*
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, ...
(born 1938),
White House Communications Director (1985–1987), 1992 and 1996 Republican presidential candidate, 2000
Reform Party presidential nominee
*
Peter Brimelow
Peter Brimelow (born 13 October 1947) is a British-born American white nationalist and white supremacist writer. He is the founder of the website VDARE, an anti-immigration site associated with white supremacy, white nationalism, and the alt-rig ...
(born 1947)
*
Tucker Carlson (born 1969)
*
John Derbyshire
John Derbyshire (born 3 June 1945) is a British-born American far-right political commentator, writer, journalist and computer programmer. He was once known as a paleoconservative, until he was fired from the '' National Review'' in 2012 for ...
(born 1945)
*
Nick Fuentes
Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, 1998) is an American white supremacistMultiple sources:
*
*
*
*
* political commentator and live streamer. A former YouTuber, his channel was permanently suspended in February 2020 for violatin ...
(born 1998)
*
Thomas Fleming (born 1945)
*
Samuel T. Francis (1947–2005)
*
Alex Jones (born 1974)
*
Razib Khan (born 1977)
*
Robert Novak (1931–2009)
*
Steve Sailer (born 1958)
*
Joseph Sobran
Michael Joseph Sobran Jr. (; February 23, 1946 – September 30, 2010) was a paleoconservative American journalist. He wrote for the ''National Review'' magazine and was a syndicated columnist. During the 1970s, he frequently used the bylin ...
(1946–2010)
*
Taki Theodoracopulos
Panagiotis "Taki" Theodoracopulos (; el, text=Παναγιώτης "Τάκης" Θεοδωρακόπουλος ; born 11 August 1936) is a Greek journalist and writer. He has lived in New York City, London, and Gstaad.
Early life and education ...
(born 1936)
Notable organizations and outlets
Organizations
*
Abbeville Institute
*
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas.
T ...
Periodicals and websites
* ''
The American Conservative
''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...
''
* ''
Chronicles (magazine)''
* ''
Intercollegiate Review''
* ''
Taki's Magazine
''Taki's Magazine'', called ''Takimag'' for short, is an online magazine of politics and culture published by the Greek paleoconservative commentator and socialite Taki Theodoracopulos and edited by his daughter Mandolyna Theodoracopulos. Initia ...
''
See also
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Tea Party movement
Paleoconservatism
American nationalism
Anti-communism in the United States
Reactionary
Criticism of neoconservatism
Criticism of multiculturalism
Non-interventionism
Right-wing populism