From Libertarian to Conservative to Nationalist

Some of my friends stopped talking to me about politics as I have made a journey from libertarian to right-wing nationalist.  I owe my friends an explanation.  Everyone else is welcome to read of course, but if I don't know you, I may not publish your comments.

First, I want the same things that I always wanted for this country; limited government, liberty, the rule of law, entrepreneurial culture, and an expanding economy.  I came to realize that although libertarians and even conservatives claim to want those things as well, the way they pursue those ends undermines their goals.  It's a little like happiness, if you want to be happy, you don't pursue material possessions and partying, which might seem like the road to happiness. Instead, you pursue worthwhile goals, you find your place within your community and in relation to God.  Then you find joy, a much deeper emotion, and more happiness.

The key break with conservatives is the realization that all men are not created equal.  They may be equal in the eyes of God, or we may value equal treatment before the law for the citizens within our borders.  But not all peoples are equally adept at thriving in a society of limited government and advanced technology.  But this equalist fantasy pervades conservative thinking. They fantasize that majorities of mestizos, arabs, and blacks can become conservative voters; so they refuse to address a key way that the left defeats conservatives, by importing peoples whose children and great-grandchildren will vote for socialism and less freedom.  You can call me racist, but that wouldn't address the truth of my argument.  The left lies and says that by increasing the diversity of America, it makes America stronger.  In fact, racial diversity harms social cohesion, as many studies have shown.  But conservatives eschew truthful arguments for fear of being called racist.  In fact, their fear of being called bad names and not receiving approval from their leftist colleagues, acquaintances, and neighbors always puts them on the defensive, so THEY ALWAYS LOSE the culture war.  As Andrew Breitbart famously said, politics is downstream of culture.  This is why I have abandoned the niceties of policy discussions of tax codes and other mainstream conservative topics.  Until we build a social consensus about acceptable norms that are based on the traditions of our European forebears, we are doomed to extinction by a combination of immigration and being out-bred by an imported permanent underclass.

When one considers what the "good life" consists of, it cannot be a life devoted to mere material possession or self-interest.  Taking one's place in a community of shared values is a key to long-life happiness.  Intact families that produce new generations to carry on our work are the linchpin of this joy.  Our shared values based on shared religious conviction that allow us to agree on how to raise children and set their moral compass.  By definition, multiculturalism is a direct threat to these shared values.  Conservatives have no answer as to how to combat this, because they are unwilling to risk approbation by saying political incorrect things.  They are unwilling to say that Islamic belief is incompatible with freedom and democracy; that a mestizo underclass will always vote for socialism; or that blacks are dependent on the good-will of whites in our society.

Further, our lack of cultural cohesion leads to an atomization that also helps the left; atomized people, disconnected from their communities, are susceptible to believing in anything.  Further, they can be intimidated and made compliant without the intervening structures of church, community, and strong social organizations to protect them.  The belief in unrestricted individualism that underlies contemporary conservative and libertarian thought actually works against their own goals by disconnecting people from community.  In my nationalist view, we seek to take our place in our community and do the work that God grants us; we are willing to enforce our community norms, passing down the religion and traditions of our forefathers.  Because we also want limited government, we are not asking for government enforcement of our norms; merely non-interference in our right to discriminate and censure those who violate our values. Further, we seek a government that doesn't enshrine in law practices inimical to our religious and cultural convictions; so we oppose gay marriage, and marijuana legalization, as two examples.  We recognize that it is a tightrope to walk with respect to government overreach, especially concerning drug use.  But the recent spate of legalizations of marijuana just shows that politics is indeed downstream of culture.

The other key reason for my break with conservatives is that conservative politics only "wins" when it benefits globalists, never when they protect average Americans.  NAFTA was passed with Republican votes, and without unrestricted immigration, might have been good for America.  But conservatives did squat to control the border when Republicans held Congress.  The truck driver from Scranton may not follow politics much, but he knows when he is getting screwed.  He may not vote for the Democrat because they voted for regulations that make his job harder and more expensive; but he knows that Republicans won't ever roll it back. I'm tired of voting for people who say their policies will help Americans in some abstract way, but whose only victories come when big business is helped.  (By the way, the Democrats are even worse about this, but they don't claim to be a conservative party.)

As a practical matter, limited government nationalism mostly will agree with conservatives on many policy matters, and I seek an anti-Marxist alliance with libertarians and conservatives.  The difference is emphasis, the willingness to use so called hate-facts, and brave cries of racism from the left.  Ending immigration, illegal and otherwise is made the top priority.  Allowing Middle Eastern strongmen to enforce the peace to prevent chaos that results in migration crises is another goal.  The policies of the nation will be judged on the impact to the nation as a whole.  As Trump said, "America First."  But ultimately, politics and policy is no longer the goal; I want to change the tone of the culture.  The only policy that really matters is immigration, because your culture is highly dependent upon your ancestry.

Why Nationalism Trumps Conservatism

The conservative critique of Donald Trump is that he is not a conservative.  This tautology begs the question of why it is necessary to be a conservative to secure the Republican nomination and the Presidency.  Americans care little for ideology but care a great deal about putting the interests of all Americans first, so conservatism isn't a winning electoral strategy.  The people are looking for a system to ensure that they are provided a level playing field and the opportunity to better their lives.  The unexpected popularity of Trump and Sanders suggests that Americans think that neither conservatism nor liberalism achieves those ends.  In theory, both philosophies claim to do so, but in practice, not so much.  When a nationalist candidate comes along and tells Americans they are getting a raw deal from their government; it resonates, and for the socialist as well.

Both parties talk to a tough line about helping the average American, but the selective application of their principles results in benefits redounding to special interests which destroys trust in the system.  For example, Republicans had the opportunity, with big majorities under George W. Bush and a reasonable excuse, the war on terror, to put an end to illegal immigration.  Illegal immigration puts downward pressure on the salaries of the lower middle class.  Later, when Obama, supposedly the champion of these same folks, made the problem worse; conservatives beat their chests but did nothing practical to stop his extra-legal executive orders.  There could have been hard-nosed negotiations that put money for extending a wall or other effective measures to deter illegal immigration, but the conservative party just resigned itself to defeat.  Meanwhile, abuse of the H1B visa program by employers such as Disney and big tech firms goes uninvestigated.  Employees, that is average Americans, lack the ability to easily move between jobs, which is well documented.  Allowing foreigners to compete for jobs inside this country, either because of illegal immigration or visa abuse is an unfair tilt of power to employers; but the conservative party cares not.

Meanwhile, Republicans seem willing to push for policies that help large corporations and Wall Street while claiming to do so in the name of the free market.  But we end up with a battle to end just one egregious program, the Export-Import Bank, which many Republicans fought with a zeal we wanted applied in opposition to Obama's illegal amnesty programs.  Further, conservatism has resulted in budgets that just continue the status quo, because it suits the big money backers of the GOP just fine.  Name a single program killed by the GOP when they held legislative majority over the last 30 years?  They are happy to talk a good game and collect rents from big business.

On the left, the ACA (Obamacare) was purportedly intended to help the uninsured.  It's only real effect has been to provide a few new customers to insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industries, who effectively wrote much of the legislation.  80% of those who were uninsured prior to the ACA's passage remain uninsured; 20% is usually a failing grade on any scale.  It is so bad, that Bernie Sanders can truthfully run a campaign to end the problem of the uninsured.  A second example: The financial crisis of 2008 swept the Democrats into power in D.C. In response, they passed the Dodd-Frank so called financial reform measure.  Rather than addressing the problems causing the crisis, they essentially promise to bail out big financial institutions by enshrining the "too big to fail" doctrine into law.  The bad lending and the perverse incentives will continue to enrich the banking class, while the liberals claim to be fighting Wall Street for the common man.

But enough of the failures of liberalism as practiced by the modern day Democratic party.  The second reason that nationalism wins is identity.  When I am at work, out shopping or watching a football game; I think of myself as an American, a Christian, and a San Diegan.  (Californian? Not so much anymore.)  My identity as an American is much stronger than my merely political identity as a conservative, and I am a very political person.  For the average voter, the national identity is even more dominant.  Identity trumps ideology, always.  I am an American long before I think about being a conservative or Republican.  Further, nationalism serves as a glue that binds us together across classes.  The overlooked story of the last two decades is the extent to which American elites no longer see themselves as Americans per se, but as part of a global elite.  Zuckerberg of Facebook is seen in Germany undermining nationalism there, by suppressing anti-immigrant sentiment.     The average person sees this and sees a political system where the establishment of both parties is in league with internationalists to the detriment of their own interests.  How else to combat the tilted playing field than to embrace that our identity as Americans and the candidate who most explicitly makes the case to work for our interests, not the interests of the elite and not the interests of the poor and oppressed around the globe.   Conservatism is the answer to a situation of low trust across our society; Nationalism is a glue to engender greater trust.

The other reason for nationalism is that we are again at war with a global ideology.  Communism, fascism and Radical Islamism (by which I mean the current Wahabbist strain of Islam) were and are ideologies intent on remaking the world.  Fascism wasn't defeated by democracy, but by nations acting in their own self-interest; intending to maintain their own identities.  Ditto for communism.  The Soviet Empire crumbled from within because its constituent nations successfully achieved autonomy for their own peoples.  That autonomy didn't usually take the form of democracy, but powerfully destroyed a communist empire nevertheless. Right now, Radical Islamism is attractive because the boundaries of the Middle East have not been drawn to align tribes and peoples into true nations.  Nationalism will be needed to eventually defeat this form of Islam and allow Islam to recede to a  religion and shed its identity as a political movement.  Ultimately, we need nationalism to secure the peace, with each tribe to its own country, secure within its own borders.


P.S. Just after I published this, I saw a link to a John Derbyshire article on the meaning of nationalism that highlights and amplifies some of what I have said; alas more eloquently.