https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/27/for-the-little-people/#alden-capital
'One of my weirder and more rewarding hobbies is collecting definitions of
"conservativism," and one of the jewels of that collection comes from Corey
Robin's must-read book
The Reactionary Mind:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reactionary_Mind
Robin's definition of conservativism has enormous explanatory power and I'm
always finding fresh ways in which it clarifies my understand of events in the
world: a conservative is someone who believes that a minority of people were
born to rule, and that everyone else was born to follow their rules, and that
the world is in harmony when the born rulers are in charge.
This definition unifies the otherwise very odd grab-bag of ideologies that we
identify with conservativism: a Christian Dominionist believes in the rule of
Christians over others; a "men's rights advocate" thinks men should rule over
women; a US imperialist thinks America should rule over the world; a white
nationalist thinks white people should rule over racialized people; a
libertarian believes in bosses dominating workers and a Hindu nationalist
believes in Hindu domination over Muslims.
These people all disagree about who should be in charge, but they all agree
that some people are ordained to rule, and that any "artificial" attempt to
overturn the "natural" order throws society into chaos. This is the entire
basis of the panic over DEI, and the brainless reflex to blame the Francis
Scott Key bridge disaster on the possibility that someone had been unjustly
promoted to ship's captain due to their membership in a disfavored racial group
or gender.
This definition is also useful because it cleanly cleaves progressives from
conservatives. If conservatives think there's a natural order in which the few
dominate the many, progressivism is a belief in pluralism and inclusion, the
idea that disparate perspectives and experiences all have something to
contribute to society. Progressives see a world in which only a small number of
people rise to public life, rarified professions, and cultural prominence and
assume that this is terrible waste of the talents and contributions of people
whose accidents of birth keep them from participating in the same way.
This is why progressives are committed to class mobility, broad access to
education, and active programs to bring traditionally underrepresented groups
into arenas that once excluded them. The "some are born to rule, and most to be
ruled over" conservative credo rejects this as not just wrong, but dangerous,
the kind of thing that leads to bridges being demolished by cargo ships.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
