| I come from an immigrant Catholic background as well. Personally, I'm mildly pro-choice (I see first-trimester abortions as necessary but distasteful). I think that the populist conservatism I see and largely subscribe to has the following features: * a concern with upholding abortion as a woman's right and morally unambiguous (this is a peripheral one but relevant to our discussion) * a hatred of the New Left's hair trigger accusations of bigotry and hate speech, and the censorship that political correctness affords them * a frustration with the denigration of Western society that is becoming the norm in our education system * a deep-seated respect for the individual, his agency, and the importance that he take responsibility for his actions * a recognition that much of the rest of the world doesn't like us and wants to eat our lunch not because we're bad people (i.e. not because we deserve it), but because that's how tribalism works * a respect for cultural diversity in the sense that sovereign nations are entitled to do things differently (e.g. guns in America) * a recognition that no matter how much the New Left bashes colorblindness, that's the only way a multiethnic society is ever going to function * an appreciation of both masculinity and femininity, and a belief that modern feminism and gender theory is based heavily in man-hating and biological denialism * a frustration with the increasing integration of iffy and controversial progressive goals into so many aspects of corporate and academic life, and a frustration with the hegemony that threatens our livelihoods and reputations if we question these goals * a heavy suspicion that -- although most of us wish this weren't the case -- culture and genetics play a large role in the relative success of races * a disappointment in the mainstream media for so thoroughly strawmanning and denigrating right-wing thinking that people are sheltered from basic facts of reality (e.g. the relative tolerance of the US, the senses in which transgenderism may be a mental illness or a symptom thereof, to give two randomly selected examples) * a distaste for the fetishization of protest culture and the idea that any right-wing or traditionalist policymaking needs to be met with autistically shrieking hipsters and burning cars * a preference for facts and logic over feelings when justifying beliefs * a sense that "multiculturalism" often just means culturelessness, and that there is a real benefit to making sure people who immigrate are willing and able to integrate and arriving in small enough numbers to avoid major cultural disruption * a concern with the absolutist and marauding culture of the Muslim world, its resistance to Westernization in Arab immigrants, and the New Left's refusal to acknowledge this problem * and more Hopefully that wasn't too long. I'm interested to see your list. |
a recognition that no matter how much the New Left bashes colorblindness, that's the only way a multiethnic society is ever going to function
a heavy suspicion that -- although most of us wish this weren't the case -- culture and genetics play a large role in the relative success of races
I disagree with pretty much all your points, of course, but here I have a visceral reaction. You see that you're indirectly making a case for racial superiority with that last point, right?