The New Right’s Self-Destructive Populism
Friday October 25, 2024 | Thomas D. Howes
For forty years, the dominant political philosophy on the mainstream American right was the fusionist conservativism of Ronald Reagan. Under Reagan’s formulation, the right formed an alliance between free-market economics, social traditionalism, and a strong anti-communist defense policy. The American right has changed in recent years, with the current GOP presidential ticket looking more like a bean bag chair than Reagan’s three-legged stool. While elements of the other planks remain, nowhere is this shift more apparent than in the political right’s retreat from free markets. In its place we have seen the emergence of a populist New Right typified by Ohio senator and vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance. (more…)