themeatbridge, 6 months ago

Conservativism has evolved over the last 40 years, but at its core, it has remained consistent in having precisely one priority: the self. Conservatives define the self, and conversely the other, and then determine which policies and priorities benefit the self. The other is anything that stands in opposition to the promotion of the self.

There is no foundational ideology and no inherent identity of the self. It is simply whoever the conservative wants to include on their team.

Viewed through this lens, every decision or statement made by conservatives is entirely rational. There is no requirement to remain internally consistent views. The only consideration for a conservative is “does this benefit me right now?”

Demonizing Biden is best for conservatives because hate is a powerful motivator for voters. Their base does not need reasons to hate the other, regardless of their choices or beliefs.

There is no hypocrisy in conservativism because there is no objective standard or ideology beyond protecting and promoting the self, and the self is whatever conservatives decide exists within the self. The self is good, and the other is bad. Everything else is negotiable.

To someone who is not conservative, this looks like hypocrisy. See: The only Moral Abortion is My Abortion, or The Card Says Moops, or Gun Control for Black Panthers, or My Daughter is a LGBTQ+ so now LGBTQ+ are People, or It isn’t “Drag” when I do it, or But my state deserves FEMA Funding, or Regulate this industry because it is a threat to me, or My sex scandal is a private matter so please respect my privacy, or Election fraud exists and I’ll prove it, or I’m a job creator so please bail me out, or just take literally any conservative talking point and you will find conservatives who are suddenly the exception to their own rule.

That’s the feature of conservativism that is so appealing. It’s like having a personal God that will forgive any transgression as long as you believe and pray for forgiveness. Being part of the self is like a warm blanket, and as long as you agree to maintain the farce, you get to stay under its protection.

This isn’t new information. Conservatives have always existed, under different banners and with different definitions of the self. Trump has laid bare the grift, abusing it past the point of credibility. That’s his hold, that to oust Trump is to abandon the ruse, and conservatives can’t do that. That’s why they will try very hard to make him a member of the Other. They will claim they were duped, that he was a secret Democrat, that he was never one of them. But he was always one of them, even when he was a Democrat.