When the elites are no longer civic minded, populism is needed to smash their selfish faces in and wake them up.
When Baltzell says that no conservative was ever a populist, he makes the common error of failing to perceive at what point a conservative must seek to restore what has been lost rather than conserving a status quo that does no…
When the elites are no longer civic minded, populism is needed to smash their selfish faces in and wake them up.
When Baltzell says that no conservative was ever a populist, he makes the common error of failing to perceive at what point a conservative must seek to restore what has been lost rather than conserving a status quo that does not even care what has been lost.
Baltzell recognized that the elites were no longer civic minded. But what was his plan to restore civic mindedness in the selfish elite? Are they open to persuasion without suffering defeats that prompt reflection? Are they just going to read his books and repent?
Perhaps at some point, we will have succeeded sufficiently at the project of restoration so that overt populism is no longer needed. But, today, it is needed.
When the elites are no longer civic minded, populism is needed to smash their selfish faces in and wake them up.
When Baltzell says that no conservative was ever a populist, he makes the common error of failing to perceive at what point a conservative must seek to restore what has been lost rather than conserving a status quo that does not even care what has been lost.
Baltzell recognized that the elites were no longer civic minded. But what was his plan to restore civic mindedness in the selfish elite? Are they open to persuasion without suffering defeats that prompt reflection? Are they just going to read his books and repent?
Perhaps at some point, we will have succeeded sufficiently at the project of restoration so that overt populism is no longer needed. But, today, it is needed.