More Stupid Definitions of 'The Right,' Courtesy of the Left

Chapter 4.3: Spectrums based on stance relative to change: Tropes vs. Reality

Why this book | Title Page | Table of Contents
Preface | Introduction
PART 1
Chapter 1 (1.1) (1.2) | Chapter 2 (2.1) (2.2) (2.3) | Chapter 3 (3.1) (3.2) (3.3) (3.4) (3.5) (3.6)
PART 2
Chapter 4 (4.1) (4.2) (4.3) | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
PART 3
Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14
PART 4
Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 |
PART 5
Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Conclusion
Appendix | Works Cited

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4.3
Spectrums based on stance relative to change

• Tropes vs. Reality

  • Authority

  • Order

  • Hierarchy

  • Tradition

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Spectrums based on stance relative to change

Among the many competing definitions of “the right” is this chestnut:

The right is the political ideology that prefers authority, order, hierarchy, and tradition. The right is conservative, in that it resists change, and seeks to preserve older ways of life.

As we’ve seen, this characterization bubbled up from the turgid ferment of the French Revolution, and was reinforced by the subsequent political trajectory of the western world. Owing to a complex set of circumstances we’ve already touched upon, this definition isn’t wholly wrong. But it is problematic, and mushes conflicting movements together into a single incoherent spectrum. 

Tropes vs. Reality

Not all classical liberals are conservatives, but a lot are. So what exactly are they conserving? As it turns out, context is everything…

Authority

The least radical of the French revolutionary left, the Feuillants, did argue for preserving some of the authority of the king, in the form of a constitutional monarchy. For this, they were labeled “the right,” and we were off to the races with this new, simplistic definition. The right are monarchists, or pro-authority…or something.

And yet, across the ocean, a fledgling republic had just arisen. Though not as all-devouring as the French version, the American Revolution was nonetheless a conscious rejection of monarchy and its authority over the affairs of men. But the American founding was a watershed political event in the development of the modern political right. Conservatives and libertarians alike hearken to it.

Libertarians, for their part, want austere government, or no government at all. Imagine a political spectrum that places libertarians and absolute monarchists together. It simply does not work. But a spectrum that deems preference for a high degree of authority to be a primary characteristic of the right would have to do just that.

In Great Britain today, one is more likely to find sentiments favorable to the monarchy, as an institution, among people who are considered to be on the political right. But this does not mean that they favor a return to absolute monarchy, or anything even close. This is simply a temperamental preference, among some on the right, for traditional things. That temperamental preference is not unimportant, but it is certainly not a primary determinative characteristic of their political alignment. None would support a return to the reign of King John just because it was old or “traditional.”

Then we have the inescapable fact that the ideological left—their protestations to the contrary notwithstanding—absolutely love authority. It has long suited them to describe their political rivals—fascists, Nazis, Augusto Pinochet, and anyone else who opposes them (including, laughably, the most minarchist of libertarians)—as “authoritarians.” Meanwhile, they hide the authoritarianism of Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Pot, Castro, and the rest of the gang behind a thin veneer of Marxian platitudes. And the more power they get, the more Western leftists look exactly like their revolutionary cousins. (Justin Trudeau, call your office.) …

We are in Chapter 4 (of 20) of “The Freedom Scale”—a book that was 15 years in the making. If you want to catch up, use the links at the top. If you want to keep reading (and help cover that 15 years of research and mind-bending philosophical exploration), upgrade today!