lexical hacking

[gfish]

I think that the left should consciously adopt paleoconservative as the standard description of pre neoconservative thinking. Neoconservatism is obviously critically wounded. There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity here to get paleoconservative, with all the baggage that it implies, into standard usage. Once it is in, it could be an albatross around the right's neck long after neocons are just a scary bedtime story.

Comments

[helenangel.livejournal.com]

I'll start using it and hope it catches. =)

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

You make the assumption that neoconservative is indeed dead. I'm not sure. The people whose agenda are being advanced by the neocon crowd -- to wit, the teeming millions, the compassionate christians, the nascar rednecks, the safety-before-freedom soccer moms -- will probably be looking back at this as their golden hour for the next 40 years, and trying their best to make it happen again, even if it doesn't have the ideological and philosophical underpinnings that are trying to hold up what's going on right now.

[hello-mike.livejournal.com]

"paleo" is not really going to hit any notes for anyone, I don't think.

Old Conservative might work.

But 'conservative' doesn't really have enough punch to it these days, I don't think. The majority of Americans are conservative, it doesn't win you any votes.

[ashley-y.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see "anti-liberal" catch on as a general term for bad government around the world.

[eleventoes.livejournal.com]

Hey! I'm a Paleoconservative and proud of it. The way I see it the Neocons are Hamiltonian while the Paleocons are more Jeffersonian.

Acceptable answers also include Paleocons=Friedmanites / Neocons=Keynesians.

I am a 10th amendment absolutist, which means that I’m against almost all federal legislation and exercise of power on principle. To my way of thinking the Republican Party is no more conservative than the Democratic Party. They're just liberal with different stated goals (anti-gay, anti-brown, pro-business, pro-central authority, etc.).

The Republican Party advocates an elastic interpretation of the constitution, the use of big government to drive social policy, a liberal view of separation of powers, and an ends justifies means approach to government. The list goes on and on. Almost every single bit of power exercised or advocated by the Republicans in the Legislative and Executive branches seems to have a very strong liberal principle behind it. Sure the stated goals are the exact opposite of what the Democratic members of the federal legislature say they want, but that doesn't mean that the same principles aren't being applied.

Of course I'm crazy, but that's hardly the point is it?

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

I'm still stuck in hoping to god they will become just a scary bedtime story.