Harper's Article: The Party of Loss (Conservatism)

[gulliver]

The current Harper's has an article titled "The Party of Loss" by Corey Robin. It sheds a lot of light on the conservative psyche. I highly recommend both the article and the magazine. Sorry, but it doesn't look like there is a free link.

Robin notes that Conservatism has a long history of exploiting a sense of victimhood. Conservatives are people who feel they have lost something they had, be it social prestige, power, or property.

People on the left often fail to realize this, but conservatism does indeed speak to and for people who have lost something. The loss may be as material as a portion of one's income or as ethereal a a sense of standing. It may be something that was never legitimately owned in the first place. Even so, nothing is ever so cherished as that which we no longer possess.

There is much more in the article, especially concerning the conservative sense of loss due to the trend toward minority (especially African American) equality.

Anyway, I think it is a good article. If there is an explanation for the ironic existence of the "non-wealthy Republican," this is getting close to it. Conservative folks blame their perceived losses (social and material) on minority gains and on liberal politics. As discussed in the article, these folks are motivated by wanting to get something they had (or feel they had) back.