It’s inane to claim the Right’s version of identity politics is just designed to distract from economic concerns. Conservative Inc. is certainly not interested in “white identity politics.” Con Inc. would much rather have us all focused on taxes and the economy than any sort of racial matters. Just remember how the Tea Party was transformed into a harmless tax protest. Respectable conservatives and Republican elites would prefer their voters to drop any hint of identity politics and just care about the economy.
The reason that there is so much interest in “white identity politics” is because that’s what the people who vote Republican care about. Seventy-three percent of Republicans believe The Great Replacement is happening. Parents all over the country organized to combat the anti-white Critical Race Theory in the classroom. Trump won in 2016 on the basis of building the wall and deporting them all. These are the issues that people genuinely care about.
The economic populism plus social conservatism mix favored by “post-liberals” such as Deneen and Compact doesn’t generate that much enthusiasm from the base. It’s also not particularly radical. People who advocate for this mix can expect puff pieces and guest columns in major news outlets. Compact received glowing coverage from the New York Times when it was launched. If Compact was truly radical, the Times — ostensibly an institution of structural liberalism — would not fawn over the magazine. You will never see the Times adore Tucker Carlson or Pat Buchanan, for instance. That’s because in addition to promoting a version of economic populism, Carlson and Buchanan also touch sensitive issues like the Great Replacement that undermine the fundamental dogmas of liberals. Read more…
