The Reactionary Mind

In the following interview Prof. Corey Robin, author of The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin, discusses the ideological basis of the conservative worldview. Although his analysis is clearly from an idealist perspective, I find his description of conservative philosophy to be quite accurate:

I agree that they sum up conservatism rather well and like you said his viewpoint is limited by idealism and i find it rather humorous that they seem so clueless due to this viewpoint

4thsupporter wrote:i find it rather humorous that they seem so clueless due to this viewpoint

Indeed. Like the conservatives, progressive analysts ignore the role material factors have in establishing the ruling ideas of society. Within the context of the United States, the Democrats and Republicans merely represent different sectors of the business community and espouse slightly different ideas on how best to preserve the dictatorship of capital. A rather glaring omission in Robin's analysis is his failure to acknowledge that the only social movements which have been successful historically were those capable of being incorporated into the logic of capital accumulation.

Celtiberian wrote:A rather glaring omission in Robin's analysis is his failure to acknowledge that the only social movements which have been successful historically were those capable of being incorporated into the logic of capital accumulation.

I agree completely with this. women were given rights so they could be exploited like man etc. but what else can we expect from the bourgeoisie media but to subtly support its own survival while attempting to destroy the idea that capitalism is undemocratic( which we as socialists know it is)