[Serious] Any high-quality right-wing media, books, explainers?

I know Lemmy isn't normally the best place to search for this, but are there any high-quality right-wing explainers, or modern books, or media outlets?

I myself am ultra-left (quite literally communist, to the dictionary sense of the word), but I'd like to quit the bubble that inevitably forms around and look at good arguments of the opposing side, if there are any.

Is there anything in there beyond temporarily embarrassed millionaires and fears that trans people will destroy humanity? Is there rational analysis, something closer to academic research, behind modern ideas of laissez-faire capitalism and/or political conservatism?

I've tried outlets like PragerU, but they are so basic they seem to target a very uncritical audience.

I'd like to see the world in the eyes of an enlightened right-winger, and see where they possibly fail (or if suddenly they have valid arguments).

originalfrozenbanana ,

Others have weighed in on the academic, but a lot of the American conservative braintrust is (literally) in think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, John Birch Society, etc. These organizations vary from "pretty right wing" Heritage to "nearly literally fascist" John Birch Society, and they put out a LOT of papers and material they use to...I'll generously say "inform" the public discourse.

Allero OP ,

Thanks! Will check them out. Useful to get closer to sources everyday conseratives lean to

djsoren19 ,

Have you already read through Plan 2025? It's kinda the latest huge report from the Heritage Foundation, and I'd say it does a pretty good job of outlining modern right-wing ideology. It can definitely be a hard read though, some of the things they want are really stomach churning to me.

Allero OP ,

Planned to go take a read, didn't do it yet

PeepinGoodArgs ,

Oh, you wanted that, too? Shoot, I'll save you some trouble:

That's all I got off the top of my head. I used to have RSS feeds of all of these organizations, but reading their headlines was infuriating. It was like a shot of hate every time they popped up. So, if I'm looking for arguments, I know where to go, otherwise, out of sight out of mind.

Allero OP ,

Thanks!
Yes, I see how this might be infuriating
Took a glance over Project 2025, it's not just wrong and dystopian, it's literally self-contradictory, sometimes in the same paragraphs.

Like when they say that free competition generally reduces costs of healthcare, but then the literal next paragraph saying government should allow prices to soar to "foster innovation" - like, make up your mind!
And then proceeding to say that insurance ends up in a lot of "unnecessary" appointments and that healthcare should be everyone's own financial responsibility.

And a lot of similar examples of self-contradictory and dystopian stuff carefully covered in positive wording.

folkrav ,

There’s an episode of Behind the Bastards touching on the subject - “How Conservatism Won”. Not a right-wing resource at all, obviously, but that’s where a lot of the money goes indeed.

originalfrozenbanana ,

Yep it’s a great one. Knowledge Fight talks about JBS all the time as well

Skua ,

I will have to preface this with the fact that I have not read any of his books, but former British politician Rory Stewart is one of the people that comes to my mind when reading your description. I don't think that he comes to the right policy positions, of course, but whenever I listen to him he does seem to at least have a degree of empathy for all people. He seems to at least generally see the problem even if I think that his solution wouldn't work. He has an effective way with words in interviews and his writing is generally very well reviewed too.

ABCDE ,

He isn't really right wing though, he is from a different Tory faction which failed to tap into much of any power in the past few governments. Politics on the Edge gave good insight into his time as an MP and his roles during the period, but he didn't justify or go into much detail about what being on the right (centre right for him, really) truly means.

Skua ,

I'm not sure that makes him not right wing, surely that just means he wasn't the kind of right wing that succeeded in the political landscape of the UK in the past 20ish years? His voting record is generally in favour of less regulation (outside of a few issues), lower taxes, military intervention, isolation from the EU. He's pro-environmentalist, but that hasn't always been an exclusively left-wing thing. Similarly, anarchists and Marxist-Leninists are both left wing, even if they wouldn't necessarily get along well in a single political party together

ABCDE ,

There are many left-wing people who were for leaving the EU, so I wouldn't use that as a measuring stick of left/right.

His voting record is something he has covered; a lot of these votes which make him seem particularly bad (I'm not a big fan of his, despite having read The Place In Between - before I knew who he was - and Politics on the Edge) but from times when people were whipped or 'encouraged' to vote a particular way. We found out what happened when he did go against the whip, with even Nicholas Soames feeling that wrath.

Edit: my first sentence in my previous post can be misinterpreted. My meaning is that he isn't very (strongly) right wing, not that he isn't right wing at all, as he clearly is centre-right at his most 'left'.

Skua ,

Fair enough. The whip is a reasonable point to bring up, though I would suggest that if it bothered him that much he wouldn't have stayed in the party for ten years. After all, he had switched parties beforehand. I get where you're coming from though.

Allero OP ,

Might be useful when taking popular side of it, thanks!

aasatru ,
@aasatru@kbin.earth avatar

Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia is a solid philosophical foundation for a lot of right wing thought. If you want to engage further you can follow up with Michael Otsuka's critique in Self-Ownership and Equality: A Lockean Reconciliation.

Nozick provides an underpinning for what many think of as traditional conservative American values, without basing it in Christianity.

Then of course there's the Chicago school of economics (Friedman et al), which is just a somewhat naive and more it less completely discredited take on how the economy works. It's fundamental for understanding American politics the previous half century, but their ideas are not really worth interacting with unless you're particularly interested in economics. It's not like the idiot politicians who push it in front of them understand the theories either.

Thsee theories is not far right; there's no salvaging the far right, and their ideological basis is mostly just bigotry. You could read Ayn Rand to try to understand which hole these idiots crawled from. Or better, don't waste your time.

Allero OP ,

I see!
Actually, I think I should touch Ayn Rand at some point to get more popular sentiment - in modern times, her books, particularly Atlas Shrugged, seem to be the Bible of common liberals.

aasatru ,
@aasatru@kbin.earth avatar

Yeah, you're probably right it's worth reading if you want to understand the American right. I just don't think Atlas Shrugged is anywhere near as interesting as Anarchy, State and Utopia from a history of ideas perspective, but that might not be the relevant dimension. :)

PeepinGoodArgs ,

Yes! I've been on this journey!

Thomas Sowell's bibliography is easily the best starting place. Just pick something and have at it. As a prominent conservative economist, his books actually make good arguments. It takes actual effort to deconstruct his arguments and identify where he's wrong. He's widely and highly respected in conservative communities and tackles a lot of the common cultural war issues.

Then there's granddaddies Milton Friedman and F.A. Hayek. Also economists, they were directly impacted by the Cold War, and make intellectual cases that capitalism is the only economic system that leads to real individual freedom. And they also try to prove why the totalitarianism of the Soviet Union and every lesser species of it undermines liberty. Hayek's Road to Serfdom and Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom are staples.

Castigated by modern conservatives because they're not serious about anything, sociology's Emile Durkheim is a cornerstone of the discipline. I've never read it, but his book *Suicide *concerns individuals within community and the institutions of it. He talks about a type of suicide derived from moral disorder and lack of clarity, anomic suicide.

One book that I found incredibly insightful was Yuval Levin's The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left. This book is genuinely fair to both sides, and it shows the historical roots of conservatism and its relation to the French Revolution, when the right and the left as political stances first became a thing.

MyPornViewingAccount ,

OP, this guy has given you an honest answer that is actually good material.

Seconding these recommendations.

Retiring ,
@Retiring@lemmy.ml avatar

Love the name

Allero OP ,

Wow, thank you for such a detailed response!

I'll check out the sources you've given.

applepie ,

Thomas Sowell is an american pseudo intelectual...

A lot of his analysis doesn't hold any water if reviewed in context of the world.

He is essentially doing the bidding for the regime which I guess what "conservatives" do but he is disingenius IMHO sort of Ben Shapiro type of lapdog telling working peasants sucks to suck, git gud.

PeepinGoodArgs ,

While I don't disagree exactly, the way he puts his arguments is far better than Shapiro. Reading or listening to Sowell is a lesson in uncovering sophisticated conservative arguments. It took me a while to understand how Sowell reasoned, so that's why I include him and think he's a great example of conservative thinkers.

grue ,

And they also try to prove why the totalitarianism of the Soviet Union and every lesser species of it undermines liberty.

Proving totalitarianism undermines liberty seems pretty trivial to me. An attempt to prove that communism must necessarily be totalitarian would be much more interesting.

PeepinGoodArgs ,

Yeah, that's what they do and say.

Omniraptor ,

iirc Friedman changed his mind about the welfare state later in life

Kalkaline ,
@Kalkaline@leminal.space avatar

Ayn Rand is where modern right wing ideology started. You really don't need to read a whole book, she beats you over the head with the message repeatedly.

Fast forward to the Rush Limbaugh talk show and listen to some of his monologues.

Then jump back to Mein Kampf to see the future of the right wing.

It's all bullshit, and it's easy to fall down the rabbit hole of right wing talking points. Ask critical questions like what happens to the most vulnerable populations under that system and you realize quickly that it's Sparta all over again and they will be actively killed because they believe in eugenics.

MyPornViewingAccount ,

Hard disagree with Rand, thats just a libertarian circle jerk.

Better would be anything from Jefferson.
If you really want to get into the weeds, the Anti-Federalists from the 1790's opposing the Constitution in favor of keeping the original Articles of Confederation that governed the US right after independence.

Allero OP ,

Jefferson sounds like a barely relevant choice from a very distant time, something that an average libertarianist will shove in people's faces without telling it fails to describe shortcomings of capitalism highlighted by later thinkers.

But as a starting point, I see how that may be useful. Thank you!

LibertyLizard ,
@LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net avatar

If you’re looking for credible conservatives who actually confront the shortcomings of capitalism, I can’t think of any. But these early writings were pretty well-thought out and are foundational to later ideas, so I think they’re worth reading.

Successful_Try543 ,

If you really consider reading Mein Kampf, don't.

ThrowawayPermanente ,

I thought your review of conservatism was very fair and balanced. I give it a perfect 5/7.

Gigan ,
@Gigan@lemmy.world avatar

The first name that came to mind was Thomas Sowell

Allero OP ,

Second time I hear this name, should check out! Thanks!

Forester ,
@Forester@yiffit.net avatar

Foundations of geopolitics by Aleksander Dugan. This is the basis of modern European, conservative actions and the Russian playbook for the last 30 years.

MyPornViewingAccount ,

The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America https://a.co/d/5pCJwnr

This would probably be better for an american reader. Theyre not gonna get the cultural underpinnings of 'Foundations' without reading an analysis and I dont think this is what OP is looking for. Foundations is Russian international relations theory.

Allero OP ,

You mean Dugin? Heard of him a lot lately.

GregorGizeh ,

Yup that's him. A Russian ultra nationalist who essentially wrote a game plan for Russia to dismantle the liberal world order of the west, and was/is highly popular in russian political and military leadership. Many of his suggestions are part of russian doctrine today (like the notion that Ukraine has no cultural identity or value and should be taken over). Quite eye opening.

Allero OP ,

Thanks!

dhork ,

I'm not sure of you'll find the academic research you are looking for, at least out of the US, since the modern Conservative movement seems to have eschewed academia as filled with Liberals.

I haven't read this book yet, but I'd recommend Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about JD Vance's life in Appalachia, It came out in 2016, and I recall folks thinking that it was a good read, even if they didn't agree with Vance's politics, and partially explained Trump's appeal to rural voters whose lifestyle bears no resemblance at all to Trump. The book has to be somewhat compelling, since Ron Howard made a movie out of it. And Vance parlayed it into a Senate seat, after all.

Allero OP ,

Interesting! Thank you

MyPornViewingAccount ,

If youre being honest, then youre going to need to look at historical material like Locke & Hobbes to get a foundation.

Modern conserativism... aggitation... can bw traced through Gingrich in the House in the early 90s, I cant think of the book off the top of my head but theres a pretty decent record of how he did manipulative things with unmanned cspan cameras at the time.

Allero OP ,

Thank you!

reddig33 ,

Gingrich’s “Contract With America” book was such word salad. Every other page contradicted the others.

PeepinGoodArgs ,

For Gingrich, you can read his memo Language: A Key Mechanism of Control.

InternetCitizen2 ,

This. Perhaps even some "Wealth of Nations" and similar.

grue ,

Adam Smith is less right-wing than the cargo-cultists think.

InternetCitizen2 ,

True, but it is in part a philosophical basis that OP seems to want to understand, so I felt it was relevant.

db2 ,

an enlightened right-winger

If they still exist they aren't putting themselves in the (probably literal) crosshairs of the conservative/christianist goofballs.

It's been actual decades since the right wing was anything approaching sane. The left is following suit lately too.

MotoAsh ,

Ahh yes, a classic "both sides" argument.

Please, explain how the left has gone crazy with their ideology, because leftists don't have much political power to actually mess anything up with, unlike conservatives.

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