Summary What Liberals Get Wrong about the Right with Corey Robin - Factually! - 236 (Youtube) youtu.be
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One Line
Corey Robin challenges misconceptions about the adaptable and internationalist nature of the right, highlighting its historical opposition to freedom and equality.
Slides
Slide Presentation (7 slides)
Key Points
- The right wing movement is rooted in a history of counter movements against freedom and equality, with a focus on preserving privilege and power.
- Understanding the beliefs and principles of the right wing is crucial for effectively countering their actions and movements.
- Institutionalizing lasting changes is essential for progress in the face of potential backlash from the right wing.
- The left needs to focus on creating a vast realignment of politics to establish a lasting electoral majority and counteract conservative reliance on certain institutional crutches.
- Clarence Thomas's beliefs, rooted in his history as a black nationalist, offer insights into the complexities of political ideology and racial perspectives.
Summaries
21 word summary
Corey Robin debunks left-wing misconceptions about the adaptable, internationalist nature of the right and its historical counter to freedom and equality.
69 word summary
Political theorist Corey Robin challenges left-wing misconceptions about the right, emphasizing its adaptability and historical adeptness at learning from the left. The right has always countered freedom and equality, being an internationalist movement. The term "reactionary" is misunderstood, as it seeks to institutionalize social change. Despite controlling the federal government, the modern conservative movement is weaker, with diminishing popular support and reliance on constitutional apparatuses benefiting white rural people.
141 word summary
Corey Robin, a political theorist, challenges left-wing misconceptions about the right. He emphasizes that the right is not unintelligent or lacking in values, but rather adaptive and historically adept at learning from the left. The right has always been a counter movement against freedom and equality, and it has been an internationalist movement from the beginning. The term "reactionary" is often misunderstood, as it is born in response to something else but is not reactive or unthinking. The right seeks to institutionalize social change and make it difficult to undo, involving not just holding people accountable, but putting systems in place. Despite having all the elected branches of the federal government, the modern conservative movement is weaker than many people think, with a diminishing amount of popular support and increasing reliance on constitutional apparatuses that benefit white rural types of people.
338 word summary
Political theorist Corey Robin discusses the misconceptions that many people on the left have about the right, emphasizing that the right is not stupid or lacking values, but rather adaptive and historically great students of the left. The right has always been a counter movement against movements for freedom and equality, and it has been an internationalist movement from the start.
The term “reactionary” is often misunderstood, as it is born in response to something else but is not reactive or unthinking. Reactionaries critique established powers and seek to reconstruct the old regime by borrowing from the opposition. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for anyone seeking to navigate the dynamics of political change and institutionalize lasting reforms.
The right wing movement seeks to institutionalize social change and make it difficult to undo, involving not just holding people accountable, but putting systems in place. The left should focus on creating a vast realignment of politics to establish a lasting electoral majority and institutionalize changes that are difficult to undo.
The modern conservative movement is weaker than many people think, with a diminishing amount of popular support and increasing reliance on constitutional apparatuses that benefit white rural types of people. Despite having all the elected branches of the federal government, the Republicans were unable to accomplish much of their legislative agenda during Donald Trump's presidency.
Clarence Thomas, often caricatured as thoughtless and lazy, actually holds deep beliefs rooted in his history as a black nationalist on the left. He is a racial pessimist who believes that black people will never get a fair shake from white America and that white racism is incurable. His beliefs are rooted in a vision of powerful black patriarchal figures presiding over and taking care of their own, similar to his grandfather who raised him.
The conversation concludes with a focus on the need for a new vision to break the current political logjam and create a majority. Speaker A expresses optimism about ending on a positive note and thanks Corey Robin for his insights.
456 word summary
Corey Robin, a political theorist and professor of political science at Brooklyn College, discusses the misconceptions that many people on the left have about the right. He believes that the right is often misunderstood as stupid and lacking values, when in reality, it is very adaptive and historically great students of the left. The right has always been a counter movement against movements for freedom and equality, and it has been an internationalist movement from the start.
The term “reactionary” is often misunderstood. It is born in response to something else but is not reactive or unthinking. Reactionaries critique established powers and seek to reconstruct the old regime by borrowing from the opposition. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for anyone seeking to navigate the dynamics of political change and institutionalize lasting reforms.
The right wing movement seeks to institutionalize social change and make it difficult to undo. This involves not just holding people accountable, but putting systems in place. The left should focus on creating a vast realignment of politics to establish a lasting electoral majority and institutionalize changes that are difficult to undo.
The modern conservative movement is weaker than many people think. It has a diminishing amount of popular support and increasing reliance on constitutional apparatuses that benefit white rural types of people. Despite having all the elected branches of the federal government, the Republicans were unable to accomplish much of their legislative agenda during Donald Trump's presidency.
Clarence Thomas, often caricatured as thoughtless and lazy, actually holds deep beliefs rooted in his history as a black nationalist on the left. He is a racial pessimist who believes that black people will never get a fair shake from white America and that white racism is incurable. His beliefs are rooted in a vision of powerful black patriarchal figures presiding over and taking care of their own, similar to his grandfather who raised him.
Speaker A and Speaker B discuss the perception that only the “good guys” have principles, while those on the right are often seen as cynical when they vote in ways that align with the left's interests. They also discuss the resistance and criticism Speaker B faced when his book about Clarence Thomas was released, as well as the complexity of African American political views.
The conversation concludes with a focus on the need for a new vision to break the current political logjam and create a majority. Speaker A expresses optimism about ending on a positive note and thanks Corey Robin for his insights.
Overall, the conversation provides a thought-provoking analysis of current political challenges and potential paths forward for the left, while also highlighting moments of promise and the need for a new vision to break the current political logjam.
1340 word summary
Welcome to Factually! I'm Adam Conover. If you're listening or watching, you're probably not a hard right winger. It's easy to caricature the far right, but it's a mistake because right wingers are real people. Understanding their influences and principles is important. Take Clarence Thomas, for instance. He has a judicial philosophy rooted in the world he grew up in. To understand the broader right wing movement, you have to analyze these currents. Today's guest is Corey Robin, a political theorist and professor of political science at Brooklyn College. His books include The Enigma of Clarence Thomas and The Reactionary Mind, Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump.
Robin's work focuses on understanding the conservative, right wing, and reactionary mind. He believes that many people on the left misunderstand the right. They think the right is stupid, irrational, and lacks values or a coherent ideology. In reality, the right is very adaptive and historically great students of the left. The right has always been a counter movement against movements for freedom and equality. It has been an internationalist movement from the start, with its most forceful political and intellectual spokespersons oftentimes being outsiders themselves.
The right began in the 1790s in reaction to the French revolution. It has always been a reactionary movement against movements for freedom and equality. The right believes in the prerogative of certain people to rule and defends privilege to a mass audience. The first great conservative thinker who led the opposition to the French revolution was Edmund Burke, an Englishman. The right has always been about creating a mass movement for privilege.
The term "reactionary" is often misunderstood. It is born in response to something else but is not reactive or unthinking. Reactionaries critique established powers and seek to reconstruct the old regime by borrowing from the opposition. Many of their strongest recruits and leaders originally came from the left. Backlashes always come with movements for equality, generating incredible amounts of opposition from defenders of the old regime.
It's important for the left to understand these dynamics and be prepared for backlash when pushing for change. There is a small window to make changes, and it's crucial to institutionalize them. State institutions are much harder to get rid of once they are established.
Understanding the right is essential for anyone who wants to fight back against it. It's not enough to just have a movement; it's important to institutionalize change. Ronald Reagan discovered this when trying to get rid of Social Security - it proved to be an extraordinarily difficult thing to eliminate.
The conversation delves into the history of reactionary movements and how they have evolved over time. The right has always been about creating a mass movement for privilege, and understanding this is crucial for anyone involved in politics.
The interview with Corey Robin sheds light on the complexities of the right wing movement and provides valuable insights into its historical roots and modern manifestations. Understanding the reactionary mind is essential for anyone seeking to navigate the dynamics of political change and institutionalize lasting reforms.
The right wing movement seeks to institutionalize social change and make it difficult to undo. This involves not just holding people accountable, but putting systems in place. The hardest part of making civil rights progress in America is getting white people to give up power or advantage. This can lead to political backlash that threatens progress. However, the left has internalized a belief that white people have an instinctive desire to hold onto their privileges, when in reality, the creation of white people as defenders of their privileges took time. The United States had the largest mass movement against slavery in the modern world, led by a multiracial party dedicated to extinguishing slavery. The left can learn from these interracial movements and should focus on creating institutions that benefit everyone, rather than just being a moral issue about virtue.
The left should focus on creating a vast realignment of politics to establish a lasting electoral majority and institutionalize changes that are difficult to undo. The Wagner Act, for example, transformed the American political universe by institutionalizing worker power. The left needs to focus on voting rights, labor law reform, and creating new states in the union to counteract the Republican Party's reliance on counter-majoritarian state institutions. The left should be able to figure out how to work around obstacles like the filibuster.
The modern conservative movement is weaker than many people think. It has a diminishing amount of popular support and increasing reliance on constitutional apparatuses that benefit white rural types of people. Despite having all the elected branches of the federal government, the Republicans were unable to accomplish much of their legislative agenda during Donald Trump's presidency. They rely on the electoral college, the Supreme Court, and the Senate, which are creatures of the constitution that support the Republican Party's power. This reliance on institutional crutches indicates a lack of power.
Clarence Thomas, often caricatured as thoughtless and lazy, actually holds deep beliefs rooted in his history as a black nationalist on the left. He is a racial pessimist who believes that black people will never get a fair shake from white America and that white racism is incurable. He believes that black people should concentrate on building economic wealth in their communities rather than engaging in voting. Thomas's beliefs are rooted in a vision of powerful black patriarchal figures presiding over and taking care of their own, similar to his grandfather who raised him.
The left often has a version of racial pessimism, thinking it's a progressive position when in fact it's at the heart of right-wing thinking. Clarence Thomas's move to the right was not a popular one, and he had to think through his beliefs for himself. Many people on the left ignored his beliefs, but they were clear as day. The right wing movement has beliefs and principles that motivate their actions, and this is often overlooked in depictions of politics in film and television.
In conclusion, the left needs to focus on creating lasting change by creating a vast realignment of politics and institutionalizing changes that are difficult to undo. The right wing movement is not as strong as it seems and has deep-seated beliefs and principles that motivate its actions. Understanding these beliefs is crucial for understanding the right wing movement and how to effectively counter it.
Speaker A and Speaker B discuss the perception that only the "good guys" have principles, while those on the right are often seen as cynical when they vote in ways that align with the left's interests. They also discuss the resistance and criticism Speaker B faced when his book about Clarence Thomas was released, as well as the complexity of African American political views.
The conversation then shifts to the current political climate and the challenges facing the left in gaining a majority and enacting transformative changes. Speaker B expresses concern about the urgency of addressing issues like climate change and the need for a more cohesive political story to unite the left.
They also touch on the limitations of democratic socialism and the importance of breaking out of traditional political boundaries. Speaker B highlights moments of promise, such as the teacher strikes in red states and Bernie Sanders' success in Nevada, as indicators of potential future change.
The conversation concludes with a focus on the need for a new vision to break the current political logjam and create a majority. Speaker A expresses optimism about ending on a positive note and thanks Corey Robin for his insights.
The episode ends with a reminder to support local bookstores by purchasing books mentioned on the show's website and a call to support the podcast directly through Patreon. The host also thanks producers and announces upcoming stand-up tour dates.
Overall, the conversation provides a thought-provoking analysis of current political challenges and potential paths forward for the left, while also highlighting moments of promise and the need for a new vision to break the current political logjam.