Posted on 07/10/2026 2:04:46 PM PDT by Angelino97
As the era of neoconservative dominance comes to a close, the direction of the right is seemingly up for grabs. The strict guardrails that constrained the post-war conservative movement and the gatekeeping of establishment figures such as National Review Editor William F. Buckley have now been replaced by social media platforms that are open to controversial thinkers.
Gone are the days when expressing the wrong beliefs would end a person’s public career. Today, anti-establishment sentiment drives right-wing media. This new reality eliminates the default ideology that conservative youths were previously expected to adopt.
The next generation should take advantage of this opening by moving away from the failed conservatism of the last several decades and returning to paleoconservatism. Yet, many conservatives will disagree, insisting that the paleos are the real failures; they lost all the old conservative battles, after all.
A cursory glance at the paleos since their emergence in the 1980s would suggest that they have been primarily preoccupied with their conflict against the neoconservatives—the liberal internationalists who had taken over the conservative movement.
George W. Bush’s former speechwriter, David Frum, suggested that the paleos were motivated in their criticisms by “grievances.” What’s more, he labeled the paleos “unpatriotic conservatives” for their attacks on the Bush administration during the Iraq War.
While Frum—a dual-citizen of Canada and the U.S. who supported Kamala Harris in 2024—was attacking the paleos for sabotaging the movement, paleoconservatives were opposing these “new conservatives” precisely because they were an extension of the left. True opposition to leftism has always been the paleo’s goal.
Paleoconservatives have written the most articulate and detailed deconstructions of leftism. The realities of the managerial state, the fantasies of globalism, and the attempt to rid the West of its social norms, traditions, and peoples were all subjects of paleo critique, and all are now mainstream topics.
Paleos actually see the left as an existential threat, unlike the neoconservatives, who have sounded the alarm and vented their disapproval at paleo critiques of leftism, whether on immigration policy, foreign policy, or cultural mores.
The fact that neoconservatives held the upper hand in the conservative civil wars reveals that it was only the paleos who posed a real challenge to the left’s totalitarian regime. Only the faux neoconservative establishment, a controlled opposition, was permitted by the leftist regime.
As a young member of the right, I did not experience the peak of neoconservative influence. Half of the neocons jumped ship and voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, and most of the others are held at arm’s length in President Trump’s Republican Party.
Paleoconservatism’s robustness suits it for the current era just as well as the late 20th century. A reactionary, not merely defensive, conservatism is what the paleo movement is truly about, and it is exactly what the present moment calls for.
Chronicles columnist Sam Francis wrote that paleoconservatism is not “conservative” in the sense of seeking to preserve the current system. The system, as it is currently comprised, has waged war against the American people.
Rather, paleoconservatives are concerned with restoring the traditional American way of life. They believe in the classical conservatism of Edmund Burke, as manifested in the unique Anglo-Saxon founding of America.
The Southern Agrarians, the American System protectionists, the Old Right that opposed the New Deal, and the immigration restrictionists of the early 1900s, all influenced the paleoconservative movement and continue to shape its politics today. In other words, paleoconservatism represents an authentically American right-wing.
Paleoconservatism brings to the forefront what is needed today: a love for historic America, a recognition of its enemies, and a vision for its restoration. There could be no better direction for the youth of the right, who are already embracing many of these beliefs due to the rise of Trump.
Before 2016, the paleos had reached the most sophisticated levels of intellectual political thought but had failed to distill those ideas into policy. In President Trump’s second term, these ideas have been even more strongly represented than they were in his first. The paleos have been vindicated in their convictions on mass immigration, trade policy, and foreign policy, among many other issues.
While Sam Francis was known as a paleoconservative, he preferred other labels for the movement. I am the last person who should propose a new name for this movement, though I can speculate on why a name change appealed to Francis. He and his cohorts adopted “paleoconservative” to distinguish themselves from “neoconservatives.” Both names, however, share the “conservative” root, which frames both as branches of a broader tradition that works to conserve the present regime.
The next generation should not consider paleoconservatism as merely another strain of regime conservatism. We can embrace it as the remnant of America’s authentic right-wing political tradition, and adapt it for today’s fight against the reigning leftist regime that is openly hostile to that tradition.
The rising crop of rightists values the traditional American order, while rejecting the regime that threatens it. The paleoconservative tradition is the only sensible guide for today’s right-wingers. It is the only authentic American right, and it is the soul of the emerging New Right.
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bump
Paleo, low-carb, carnivore, vegan, Mediterranean — so many to choose from. Which is best. This article says Paleo.
“paleoconservatism represents an authentically American right-wing”
Best line in the article.
PaleoCon is MAGA.
The new name has already been established.
This I agree with. Neo- Cons are ex- Troskites. Neo- Statists.
I don’t see all that much love for the Founding Fathers among the Paleos.
Why is that?
Paleocons got tagged with the anti-Semitic label back during the Pat Buchanan era and never came back from that. I’m not sure the Paleocon brand can be recycled.
“Paleocons got tagged with the anti-Semitic label back during the Pat Buchanan era and never came back from that. I’m not sure the Paleocon brand can be recycled.”
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They were identified as anti-Semitic long before that, going back into the early 50’s when they claimed communism is a worldwide criminal conspiracy led by Jews. That’s why Wm. F. Buckley banned them.
That's because they opposed the Gulf War and aid to Israel.
Opponents of the Iraq and Iran wars are also charged with anti-Semitism, as are people opposed to aiding Israel.
Any label that opposes wars and aid for Israel will be charged with "anti-Semitism." So you can either drop those positions (I won't) or you can deal with the slurs.
Plenty of positions get you called a "racist." Best to just ignore such leftist slurs, which are all losing their power anyway.
Follow up:
I think rightly or wrongly that at the core of the lukewarm relationship between Paleos and the Founders is the belief that Rights are a Gift from God.
Getting Rights Wrong - Chronicles Magazine
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4387504/posts
Paleos appear to openly reject the notion. So then all of you Paleos............... Where do rights come from? Government? You know that’s a failed ideology right?
They were right about the basic issues — immigration, deindustrialization, and foreign wars. They said other stuff that wasn’t important, wasn’t worth much, and didn’t matter.
Getting Rights Wrong - Chronicles Magazine https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4387504/posts
Paleos appear to openly reject the notion.
I never heard that. Maybe some, but I don't think that's a core belief of Paleocons. Many, I think, do believe that rights come from God.
Paleo is a HUGE improvement, but, obviously, Keto is better and Carnivore is best.
But, to be honest, the less people who eat Keto/Carnivore, the cheaper my food will be and the less likely it becomes that the government will outlaw it (and, believe me, it is VERY EASY for the government to remove food choices).
Bkmk for desktop because this is unreadable on phone
“Where do rights come from? Government? You know that’s a failed ideology right? “
the notion of “Rights” is Enlightenment humanism.
“Rights” are not in the Bible.
They can be inferred.
God's command not to kill (some say, murder) implies that human life has inherent value. Hence, a right not to be killed, at least not without justification (war, self-defense, etc.).
I have always considered myself a paleoconservative, for as long as I’ve been familiar with the term. Or perhaps a paleoconservatarian, if I dare to coin a term.
Aye. As you say, we get our right to life from Thou Shalt Not Kill. We get our right to property from Thou Shalt Not Steal, and so on. The moral order set forth in the Bible is the _only_ valid source of rights. Leftists do not even believe in 'inalienable rights' from an absolute and unchanging authority like paleoconservatives do, because they consider 'rights' to be only privileges granted by the government, to be rescinded or altered as different figures come to power or different cultural fads (ie., homosexuality) come to prominence.
The notion of “Rights” is Enlightenment Christendom. Maybe you seek to insult those awesome Christians of the era, but expect others to find it offensive. Those Christian thinkers of those days did nothing to insult you personally to deserve this.
"“Rights” are not in the Bible."
If you are free/with liberty, you have "rights" - the word "rights" is merely a word to express a breaking apart of the whole. To that extent, Liberty coming from God is expressly in the Bible.
We are granted free will, unlike other beasts which operate generally on instinct only. We are made in His image, and He himself has free will.
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