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CousinIT

(9,247 posts)
Sun May 14, 2023, 09:22 AM May 2023

American Talibanism Descends Upon the UK

National Conservatism conference, May 15-17, Marsham Street, London.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1657328729683632129.html

Keynote speaker at #NatCon, Heritage Foundation President: “Heritage’s position, to be really plain, is that marriage is between one man & one woman, full stop.” Asked if that means annulling existing same-sex marriages, he says “I hope so. That would be good for civil society.”

What follows is a summary #THREAD of the 'Statement of Principles' offered by 'National Conservatism', a Christian nationalist project of the Edmund Burke Foundation - a lobbying 'institute' founded in 2019 with the aim of strengthening the principles of national conservatism".

Libertarian billionaire Pete Thiel, & Charlie Kirk, founder of university-based culture war outfit Turning Point, is a signatory of the National Conservatism movement’s statement of principles, & has been a speaker at most NCC events.

Karam Bales looks at the senior British Conservatives appearing at the National Conservatism Conference with its international right wing network, from Peter Thiel to Viktor Orbán
https://bylinetimes.com/2023/03/10/mps-links-to-christian-nationalism-revealed/
Selected extracts from the 'National Conservatism Statement of Principles':

1. National Independence.

"Each has a right to maintain its own borders and conduct policies that will benefit its own people. We endorse a policy of rearmament by independent self-governing nations."

2. Rejection of Imperialism and Globalism.

"We oppose the liberal imperialism of the last generation, which sought to gain power, influence, and wealth by dominating other nations and trying to remake them in its own image.

3. National Government.

"We recommend a drastic reduction in the scope of the administrative state... (Where) law & justice have been manifestly corrupted, or in which lawlessness, immorality, & dissolution reign, national Govt must intervene energetically to restore order."

4. God and Public Religion.

"No nation can long endure without humility and gratitude before God and fear of his judgment that are found in authentic religious tradition."

"For millennia, the Bible has been our surest guide, nourishing a fitting orientation toward God, to the political traditions of the nation, to public morals, to the defense of the weak, and to the recognition of things rightly regarded as sacred."

"The Bible should be read as the first among the sources of a shared Western civilization in schools and universities, and as the rightful inheritance of believers and non-believers alike."

"Where a Christian majority exists, public life should be rooted in Christianity and its moral vision, which should be honored by the state and other institutions both public and private."

5. The Rule of Law.

"Necessary change must take place through the law. This is how we preserve our national traditions and our nation itself. Rioting, looting, and other unacceptable public disorder should be swiftly put to an end."

6. Free Enterprise.

"We reject the socialist principle, which supposes that the economic activity of the nation can be conducted in accordance with a rational plan dictated by the state."

"Economic policy must serve the general welfare of the nation. Today, globalized markets allow hostile foreign powers to despoil America and other countries of their manufacturing capacity, weakening them economically and dividing them internally."

"At the same time, trans-national corporations showing little loyalty to any nation damage public life by censoring political speech, flooding the country with dangerous and addictive substances and pornography, and promoting obsessive, destructive personal habits."

7. Public Research.

A Cold War-type program modeled on DARPA, the “moon-shot,” and SDI is needed to focus large-scale public resources on scientific and technological research with military applications."

"We recognize that most universities are at this point partisan and globalist in orientation and vehemently opposed to nationalist and conservative ideas. Such institutions do not deserve taxpayer support unless they rededicate themselves to the national interest."

8. Family and Children.

"The traditional family is the source of society’s virtues... built around a lifelong bond between a man and a woman, and on a lifelong bond between parents and children, is the foundation of all other achievements of our civilization."

"The disintegration of the family, including a marked decline in marriage and childbirth, gravely threatens the wellbeing and sustainability of democratic nations. Among the causes are an unconstrained individualism that regards children as a burden...
...while encouraging ever more radical forms of sexual license and experimentation as an alternative to the responsibilities of family and congregational life. Economic and cultural conditions that foster stable family and congregational life and child-raising are priorities."

9. Immigration.

"Today’s penchant for uncontrolled and unassimilated immigration has become a source of weakness and instability, not strength and dynamism, threatening internal dissension and ultimately dissolution of the political community."

"We call for much more restrictive policies until these countries summon the wit to establish more balanced, productive, and assimilationist policies. Restrictive policies may sometimes include a moratorium on immigration."

10. Race.

"We condemn the use of state and private institutions to discriminate and divide us against one another on the basis of race. The cultural sympathies encouraged by a decent nationalism offer a sound basis for conciliation and unity among diverse communities."

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American Talibanism Descends Upon the UK (Original Post) CousinIT May 2023 OP
Using the word "Taliban" to describe a uniquely American extremism isn't useful. It implies that WhiskeyGrinder May 2023 #1
umm.. You have a good point. riversedge May 2023 #3
Please..There is nothing uniquely "American" about whathehell May 2023 #4
American conservatism and its extremism are certainly unique to this country. WhiskeyGrinder May 2023 #5
Lol..Yes, it stands to reason that AMERICAN conservatism whathehell May 2023 #7
"American jingoism" orthoclad May 2023 #2
Jingoism whathehell May 2023 #6
We inherited it from Europe, and orthoclad May 2023 #8
Maybe we should use their own term "Nat C" muriel_volestrangler May 2023 #9
I think American Theo-fascism is a better term LostOne4Ever May 2023 #10

WhiskeyGrinder

(22,357 posts)
1. Using the word "Taliban" to describe a uniquely American extremism isn't useful. It implies that
Sun May 14, 2023, 09:26 AM
May 2023

it's something outside or apart from America, when it is a foundation that the country and culture are built on.

whathehell

(29,067 posts)
4. Please..There is nothing uniquely "American" about
Sun May 14, 2023, 11:19 AM
May 2023

Last edited Sun May 14, 2023, 12:24 PM - Edit history (1)

conservatism or political extremism, nor do they, in any way, wholly reflect "the foundation our country and culture are built on".

WhiskeyGrinder

(22,357 posts)
5. American conservatism and its extremism are certainly unique to this country.
Sun May 14, 2023, 11:25 AM
May 2023

They're rooted in the white supremacy this country was founded on.

whathehell

(29,067 posts)
7. Lol..Yes, it stands to reason that AMERICAN conservatism
Sun May 14, 2023, 11:58 AM
May 2023

and American extremism would be "unique" to America...Whether it is, or was, qualitatively WORSE or more representative of our country than Nazism and Fascism is or was of Europe is debatable.

As for slavery, America neither invented it or continued it as long as many other countries - It was practiced for thousands of years around the world, including in countries like Africa and Saudi Arabia, where it wasn't abolished until 1930.

orthoclad

(2,910 posts)
2. "American jingoism"
Sun May 14, 2023, 10:32 AM
May 2023

We've been exporting the worst parts of our national culture for a avery long time. Follow the money.

whathehell

(29,067 posts)
6. Jingoism
Sun May 14, 2023, 11:26 AM
May 2023

was neither invented by nor "imported" from America.
Europe, to name but one area, was built on centuries of war and imperialism.

orthoclad

(2,910 posts)
8. We inherited it from Europe, and
Sun May 14, 2023, 01:52 PM
May 2023

added a uniquely American flavor. I keep thinking of Upton Sinclair's Babbit and his one about the preacher who would screw young girls after every revival.

I submnit jingoism as a more appropriate word than talibanism. I'm open to suggestions.

muriel_volestrangler

(101,321 posts)
9. Maybe we should use their own term "Nat C"
Sun May 14, 2023, 02:44 PM
May 2023

Whether American, British, or in the original German, it seems accurate.

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