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George Will eloquently explains that the ideas and ethics of ‘conservative nationalists’ such as Oren Cass and Tucker Carlson differ from those of ‘progressives’ such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders only superficially [2]. Here’s Will’s opening paragraph:
Regimes, however intellectually disreputable, rarely are unable to attract intellectuals eager to rationalize the regimes’ behavior. America’s current administration has “national conservatives.” They advocate unprecedented expansion of government to purge America of excessive respect for market forces and to affirm robust confidence in government as a social engineer allocating wealth and opportunity. They call themselves conservatives, perhaps because they loathe progressives, although they seem to not remember why.
My GMU Econ and Mercatus Center colleague Pete Boettke wisely warns against today’s threats to the liberal project [5]. A slice:
Like all of my persuasion, I am concerned with the rise in popularity of socialist ideas. I also think everyone is forgetting that the modifier democratic doesn’t protect socialism from its internal contradictions and operational dysfunctions.