Conservative Alienation: A Brief Genealogy

The language changes as conservatives grow more alienated from mainstream America.

2015–“Trump and “political correctness.” Conservatives were bitter about MORAL CRITICISM in relation to race, gender, gay rights, immigrants, and disabled people. Trump kept yelling “we don’t have time for that.”–

2017–“Me Too” and “cancel culture.” The “Me Too” movement caught fire in relation to rape and sexual harassment and men were excluded from their jobs, peer groups, and families as a result. But conservatives now felt vulnerable to EXCLUDED from things they had dear, or “cancelled” as a result of run of the mill conservative Trump support, bigotry, and conspiracy theorizing. “Cancel culture” haunts conservatives on many levels.–

2020–Mainstreaming of “replacement theory.” The idea that white people are being “replaced” by immigrants was once held only by mass shooters, but has been mainstreamed by Fox News. The idea of being REPLACED indicates a heightened sense of vulnerability and marginality. It’s as if white conservatives are aware that society would do just fine, perhaps be a happier place, if conservatives no longer counted. I remember Ainsley Earhardt of “Fox and Friends” saying conservatives worried about “being forgotten.”

THE FUTURE? I think white conservatives are already moving on to viewing themselves as the enemies of an American society that rejects both their values and them.