So you know how neoliberalism was initially associated with conservatism? Thatcher, Reagan, you know what I’m talking about. But this was always an extremely uncomfortable coexistence. Neoliberalism is a state of permanent revolution. It’s change, disruption, transgression, erasure of all boundaries. You can pretend that this is conservative for about 15 minutes, and after that the liberalism part of neoliberalism starts pulsating in bright neon.
It’s kind of the same with Ukraine. At the start of the 2022 invasion, Democrats claimed Ukraine as their cause. But it’s a very uncomfortable coexistence. Ukranians are white. There is no Ukrainian dead or alive who does not find the idea of women with penises ridiculous. The whole point of the war for Ukraine is highly nationalistic. Ukraine is experiencing a revival of Christianity. There is downright worship of masculinity, ambitiousness, strength, and a can-do attitude. The story of Ukraine in this war is that of a triumph of human ingenuity and exceptional bravery in spite of terrible odds. Ukrainians despise socialism. You see the problem? What I’m describing is a leftist’s curse and a right-winger’s dream.
American liberals turned Ukraine poisonous for conservatives by using it as a cudgel to pursue an impeachment of Trump and, more bizarrely, an immigration amnesty bill. But none of it managed to topple Trump. Democrats started losing interest in Ukraine, especially since a more convenient victim appeared on the horizon. They began to worship Palestinians, moving away from pesky, annoying Ukrainians who were refusing to act like pitiful, pathetic victims. In the ensuing pause, right-wingers recovered their bearings enough to notice… everything that I said before.
Laura Loomer is a symptom of a phenomenon that I’ve been observing for close to a year. One after another, the conservative accounts I follow on X have been saying, “You know what? I’ve kind of been warming up to these Ukrainians.” If you’re not part of the conservative milieu on social media, you wouldn’t have gotten a chance to notice this. Laura Loomer’s conversion to the Ukrainian cause might seem unexpected. But it’s been a long time coming.
At this moment, the number of very right-wing accounts that I follow that write regularly about their support of Ukraine is about three times larger than the number of leftist pro-Ukrainian accounts that I started following in 2022. Initially, 95% of consistently pro-Ukrainian accounts were liberal. This completely changed in the past year or so.
Of course, I feel completely vindicated. I’ve been saying from the start that Ukraine doesn’t work as a leftist cause. One big defect of conservatism is that it’s reactionary. Time and again, it fails to set the agenda but instead reacts to the agenda proposed by its opponents. That’s why it fumbled the ball on Ukraine and engaged in reactionary anti-Ukrainianism under the principle of “if my enemy likes them, I must hate them.” It’s both understandable and obnoxious.
Finally, things are righting themselves. These are great developments.
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