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The New Authoritarians, by Lazarus Long
The New Authoritarians
by
Lazarus Long
It remains to be seen what will be the direction taken by our
populist party, the Reform Party. Will they follow the classical
conservative path of economic liberty and social moralising? Or
will they become fiscal nationalists as happens to so many populist
parties... where buying votes by making economic decisions for
political gain outweighs fiscal responsibility. I have noticed a
disturbing trend towards moralising and an authoritarian attitude
towards social problems coming from both party members and from
members of parliament.
These are disturbing trends for a new party, however, it could be
that as a party they have yet to settle upon an ideology and set of
principles. For the present, the party, while posturing as a
populist party of grassroots representation, is very much a top
down controlled party. This is probably to the immediate benefit of
the party as it allows the party leadership to present a united
front, without having too many loose cannons causing disruptions
and subsequent bad press. However, if it remains with this form of
ruling autocracy, the party risks becoming a new version of the old
Conservative party. If it does move to a true populist form of
politics, it risks fragmenting into regionalised special interest
groups.
This is always a risk for such a party. Founded on a wave of
protest, it lacks the the foundations of ideology to guide the
growth of their ideas, leaving the party open to becoming an
oppressive party of negativism. The confusion of ideals is evident
in their views on various matters.. they speak of rights yet are
willing to deny those rights "where needed". This is the heavy hand
of authoritarianism... where the party will decide what rights and
when they should be rights.
Rights are non-negotiable...they either exist or they don't. You
cannot have it both ways.
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