Orban's defeat highlights a failure in Post-Liberalism This is my latest in CapX.

open.substack.com/pub/theoryma...

My latest where I assess how Orban's defeat is a failure of ideology as much as political practice.

I have had great difficulty getting outlets to review my first book, given the subject matter being bigotry, and Liberal Currents gave it a good faith critical review.

I know that I'm not alone in the knowledge that this is one of the few outlets where critical conversations are happening everyday

The radicalisation of the American liberal How US liberalism found the will to fight Trump—and what we can learn from it

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/united... great stuff as always from Toby

thanks for engaging :)

Good to see the classic Millian distinction between thought and action being highlighted when it is too often neglected

I meant just as socialists and feminists have become fascists

And fwiw all political orders are imo predicated upon the capacity to commit violence in some form. To what extent you want to unleash that is a massive one and not just 'PR'. This is also what distinguished Hobbes from Schmitt which I explored in the essay.

I didn't say easily fall in but yes there are conservatives who become fascists- just as there have been socialists and feminists.

Imo it highlights a fundamental distinction between the perspective on both the utility and right to use force as fundamental composits of the political order which is a crucial difference between the two.

That's fine if you don't find it interesting. I think what turns conservatives into fascists is ultimately a different claim from what conservatism and fascism is, albeit an interesting one

Making an argument that conservatism and fascism are distinctive on bluesky is certainly an uphill battle

It highlights the point i am making which is conservativism is temperamentally and structurally distinct from fascism. I am not making a point that conservatives never become fascists, they clearly can, but so can socialists and feminists. I wouldn't argue socialism or feminism are also fascist.

Trump himself said that the republican party is not the conservative party. The degeneration of American conservatism is a fascinating story but it is just one story.

If anything that makes my case for me tbh. They clearly did not really understand Hitlerism as their world view didn't pertain to this type of idea.

Where there are very real definitions which fit the mould. I think in all these cases we see fascism not only operate distinctly but have different aims from conservative movements.

Conservatives can totally join up with fascists and the fear of disorder does make conservatives susceptible to this movement. But, I think the fact conservatives can get on board with fascism highlights the distinction as opposed to collapsing it. I outline various forms of conservatism 1/2

As I account for towards the end ( I should make more of it) fascism especially in the 30's attracts a wide range of actors (former socialists, suffragettes etc) because it also pertains to futurism.

the great conservatism debate continues

I think I made clear throughout the essay that fascism offers up an alternative political identification of hierarchy, the state, unity, and violence, which makes them fundamentally different and not aligned. Indeed, I would argue fascism is a fundamentally anti-conservative movement.

Is Conservatism really aligned with Fascism? A reply to Liberal Currents

substack.com/home/post/p-... I ended up writing a long response to the article

substack.com/home/post/p-... This is my response, which finds the argument unconvincing. Fascism and conservatism are distinct political creatures that are not structurally aligned.

Thanks for this. I do get at this a bit when I argue we know a conservative and a fascist when we see one, much like with the Norway example I guess

Yeah, I didn't quite word it properly :) I've deleted the post and will reframe once at my laptop

Sorry I'll rewrite the link to clear that up

written a 5,000 word response to this post on my substack that I'm putting up tomorrow morning

It was a wonderful panel; both Ed and Jim gave really fascinating insights into exceptionalism from a policy and legal perspective. Hopefully, the first of many with ISSE.

INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF STATES OF EXCEPTION The Institute for the Study of States of Exception (ISSE) fosters critical research and discussion on the link between emergency powers and democratic erosion.

Brilliant hosting by amazing @drjademcglynn.bsky.social and sharp insights from James Petrila (ex-CIA/NSC legal expert) and @thoughtgenerate.bsky.social (PhD in Political Theory)

I highly recommend checking out their website: www.statesofexception.org

This is at King's College, please do come and attend if you can :)

This is where I also disagree. Fascism is not power told no- it is power unleashed. This kind of flattening imo is a problem