Paleo-Conservative
Apartheid South Africa (1948–1994) and Ian Smith's Rhodesia (1965–1979) reflect Paleo-Conservatism. Both regimes were capitalist but maintained a racially hierarchical society through strict political repression. While private industry thrived, Black populations faced disenfranchisement and suppression. Security forces violently repressed anti-government movements, though everyday life for the ruling class was relatively unrestricted.
What it believes
The old American right: non-intervention abroad, restriction at the border, protection for domestic industry, suspicion of empire and abstraction alike — a republic, not an ideology, defended by people rooted in place and kin.
The appeal
It predicted the wars would be quagmires and the trade deals would hollow the towns, and was mocked for both until it was vindicated on both. Rootedness is its argument: some things — places, peoples, trades — should not be liquid.
Where it breaks
The fortress republic never explains how it stays prosperous and safe alone, and 'rooted peoples' has too often meant racial hierarchy with a pastoral accent. Its foreign-policy restraint has repeatedly kept company with its domestic exclusions.
Among its neighbours
The Oligarchist above is what its populism claims to fight and its tariffs often feed. The Right-Wing Nationalist beside it runs the same instincts at European pitch. Below, the Technocrat is its perfect enemy — placeless expertise against placeful loyalty.
Figures — real and imagined — who share the Paleo-Conservative base ideology. They differ only on the third axis: from radical to restorationist, each is a different face of a Paleo-Conservative.
The company you keep.
The social axis (progressive ↔ traditional) splits Paleo-Conservative into nine named shades. Take the quiz to find out which one is yours.
- Radical Paleo-Conservative
- Progressive Paleo-Conservative
- Reformist Paleo-Conservative
- Heterodox Paleo-Conservative
- Paleo-Conservative
- Rooted Paleo-Conservative
- Traditional Paleo-Conservative
- Reactionary Paleo-Conservative
- Restorationist Paleo-Conservative