The Ties That Blind

With no other frame of reference, young conservatives are starting to think it’s normal to be jerks.

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Former President Donald Trump arrives at an event at the Mar-a-Lago Club April 4, 2023 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Dear Reader (excluding the runaway black hole that is being chased through space by baby stars as we speak),

“There were all these kids in suits with red ties hanging down past their d**k.”

A friend of mine told me that in 2017 after visiting CPAC. He was talking about many of the young dudes and bros—college students and twentysomethings—who wanted to dress like Donald Trump. Of course, the reason Trump wears extra-long ties is to disguise his girth. Most of the kids had no such problem, but they took their sartorial cues from Trump nonetheless. 

Now that I have your attention, herewith a brief philosophical detour.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Sadly, this seems to be a point that needs to be made repeatedly. In every generation it seems, there will be young men persuaded that crudeness is strength and strength is restraint and restraint is weak.

    These young MAGA “manly” boys put me in mind of teenagers who watch a WWII movie in which some tough soldier spits out his tobacco on the ground after shooting a bunch of Nazis with a broken arm and a bullet in his foot, and then think that if they too spit out tobacco on the ground, it will make them tough like that guy.

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    John Will

    As I read your remarks on Burke and the East India Company, I was reminded of Orwell's short piece entitled "Shooting An Elephant." Interesting.

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    Brianj

    Thank you! I've seen this phenomenon here in Tulsa. Normally decent, kind people, if twisted into GOP politics, sometimes began acting in ways they never would have before. Now we're seeing this in kids. A family member was racially bullied by a group of boys whose heroes are MAGA grifters.
    You hit the nail on the head. It's now cool to be a GOP jerk.

    Am I the only one in the world hoping for Asa to win?

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  4. Brett

    Great piece. I have a minor but important critique. Having no interest in persuading the other side is cultural. Politics is downstream of culture remember. It is a symptom of the disease that they act this way. It's not the source of the illness.

    I am not yet persuaded by your arguments for not responding in kind, but I will keep reading them.

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    Jill

    Maybe someone has already said something along these lines, but I’m trying to envision Alex P. Keating written with 2023 Young Republican vibes. Oof!

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    MatthewRobin

    Private text messages or group chats should not be leaked. We need to respect the difference between public communication and private communication. The people who leaked private messages are assholes.

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  7. Steve Ferriss

    Just a brief comment, and one that many will undoubtedly disagree with. The secularization of the United States has brought us to this perverse conclusion: that all humans are innately good (or at least a blank slate) at birth, and it is all the above listed influences that make a person either "good" or "bad". The Fundamental Christian reading of the Bible tells us something different: that all people are born in sin ("bad"), and without the direct intervention of a Savior, all people will turn towards the "bad". The "fortuitous nature" can influence, but when it comes to how people act, and who we really are, we are all fundamentally selfish and will do what is in our own self interest (see Adam Smith). To believe that somehow people will evolve to become better is to blind ourselves to the evidence all around us. The demise of the United States should come as no surprise as we normalize all manner of bad behavior. We can't save ourselves, as long as we try we will only end up destroying ourselves and our nation.

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  8. Jim S

    As a GWU alumnus who matriculated in the 80s I would argue that viewed up close and personal the YAF members were always d**ks but that is a digression.

    Increasingly I view Jonah’s mainstream version of conservatism as way out of its depth. My analogy is a loaded semi with no brakes barreling down a mountainside. The Progressives are holding on tight looking for that Runaway Truck ramp to at least avert the catastrophe, the MAGA folks are just looking forward to that big crash at the end of the run and maximum carnage, but the mainstream conservatives seem to just pull the parking brake over and over assuming that THIS time the truck will stop.

    Maybe the smart thing is just to just gather your essential belongings before you get to the hill and rent your own truck with brakes intact.

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      Ralph S

      A rather dark interpretive prediction of the current state of conservatism - not that I disagree, but it could also go in a few different directions.
      I see the direction of the left as tyrannical and self-destructive to the country. The new right made in the image of Trump is not different, only having a different veneer of spoken values. The values of their heart is the same as the left, dominance and power make for meaning, purpose and a reason to be. Or, as Jonah rightly stated, idolatry.
      If states' rights get greater hold, it benefits the left and right, only locally in their own states. The country loses a lot in the good stuff of national identity. The strength of the nation is simply diminished. (I can hear both left and right folks cheering for that outcome).
      Or, we see a nation of ideological wandering. When we see conservative youth as having missed the lessons on the values of truth and respect in favor of ideological bullying and ignoring self-contradiction do not forget the left leaning youth has no better notion. The left antifa types see winning as important as Donald Trump does, and like Trump do not care about the destruction used to achieve those ends. Both sides are thoroughly bought into a ends-justifies-the-means mentality.
      So, yeah, I can see us barreling downhill into some natural, but as yet, unseen obstruction. Or, perhaps the truck just starts falling apart while rolling along.

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    Dave T

    At least try to get Wales out of selling your soul ...

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  10. Dougrhon

    Surely you understand that Romney has absolutely no reason to defend Trump. He hasn't to this point. He like many, think the charges are ridiculous.

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