1) That's just your impression of him.

2) Enforcement of the law requires force. Who would have thought?

3) If an institution is corrupt it should be reformed or destroyed. What's wrong with that? Nothing.

(1) is a postmodern relativist platitude. If you have a specific argument that I've judged something incorrectly, make it.

I can't tell what point (2) is supposed to apply to. In general authoritarians are eager to use force to enforce top-down prescriptive laws, yes.

(3) I didn't say it's wrong to destroy or gut institutions perceived as corrupt. What I said is that it's not conservative.

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OCASMv2 5 days ago | parent [-]

1) You didn't even present an argument, just your personal impression of him.

2) Law enforcement. It's in the name.

3) Are you under the impression that "conservative" just means to keep things as they are no matter what?

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mindslight 5 days ago | parent [-]

(1) A summary of lots of people's judgements of him, which line up with my judgement of his actions. I see the type of person that just barks orders, and when someone tells him it's unwise/impossible/etc he responds with "get it done". And when it doesn't magically happen "you're fired". He surrounds himself with sycophants instead of competence, which is why all of his policies have such terrible execution - one person simply cannot micro manage every detail.

Do you disagree that he is basically running the government as an extension of himself? To me, it sure seems that way when he uses chaotic tariffs to pressure other countries into making "deals" that often include his own personal financial interests.

(2) As I said, I don't understand what specific point of mine you're referring to. There are laws and enforcement in both individual liberty respecting societies, and also in dictatorships. So clearly it matters what the laws are, and how they're being enforced.

(3) No, which is why I was talking about respect for societal institutions. For every American thinker's elucidation of conservative values that I have tried to apply, if I squint I can see maybe 20-40% of them being applicable, with the rest being openly rejected.

Perhaps you would like to reference what specific set of conservative values you see Trumpism actually following? I don't mean aiming to destroy our society such to the point that conservative values will become more important, but actually applying those values to the present situation. Because as a libertarian who has entertained ideas all around the left-right political spectrum, the only thing I can find that lines up is anarcho-capitalism.

Or to come at it from a different direction, read Moldbug's "A Gentle Introduction to Unqualified Reservations". He lays out a left-right framework that seems to be underpinning much of this movement, and explicitly rejects conservatism as ineffective.

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OCASMv2 4 days ago | parent [-]

1) If that was the case he wouldn't have joined with RFK Jr, who is publicly against mRNA vaccines which Trump champions.

2) They are being enforced just fine.

3) You talk about conservative values but you mention none specifically.

	▲	mindslight 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		I don't see how your (1) is a refutation of a fundamental autocratic dynamic (furthermore Trump may "champion" mRNA vaccines with one side of his mouth, but he talks out of both). And you still haven't made any coherent point with your (2)s. (3) seems to be the crux of the issue. I am giving you the opening to pick a thinker who has best articulated what you see as a good enumeration of timeless conservative values, which we can then use to judge Trumpism. Because believe it or not, I am open to changing my mind here and I really do want to understand. If you'd like me to pick, I can certainly do that. But then I don't want to then hear that I haven't picked the "right" conservative for your taste.