Free-market liberalism and traditionalist conservatism were irreconcilable uneasy allies

Evidence

As laissezfaire reemerged as a live possibility, so too did the antagonism between freemarket “liberals” and traditionalist “conservatives” that had riven Western societies amid the age of revolution and the early emergence of industry. The Mont Pèlerin Society of the early 1960s, like the American po liti cal environment in subsequent de cades, cast these divergent groups as uneasy allies. Their interaction was volatile and eventually unsustainable. The foundational tension of postwar American conservatism had begun to emerge. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 375

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Compresses a half-century of political realignment into a single diagnostic insight: the fusionism that powered postwar American conservatism was inherently unstable from birth.
• XREF: Speaks directly to the reader’s focus on austerity/neoliberalism as a political project — the papering-over of this antagonism is key to understanding Reagan-era policy coalitions. — connects to: Free-market economists and corporatist rightists were forced to compromise by joint campaigns — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1559; Early conservative intellectuals felt isolated from business, which they believed embraced New Deal liberalism — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1438; Conservatism historically meant attaching to the status quo and resisting science and change — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 460 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Free-market economists and corporatist rightists were forced to compromise by joint campaigns #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1559
• Business conservatives funding the postwar right were not cleanly neoliberal #expands (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1478
• Early conservative intellectuals felt isolated from business, which they believed embraced New Deal liberalism #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1438
• Depression-era American conservatism was weak as an intellectual force #complicates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1445
• Conservatism historically meant attaching to the status quo and resisting science and change #complicates (0.72) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 460