Why Conservatives Hate the Government (Patreon)

By Sam (@StuffFromSam)

US Conservatives hate the government NOT because they hate accumulated power but because they're still mad that the government "took their property." And seeing Black people walking around is a constant reminder of what they perceive as "stolen property."

Police have always had a relationship to property, which included enslaved Black Americans. This is why police and conservatives to moderates get so upset about property damage during protests. Not only did they lose "their property," but now it's damaging their other property. This fuels their obsession with private property, guns, and "taxation is theft"—that the state has already taken so much from them, and they must protect what they have left at all costs. Neoliberalism not only worsens this despair but tells them they are right. Even opposing lockdown and mask mandates stem from "you can't tell us what to do anymore." It's the white supremacist version of "Never Again."

This memory causes them murderous rage, not only at Black people but also at the state. They often asked during the lockdown, "What about our essential rights?" But whose rights are they referring to? Why do they keep referring to the old Constitution? What other things do they feel they have lost? What betrayal are they consciously or unconsciously referring to?

This is why conservatives accuse the government of favoring Black people and why Black people are constantly accused of benefiting from the state. Therefore reparations, socialism (because being equal doesn't account for what they've already lost), critical race theory, The 1619 Project, and Juneteenth can never be made palatable. This is also why they view all equity measures as unfair because from their white supremacist viewpoint, Black people have gained something, and white people have lost something. Black people are "gaming the system," and white people are being taken advantage of. Then there is no point in compromising with white supremacists and reasoning with the unreasonable.