The People of the United States vs. Liberal Tyranny
Le Figaro interviews Patrick Deneen on the early days of the Trump administration, the relationship between DOGE and MAGA, and Vice President Vance on the changing U.S. relationship with Europe.
A French version of the Figaro interview was published on February 26, 2025. The original English version is found below, for paid subscribers to Postliberal Order.
Figaro: In a recent interview with the New York Times, Steve Bannon strongly distanced himself from neocapitalists like Elon Musk. As Elon Musk explained on X, we see a deep divide between "two factions," the "tech right and the far right.” How would you characterize these two political lines? Can we say that, on one side, there is a statist, anti-immigration populism, and on the other, an "anarcho-capitalism" with technological development as its sole guiding principle?
Deneen: In pure philosophical terms, the core principles of populist conservatism and technological libertarianism are indeed opposites. The first (as you note) is strongly nationalist regarding borders – seeking to restrict immigration and defend the values of the native population – and protectionist in economic terms – favoring public support for domestic manufacturing. It is also more traditionalist in the moral domain, supporting the core form of the traditional family and the centrality of the Judeo-Christian religions as formative of the character of the West. The second favors a much more fluid global (and even multi-planetary) set of arrangements, favoring progress and transformation over tradition; supporting more porous borders at least with respect to those who can advance technological progress; and (as Musk’s own lifestyle indicates), eschewing the traditional form of the family.
However…,