Making the Right Wing Less Wrong

The Enemy Still Holds the High Ground. Part Three.

The Devil has the best tunes.

It’s reported that William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, and his followers deliberately set gospel songs to popular tunes of the day to reach working-class audiences.

But this is not about the Salvation army, although it is about the salvation of reason, purpose, and self-esteem on Planet Earth. Specifically, it’s about how the Wrong Wing Extremists are constantly letting us know through their powerful mass media and their connections with NGO’s, the UN, the EU, and other powerful ruling class institutions, that the Devil has a new name. It’s no longer Satan, Beelzebub, or Baphomet. It’s now the (play spooky music here…) the Right Wing.

Often it’s the extremists of the Right Wing, or Hard Right makers of public statements, or those political parties in what used to be called the “Free World” who represent popular sentiment. That’s right. the Right-Wing political parties, such as Marine LePen’s Rassemblement National (RN), known in English as the National Rally; or Germany’s AfD.

We are living in an era exactly the opposite of that in which William Booth established the Salvation Army, when the Devil had all the best tunes. Now the Devil (The Right, the Right Wing, the Hard-Right Extremists of the right-wing political parties) doesn’t have all the best tunes, or in modern social media terms, the best messaging. In spite of earnest attempts to change things, the Right-Wing has either the worst messaging, or no messaging at all.

That has got to change, or we are doomed.

First of all, we have to understand what it means to be “Right-Wing.”

Fortunately, the English language has given us an easy way to explain it: “right” in English is the opposite of “wrong.”

The best definition of the political Right that I can come up with is the opposite of the political Hard-Wrong.

But hey, doesn’t that make Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Francisco Franco, Juan Perón, and Nick Fuentes good guys? After all they were (or are) “right-wing?”

Well, yes, but no. They got the name right-wing because of a technicality of French history, specifically something called the French National Assembly of 1789, where the defenders of the old tyranny sat on the right side of the hall, and the critics of the old tyranny sat on the left. Ever since, “Left” took on the meaning of the good guys, and “Right” meant the bad guys.

But let’s face it folks, the French Revolution is over, at least for the most part, given the exceptions: 1) the “Left is the good guys” ghost is still haunting Planet Earth; and 2) the fact that the tyrants are still around.

The Wrong Wing, the con artists formerly know as the Left Wing, are now the diabolical force which does have the best tunes, that is, the best messaging.

Why is that?

The simple answer to the “why” question is that the Right is now very confused. The Right has an identity crisis.

“Who are we?” is what the Right is asking themselves.

Even if those on the Right have decided firmly that they don’t represent Franco, or Mussolini, or (perish forbid) Adolf Schicklgruber Hitler, whom do they represent?

The “Left” during the French Revolution were decidedly anti-Christian, so does today’s Right now define itself as Christian? If so, which Christians? The Catholics? Which Catholics? Which Pope? Which language for the Mass? The Byzantine Empire? The Russian Orthodox Church? The Coptic churches?

The Protestants? Which Protestants? The Mormons? The Pentacostals?

And what about Jesus? Which Jesus? The “turn the other cheek” guy or the one throwing over the tables in the Temple?

And what about Jews? Which Jews? The ones fighting Hamas and Hezbollah? The ones voting for Zohran Mamdani in New York?

But let’s make it clear, religion is not dead yet. Christianity is still around, as is Judaism, as is Hinduism, Buddhism, and… hmmm… hey, who else is there religion-wise?

So the new messaging of the Right can neither exclude religion, nor can it define itself by picking one religion above the others as its essence, although, by golly, they will try.

There are principles which go beyond religion. The Stoics of ancient Greece and Rome defined them as four virtues:

1. Reason

2. Courage

3. Justice

4. Temperance

That’s a good start, but it’s just that. A start.

Reason?

What is reasonable? Certainly not the idea that there is no such thing as the truth. As the French philosopher Lyotard declared, “there are no grand narratives,” but thanks to social media we are now up to our ears in grand narratives, with new ones coming out every day.

Courage?

They say that Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO.) Does that mean that Trump lacks courage? Seriously?

Justice?

You mean social justice? Or is that just a way to “justify” robbing Peter (that’s you and me) to pay Paul (that’s the Hard-Wrong Extremists.)

Temperance?

Yes, there was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which allegedly led to Prohibition, which allegedly led to bootlegging, which allegedly made certain bad guys great again.

But to me, temperance is just another version of the Goldilocks story. The porridge can be too cold, too hot, or just right.

A temperate Right Wing can, and must decide what to do with people who cut the throats of girls on the subway? Let them roam loose to kill again, because social justice, or draw and quarter them on the public square, because they maybe deserve it, or perhaps something which Goldilocks might consider just right?

Yes, you folks who, like me, are strongly opposed to the Wrong Wing Extremists, you must also, like me, start thinking about your messaging.

This Substack post is my first offering, but to quote Churchill, who said in the face of the Wrong Wing Extremists of his day, who gleefully called themselves “Right-Wing:”

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”