[ExI] Teocon

[Stefano Vaj]

On Sat, Mar 8, 2008 at 5:22 PM, Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com>
wrote:

> This Italian/European political term, unfamiliar in English, has been
> used several times. Here's a google translation from
> http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teocon:
>
> <Teocon (Italian translation of theoconservative, theocon) is a
> neologism derived from the term conservatism with the prefix
> "theoretical", coined in the Anglo-Saxon world and in particular the
> USA. Nevertheless it is now more widely available in Europe, often
> with a different meaning than the original. [[I wonder if it's really
> "theological-conservative"? --DB]]
>
>
Mmhhh, I think the reference here is to "theocratic-conservative", theos
meaning "god", nothing to do with "theory" (ancient Greek for "view" as in
"worldview").

In fact, the alliance between theocons and neocons has been found
paradoxical by a few commentators, the former term referring in principle to
those who are close to Evangelic or Catholic religious fundamentalism, the
latter to those, especially in the US,  who are closer to Machiavelian,
Hobbesian, "raison d'état", "amoral", "post-ideological" politics, if not to
mere political coverage of vested interests, where old-style conservative
values, let alone religion, may have become more of a rhetoric tool than a
shared, good-faith worldview. (After a fashion, I imagnine that a few
theocons may consider it as a necessary "pact with the devil")

In fact, it can probably be argued that neocons, per se, should in principle
be agnostic or even slightly favourable towards technology, at least unless
issues of internal or international hegemonic control of the same is
involved, and that neo-luddite spins and accents amongst conservatives are
mostly the effect of theocon influence; more or less as it happens for
Rousseaian neo-primitivism and anti-tech environmentalism amongst
left-wingers.

Stefano Vaj
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