Great Republican Artists

Asherman, who appears on a2k, is an accomplished artist, for one.

Maybe not a name like Picaso, but he's really good.

I know he's good...but a republican? A republican buddhist? Wow, there's a koan. Well, I'm sure he's not voting for Bush.

That Lincoln feller could string some words together.

I can't speak for Asherman, but in the past when I spoke against our military policies I ran up against Asherman's ire. I don't believe he would be a Democrat, at any rate.

I'd probably be labeled as "conservative" but I vote neither republican or democratic.

Art isn't inherently liberal. It's just the position that artists tend to take in this particular time.

Most of the Italian futurists were fascists.

Well, I just wondered, because I am thinking that the more right-wing you are, the less likely you are to be involved with creating art, yet the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to be involved with it.

When I asked the question, I was thinking about well-known contemporary artists, but I wonder if there are any from back in history that had strong conservative leanings. I don't mean someone who might agree with a couple small issues, I mean a real Republican type, like Bush or Reagan.

Patiodog, Interesting.

Would fascism be considered conservative/Republican?

Most of the Russian futurists were at the service of the October Revolution. :wink:

My take:

Facism is the extreme of authoritarian, the opposite is libertarian. This is a measure of governmental control.

Communism is the extreme of the left, the opposite is right. This is a measure of fiscal policy.

That's why facism and communism are not mutually exclusive, they are on different spectrums.

Republicans tend to be right/authoritarian (social authoritarian, not fiscal) but the right part is more central than the authoritarian part (many Republicans lean toward libertarian).

Fascism involves a close interaction between the government and industry which is about the only correlation. But, let's face it, prominent political liberals are not strange bedfellows with big business. It gets confusing and it's a common denominator labeling game. As to great Republican artists, they tend to be commercial like Rockwell who I believe was a Republican. Artists and most creative people are by nature liberal. If you aren't sure of that, try and read a William F. Buckely novel. I know someone will bring up Norman Mailer but he is more of a libertarian than anything else and I have no idea how he votes. Unless it shows up in their work, artists can be very private about their political leanings and no wonder. They have to sell their work in galleries and don't want to put off the customers. Picasso was pretty well know as a communist but often he appeared to be more of an anarchist.

If you're trying to say that the conservative mind tends to be moribund and not creative, I wouldn't debate that. They also mostly have the sense of humor of an aardvark.

Craven, I agree. What is required for a more realistic typology is the use of multiple scales. And then there's history. What may be authoritarian today might have been anti-authoritarian in the distant past, depending on the social order of the times. Anybody hear of the F scale? It was based on an equation, if my memory serves me, of fascism and the "authoritarian personality" type.

Facism and communism both require an authoritarian government because of scale -- the size of the population being governed. Our government has been described as an oligarchy and our form of democracy comes out of Sparta, not Athens. Authoritarian Presidents -- name some. Or a shorter list, name those who haven't been.

I would suggest that Stain's "Communism" was really a form of fascism. His authoritarian rule was "justified" as a necessary evil while the soviet union "evolved" to the classless society, with the withering of the state. The ideal goal was non-authoritarianism. But the reality was quite different. I grant that size requires organization, and it must be "legitimate," meaning it must have authority--it must be authorized by the people whose lives are organized. But that is not the same as authoritarianISM.

Does it matter what kind of artist?

That's funny Hee hee.

What's so funny? He's a living legend, a Republican, and certainly an "artist". Probably the staunchest supporter of the 2nd ammendment other than John Lott AND the third highest ranking member of the NRA.

I'm talking about artists, not your own personal obsessions.