Framing the conservative movement as being motivated by a desire to preserve “Western Civilization” clarifies so much of right-wing rhetoric: their eugenicist depiction of a healthy white family happily tending to a suburban paradise; the cries of “Jews will not replace us”; the obsession with eradicating neurodivergence and non-gender-normative identities; the hatred for immigration allowing foreigners bringing their culture into the country; the rejection of visible signs of modernity; the book-banning—these are all acts of attempting to purify and protect a specific *mental image* of “Western Civilization”.
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