AHC: Make Socially-Conservative Socialism popular in the present-day U.S.

I was doing some reading on the Christian left, and honestly, I'm surprised that Evangelicals in America didn't take some of the crucial parts of Jesus's message- the whole "help the needy" part, for one- as literally as they took everything else. Inspiration aside, is there any point in American history that could lead to a modern-day conservative socialism or a variant of that ideal (i.e. Christian Democracy for a very watered-down version, and/or on the other extreme an outright socially-conservative communism).
 
In terms of personal philosophy and views, Woodrow Wilson is perhaps the closest as far as presidents go, but his presidency turned most of the electorate off left-wing economic policies until the Great Depression.

As mentioned above, having William Jennings Bryan in the White House might be the best way, but judging by his tenure as SoS, his presidency could have been a disaster for the cause.

Some Socialist Party figures, such as (IIRC) Norman Thomas, leaned somewhat in that direction.
 
I was doing some reading on the Christian left, and honestly, I'm surprised that Evangelicals in America didn't take some of the crucial parts of Jesus's message- the whole "help the needy" part, for one- as literally as they took everything else. Inspiration aside, is there any point in American history that could lead to a modern-day conservative socialism or a variant of that ideal (i.e. Christian Democracy for a very watered-down version, and/or on the other extreme an outright socially-conservative communism).
A more successful or widespread distributism would probably fit a conventional definition of a socially conservative and economically left-wing platform. Distributism only emerged after the publication of an 1891 Papal encyclical called Rerum Novarum: On the Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor, as an attempt to build a fully fledged economic and political ideology around catholic social teaching. It's heavily associated with catholic thinkers like GK Chesterton, but Distributism's secular principles could be applied in the context of almost any religion.

Distributism sees the family as the main organizing unit of societies rather than the individual, and also has a preference for smaller-scale and more local economic arrangements. Distributists oppose massive corporations as much socialist bureaucracies, and draws little to no distinction between them. Their ideal economic order would be made up of small businesses and self-sufficient craftspeople who own their means of production (ex. a software engineer who owns their laptop, or a craftsman who owns their own tools for a home made furniture business). Land reform and anti-monopoly laws are the most self-evidently distributist policies, and distributism has also influenced cooperatives like the Mondragon corporation.
 
^ Christian Democracy in Europe was based on the same Catholic sources as Distributism. but I wouldn't call their parties either particularly Socially Conservative or Socialist at the current time. For the former, they maintain a few cursrory restrictions on abortion, and dragged their heels somewhat on gay marriage, and for the latter, they continue to support what remains of their welfare states. But that's nothing that will put them in the camp of either Pat Robertson or Olof Palme, respectively.
 
^ Christian Democracy in Europe was based on the same Catholic sources as Distributism. but I wouldn't call their parties either particularly Socially Conservative or Socialist at the current time. For the former, they maintain a few cursrory restrictions on abortion, and dragged their heels somewhat on gay marriage, and for the latter, they continue to support what remains of their welfare states. But that's nothing that will put them in the camp of either Pat Robertson or Olof Palme, respectively.

Yes, the main difference between Christian right politics in Europe and Christian right politics in the USA is that the former tends to recognise a role (often a significant role) for the state in economic affairs to ensure social stability and harmony, whereas the latter tends to adhere to economic philosophy that Ayn Rand wouldn't disapprove of.
 
Top