The conservative mindset was manufactured – it did not emerge naturally, or culturally. In fact, quite the opposite – it was funded and dictated by the uber-wealthy. It is social engineering which is imposed on people from those on top of them.

The 1960s upset the uber-wealthy something awful and they decided to fight back. The links below offer a good overview of the billionaire’s strategy in 1971 followed by a 2004 overview of their accomplishments. The Lapham piece lists the billionaire’s foundations and think tanks which you may recognize as the voice of conservatism today.

This battle between the people and corporate power pre-dates the Boston Tea Party. This quote by Thomas Jefferson shines light on this centuries old battle.

1816

Thomas Jefferson

“I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which

dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.”

August 23, 1971

The Powell Memo

In 1971, Lewis Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of 11 corporations, wrote a memo to his friend Eugene Sydnor, Jr., the Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The memorandum was dated August 23, 1971, two months prior to Powell’s nomination by President Nixon to the U.S. Supreme Court.

https://reclaimdemocracy.org/?s=lewis+powell+memo

September 2004

Tentacles of Rage The Republican propaganda mill, a brief history

https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/gned/laphamtentacles04.pdf