The challenge and the need to keep together the three families of the first right

Today, the word "right" has become a confusing term and it is time to tidy up a bit to avoid misunderstandings.

We should start to carefully review what we are talking about when we say 'right'
The third right that is coming to light in the West with the Russian invasion of Ukraine

The three great branches on the right

Last year I raised here the existence of three right-wings:

• The first right or conservative right (in a broad sense), represented in Spain by Vox and in Europe by the ECR Group.
• The second right or progressive right, which we could identify with the Popular Party in Spain and the European Popular Party.
• The third right or anti-liberal (understanding "liberal" as classical liberal) and anti-system right, a right wing without representation in Spain, very noisy on the Internet and which defends theses that are increasingly anti-Western, pro-Russian and freaky, in addition to often approaching elements of the extreme left.

The three families of the first right

As I pointed out then, sometimes there are diffuse limits between these three rights, but the one I am interested in analyzing in this article is the first right, which is where I fit myself as a liberal-conservative. We could say that in this first right there are three families:

• The conservative family, rather focused on the great moral issues (abortion, euthanasia, family, etc.).
• The liberal family (understanding "liberal" as classical liberal), rather focused on economic issues and issues related to freedoms (linguistic freedom, economic freedom, freedom of education, etc.). By the way, I am referring to a liberalism that continues to believe in certain principles, and not to progressive liberalism or liberalism that believes that it sees enemies in conservatives.
• The patriotic family, rather focused on the national question and on issues such as illegal and massive immigration.

Of course, and just like in all families, those three sectors on the first right are not hermetic nor are they isolated from each other. As I have already pointed out, I consider myself a liberal-conservative. I care a lot about bioethical issues and issues related to freedoms. At the same time, I consider myself a patriot and the national question seems very important to me, although I don't spend as much time as others on the subject of mass immigration (perhaps because it is an issue that in my land, Galicia, has not gone as far as in other parts of Spain).

The conflicts between those three families of the first right

Of course, sometimes there are frictions between those three families. I will tell you, from my own experience, what I have experienced over the years:

• The conservative family is often hostile to the liberal family, a hostility that is rather terminological and stems from the fact that the word "liberal" is as misleading as the word "right". In addition, some conservatives (fewer and fewer) treat patriots with disdain , because they consider that the national question is not among their priorities.
• The liberal family tends to have friction with the conservative family, due to the anti-liberal tics that it perceives in it, and because it considers that it does not attach so much importance to issues of freedom beyond, for example, issues such as religious freedom or freedom of education. Among the liberal family there are usually anti-conservative tics that do not help, precisely, to improve the relationship between both families.
• The patriotic family sometimes has friction with the other two, because some of its members believe that issues such as immigration are more important than moral issues such as the defense of life and the family, and because sometimes anti-liberal discourses abound among those who call themselves patriots.

Parties like Vox have shown that coexistence is possible between these three families. In fact, in the last legislature, Vox won 52 seats despite having all the media against it, thanks to a speech that knew how to combine the sensibilities of these three families. In fact, these are sensibilities that are perfectly complementary and that enrich the three families among themselves.

At what point does the conflict between the three families arise?

Obviously, as in any human community, living together is not easy: there is always the temptation for one family to impose itself on the others, believing that their concerns are more important and should take priority. Obviously, this can happen occasionally without causing tensions. For example, in the face of the 2017 separatist coup in Catalonia, it is logical that the three families of the first right would focus their attention on the national question, since the unity of Spain was in grave danger.

However, tensions appear when a family persistently insists on imposing itself on the others. If the liberal family imposed a program that puts the accent on its own and disregards the concerns of the other families of the first right, it would be generating a conflict. The same would happen if the conservative family wanted to permanently focus the accent on moral issues, forgetting national, economic and freedom issues. We would have a similar conflict if the patriotic family marginalized all issues that are not limited to the national question and the issue of immigration.

The keys to avoid conflict between these three families

Of course, it is possible and even desirable to have more eclectic approaches, that is, ones that are more easily identified with any of the concerns of those three families. After all, the respective concerns of the three families are all important to our society, and knowing how to harmonize them enriches the discourse of that first right, finishing up covering all possible issues for debate, something very necessary when waging a battle of ideas.

Those of us who belong to that first right have the challenge of contributing to ironing out the rough edges between these three families and avoiding conflicts that end up dividing us, confronting us and dispersing us, for the benefit of the left. It is not an easy challenge, but the best things usually come from difficult challenges. In this case, our incentive must be something that surpasses each of the three families of the first right: the defense of our Homeland, freedom and human dignity.

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Photo: Sansert.