He was a dick.
![A statue of Plato with a Greek temple behind him. Plato has been tinted blue and out of his eyes glare the hostile red eyes of HAL9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The temple behind him has been tinted dark red. Part of the temple’s facade has been replaced with the Matrix ‘Code Waterfall’ graphic.](https://i0.wp.com/pluralistic.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/19d86-1xgxvsjz4iwfnoapy7kh7ew.jpeg?w=840&ssl=1)
In The Reactionary Mind, political scientist Corey Robin articulates a common thread that runs through all right-wing ideology. Robin starts from the observation that “conservatives” are a coalition of people who believe irreconcilable things: