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Is Anyone Worried about the Alt-Right?
Several recent Ricochet comments have referred to the “Alt-Right,” mostly in passing. Since I wasn’t familiar with the term, I decided to find out what it actually was. My investigation has been an unnerving experience and I, for one, am worried for this country. Most people will acknowledge that the beliefs and goals of the Alt-Right are despicable. Their proponents are mostly young, self-described radicals who have found the positions of Donald Trump admirable (which, I know, does not make all Donald Trump supporters Alt-Right).
During the most recent Need to Know podcast, Mona Charen, Jay Nordlinger, and guest David French condemned the Alt-Right without reservation. They cited websites where the comment sections had to be shut down due to the volume of venomous comments made against people who didn’t support Donald Trump. Several sources I reviewed regarding the Alt-Right movement highlighted an article from Breitbart written by Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulos (pictured), who believe that the movement is mischaracterized. They say:
Previously an obscure subculture, the Alt-Right burst onto the national political scene in 2015. Although initially small in number, the Alt-Right has a youthful energy and jarring, taboo-defying rhetoric that have boosted its membership and made it impossible to ignore.
It has already triggered a string of fearful op-eds and hit pieces from both Left and Right: Lefties dismiss it as racist, while the conservative press, always desperate to avoid charges of bigotry from the Left, has thrown these young readers and voters to the wolves as well.
One journalist who criticized the Breitbart article assessment was Cathy Young at The Federalist who writes:
The Alt-Right movement counters the toxic culture of the left with a toxic brew of its own: a mix of old bigotries and new identity and victimhood politics adapted for the straight white male.
She then describes part of a tweet:
Retweeting an image of a man in a Nazi uniform standing in front of a baker’s oven captioned “Pop ’em in the oven!” may be a tasteless “trolly” joke. When the same person retweets comments about Jews “killing millions in the #Holodomor”—the Soviet terror-famine engineered by the Stalin regime—this looks like something more than “lulz.” The trolls of the Alt-Tight are well-versed in anti-Semitic tropes such as Jewish control of the media (which Yiannopoulos, in his Dave Rubin interview , bafflingly waved aside as a mere statement of statistical fact).
White supremacist Richard Spencer, who runs the National Policy Institute — a tiny white supremacist think tank — coined the term “Alternative Right” as the name for an online publication that debuted in 2010. The online publication changed hands in 2013 when Spencer shut it down. Today Spencer runs the Radix journal and quoted from an article in Time, written by Alex Altman, which characterizes the Alt-Right movement and its relationship to Trump as follows:
Trump’s ascendancy comes at a moment of reinvention for the Far Right. A new generation of leaders like NPI’s Spencer are trying to recast white nationalism as a 21st century movement steeped in social media. The NPI meeting was dominated by young men under 30, many of whom said they were part of an online network known as the Alt (for Alternative) Right. Originally rooted in antipathy to mainstream conservatism, the Alt Right has morphed over the past year into a virtual pro-Trump army. It’s a loose collection of furies who range from provocative Twitter trolls to white-rights activists, garden-variety anti-Semites, proto-fascists and overt neo-Nazis.
revealed that the quote is actually from a Time article that Spencer posted on Radix, which was written by a guy named Alex Altman.
So I have a few questions:
Do you think Donald Trump should condemn the people who profess these beliefs and vocally support him?
Why aren’t Senators and Representatives who are backing Trump condemning them, and encouraging Trump to condemn them too?
Are Trump supporters concerned that they will be identified with these people, especially if the Alt-Right movement strengthens?
As a country that celebrates free speech, any suggestions for how to create roadblocks for this movement?
Published in General
Yes, and the sooner the better.
They are in Republican Party survival mode. They are just hoping and praying the party and thus their position in it exists after November. Long term thinking and damage control is non existent in survival mode.
Not excusing their behavior, just offering an opinion.
Not yet, it bears watching.
No. It is incumbent on anyone who feels threatened by this movement to ensure their own safety and security first.
Time, transparency, exposure will dime the glow of this movement.
Closing Thoughts
I do not think they are as big and bad as they appear behind the megaphone of social media. Additionally, some of the comment threads are known to be artificially generated as a form of psyops both enemy and political.
My concern is that if Trump wins and he doesn’t meet their twisted expectations soon after taking office the real violence will begin. I do not wish to deal with this group after they believe they’ve been betrayed or scorned.
Lots of patriots have been disenfranchised. Some are unhinged, most are just PO’d.
I condemn the forces that brought us to this point and they lie in K st, Madison ave, the Ivy laced walls in New Haven and the brick covered structures in Cambridge.
I hope you’re right, Brent. My concern is that as they get louder and more active, they will attract other disillusioned young people just like them. Let’s hope I’m wrong.
I think it unfair and folly to require any political candidate to address, justify, reject, or apologize for anything random supporters do. David Duke endorsed Reagan. That did not make Reagan a Klan supporter.
That said, the alt right is not new, they have always been around, under many other names. You are only hearing about them at this time because an attempt to associate Trump with them is being made. It is slander and nothing more.
One regrettable outcome of freedom of speech and association is that people with repulsive beliefs and sympathies also enjoy those freedoms. It is the price we pay for those freedoms. It is equally as true of alt right neanderthals as it is for the Marxist and totalitarian supporting nutballs on the left.
I think your fears may be realized, but I don’t think their numbers are equal to what we perceive based on social media and internet comment threads.
Actually it is relatively new in its current form, P. The group started around 2010. I do agree with most of what you say, though. I think the larger issue is whether Trump will condemn violence (of which I believe they are a part). I also understand the motives of others to try to connect the group with Trump. It just seems like it would be so easy to condemn them–although I realize he might alienate potential voters, which may be the larger issue.
First off, I acknowledge your worry and understand. However, I would like to present a couple of points to suggest that attributing this to one Donald J. Trump is misdirected.
Our culture is sick. One needs only look at the comments section on any website to see such regular despicable behavior. The so called ‘alt-right’ is but just one example and certainly not the worst. This was in existence prior to the arrival of DJT.
Secondly, the ‘alt-right’ is a fringe of the GOP. There is even compelling evidence that some of it is the ‘Left’ posing as the deranged ‘Right’. For the Left, it is their base (see and listen to the crowd at a Sanders rally).
Lastly, life is to short to worry about tomorrow. A little Bob Marley is in order …
… rise up this morning … three little birds by my doorstep singing sweet songs …
Then again, because of those outlets, they can reach a whole lotta people without a large group to do it.
The key word here is ‘current form’. The internet and social media have generated a new form and forum for every idea and niche imaginable, and brings it right in to your home with a simple click. so yes, it appears to be suddenly growing or becoming mainstream. I don’t think it is true. Instead, it is becoming more visible.
I would be happy in a general sense to see Trump distance himself from the violence and racism of the fringe, but I also see that it becomes an endless game of accusation, association, and denial. It is probably best that he continue to ignore them as the irrelevant slimeballs they are.
The left has always tried to associate conservatives and Republicans with Nazis and racism, but they are never asked to disavow their own sides extremists. By playing in to their guilt by association game and disavowing every creep they throw at you, you just lend credibility to it.
That presupposes that people only need to hear their message to join in.
It’s inevitable once there is such pervasive identity politics as well as open vilification of white people and mockery and dismissal. Supposedly, white people have it made, and I think the ones who demonstrably don’t have it made are beginning to react. They way to stop this is to lay off identity politics and vilification of everyone.
Then, there is another level to this. The left is running out of issues. This is why we now have all this transgender focus. They need these things as fuel for their movement. It is paramount to their interests that they highlight and even participate in this movement as mobys and I have no doubt that
somemost of the more despicable comments come from poseurs.I agree with the rest of your comment, but I wouldn’t worry about much “real violence.” The intellectuals in the movement revere strong men and action because they are weak and never act. The “common members” are 13-to-35-year-old 4chan degenerates who have short attention spans. Most will lose focus and go back to pornography, video games, and other online distractions. The few that stay focused on politics will feel “betrayed” by Trump but pin their hopes on the next outsider candidate, i.e. Paul or Sanders or their 2020 equivalent.
To the extent they commit violence at all, it’s usually suicide. Besides a few mass-murder-suicides (see Elliot Rodgers, Dylan Roof), not much else will happen. Certainly no coordinated effort. Again, short attention span and idolization of “action” due to constant inaction.
I wasn’t trying to suggest this, Franco. I’m just saying it will attract those people that you mentioned are disaffected.
Point taken, there’s no way to know how many. Thanks.
Actually I’m not attributing this to Trump, or blaming him. Just that he’s the one they’re attracted to.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if the left were insidious enough to want us to believe they are doing this so that we would blame them and not take it seriously? Oh my, I think that’s even too devious for me to imagine! Oh, thanks for the Bob Marley; it didn’t cheer me for the moment. ;>)
H.m.m.m…. what you are saying, Lazy, makes sense. Maybe I can shift from paranoid to vigilant?
I guess I’m of the mind that once something happens, there’s not much you can do. My focus has always been to prevent things like the rise of a populist movement that may (or may not be) destabilizing. Had the GOP listened to their basic constituents and natural sympathizers about immigration and corporatism, Donald Trump would not be in the running.
If leftists and many of those on our side, at least, stopped playing identity politics, or tacitly agreeing, this alt-right phenomenon would be relegated to obscurity.
Once something is out. It’s out and getting it back into the tube is not how to effectively engage the problem. I know this is just a discussion, and that’s good and fine, but we need to stop these things before they happen. Stopping them after is very difficult or impossible.
I’m seeing this as a natural development. I’d like to pin this on the race hustlers out there more than anyone else.
Sounds like a good plan. The “full-blown racists” have always existed in America, from the KKK to the Illinois Nazis to the heart of the alt-right today. Their numbers are just exaggerated right now because their favorite candidate is doing well (though most Trump voters haven’t even heard the phrase “alt-right”, and don’t sympathize with them). As best I can tell, the “issues” alt-righters rally around are racism, conspiracy theories, protectionism, isolationism, and general mistrust of authority and anything mainstream. While the first two are obviously terrible, the last three have some (but only some) redeemable elements that can be incorporated into the broad right-leaning ideology going forward.
And I wonder what it would have taken to transcend identity politics and stop these movements in their tracks? Certainly no one I can think of. Don’t misunderstand–I agree with you, Franco.
Who are they?
Is this a group of five people? A dozen? Thousands? Is this Mr. Richard Spencer considered their leader? Where are their rallies? Is the National Policy Institute the location to find their manifesto?
I have seen a great deal of wailing, hand-wringing and outrage over these people, whoever they are, but very few facts.
No. These people are US citizens and have the right to support and not support who they want. As long as they are not officially part of his campaign why should he condemn them?
Why should they? They are not part of Trumps campaign but are just some citizens who agree with him.
I am a caucasian, I will be lumped with these people no matter what I do. I do not even like Trump and most likely will not vote for him but still I will be painted as Alt-Right with the Lefts brush. Maybe even by those on the right I would have at one time considered an ally.
Why? They are citizens and have the same God given rights as anybody else. Their ideology will speak for itself. Ever consider that maybe they have a point or two worth consideration? We can tolerate the Black Panthers, La Raza, CAIR, etc. Why is it that tolerating these few are beyond the pale?
This is how movements start, Roberto. I’m just suggesting we need to pay attention, because in this age of social media, it might not take much to pick up steam quickly. Just note how many things have happened quickly and unexpectedly in this season’s political arena.
I think any points that they have worth considering are better covered by others. I have to “tolerate” the groups you mention because it’s a free country. And I despise them, too.
It would seem that others are not making their point for them the way they want it made and thus they exist.
Despise is a harsh word, I find these entities distasteful but they have a right to be heard. What I find alarming is how everybody wants to slam down on the Alt-Right (a movement I did not even know existed till recently) but gleefully support the other radical groups such as the Black Panthers, La Raza, etc. I find the hypocrisy of it annoying.
Yes, despise is a strong word and I stand by it for all these groups.
I like to check out what is going on, in the alternative media, mainly because politics bores me, I prefer seeing what is happening in the culture. It seems to be that the alt-right is a movement that is largly anti-feminist. There is a LOT of anti-feminist folks out there, and not just from the alt-right. The atheists seem to be largly anti-feminist, the free speechers as well, and the alt-right. I think a lot of the alt-right is the result of radicalism of the feminist movement and the victim culture that seems to blame all of the worlds problems on straigh white males. This has alienated many of these young men and when young men feel alienated and may not have a job or feel they have no prospects they can be seduced into these types of movements. Some are harmless anti-SJW types, but there is an under current of anger that could be dangerous. It isn’t wrong to be concerned but I think there is a way to prevent any violence but as our culture seems to be determined to destroy itself from within I don’t know if it will be prevented.
If you head over to vdare.com, you can listen to John Derbyshire’s podcast dispatches from the American Renaissance conference going on now.
I believe that Derbyshire considers himself alt-right these days, and is a Trump supporter.
Maybe a movement that champions caucasians, males, hetrosexuals and/or traditional values would not be a bad thing, or maybe it is bad thing but a necessary thing. It seems to me that the Alt-right is a response to the Left’s special interest groups constantly pushing their agenda and the government constantly seceding law, customs, morality, control and money to them. Maybe something needs to push back just as hard the other way.
Interesting, Mate De. I haven’t heard that anti-feminism is part of their diatribe, but it makes sense. I hate to say it but the radical feminists have brought it on themselves to some degree, which is what I think you’re saying. Good point.
I think this is very important. We on the conservative side believe in a colorblind, racially neutral society, but that is not where we live. Every conceivable identity group has its coalition, but only those who dare proclaim white identity are despised, condemned, ridiculed.
That doesn’t make me want to be a part of a racial coalition, or to start stewing in racial grievances. But it certainly puts the alt right and their white supremacist mindset in a different light for me. I condemn them, in exactly the same way and with the same commitment that I condemn La Raza, Black Lives (only) Matter, LGBT, whatever group you mean. But I also understand that as long as every other racial/minority/sexuality is organized against anyone white, it is only natural for some white people to follow suit, and it is no more or less offensive than the others.
I remember facilitating team building conflict workshops, and when I’d point out how badly a group was acting, they’d sometimes say, “We’re no worse than anybody else.” I think you and John have made a good argument to explain the pushback; I just wish the pushback wasn’t so ugly. Tit for tat doesn’t cut it for me. But everyone keeps saying I should give up on my principles. I’m sure a dignified radical protest is an oxymoron.
Rather than a denunciation, which is media energy for these idiots, I would hope Mr Trump publicly embraces the Jewish heritage of his family, his son in law and daughter and grandchild.
Denunciation is a trap, it is never ending and exclusive.
Politics is a game of addition.
If the Alt-Right wants to vote for Trump, Reagan used to say “they are voting for me and my ideals, not theirs”.
The best thing is to be publicly Pro-Jew , not anti-Alt Right.
Let’s see how he handles this.