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Virginia Heffernan talks to Andrew Marantz, a writer at the New Yorker, about the many warring factions within the alt-right and how the left should respond to them.

Dont forget about our live show in Austin, Texas, for the Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. Well be live from the Texas Union Theatre with special guests former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas. For tickets go to Slate.com/Live.

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A Taxonomy of the Alt-Right - Slate Magazine

Now that the prefix alt is being thrown in front of anything one opposes, a new study investigates the characteristics of people affiliated with the Alt-Right. The paper offers insight into what this collection of individuals and small movements really thinks about the state of the union.

Two assistant professorsPatrick S. Forscher, in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas, and Nour S. Kteily, in the Department of Management and Organizations at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern Universityused Amazons mTurk platform, in which people post bulletins to recruit human intelligence for tasks computers cannot perform, for data collection. Members affiliated with the Alt-Right were paid $3 while a comparison group of non-Alt-Right members received $2.

While trusting online replies by self-identifying members of any group is tricky, a two-tier verification system offered at least some semblance of honesty. After discarding a number of responses, the researchers analyzed 447 members of the Alt-Right with 382 non-Alt-Right respondents in the comparison group. While well look more deeply into the methods, this summation from their conclusion is perhaps unsurprising:

Our Alt-Right sample reported high levels of social dominance orientation, strong support for collective action on behalf of White people, and strong opposition to collective action on behalf of Black people they were quite willing to blatantly dehumanize both religious/national outgroups and political opposition groups, reported high levels of the motivations to express prejudice towards Black people, and reported high levels of harassing and offensive behavior.

In last weeks Real Time, Bill Maher mentioned the Alt-Right could not exist without the Internet. Indeed, many groups would not have formed without this powerful device. (Ive previously written about another such phenomena,misophonia.) Forscher and Kteily wanted to better understand if the Alt-Right leaned more populist, focused on anti-globalist and anti-establishment issues, or were truly the products of White Power. It turns out a little of both, with the latter expressed more forcefully.

The Method

In this study, members of the Alt-Right were first asked questions regarding the gap between elites and non-elites, attitudes toward the economy, trust in various media outlets, and notions of supremacy, including social dominance orientation, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and Dark Triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) characteristics. Measures of self-reported aggression and extremist philosophies also played a role.

The comparison group described their own political ideologies and feelings on the Alt-Right. Both groups were asked if the Alt-Right is racist. Importantly, they left out comments about Trump and his potential affiliations with the Alt-Right during analysis.

Then they dove into minutia. Respondents had to measure friendships and moral foundation traits, including equality, fairness, loyalty, authority, and purity. Intergroup allegiance was rendered, as well ideas about dehumanization. In perhaps the most telling aspect of the study, the famous chimp-to-human evolution drawing was presented. Respondents were asked to identify where along the timeline the following three subgroups were located: Alt-Right members, such as Americans, Europeans, Swedes, and Whites in general; religious and ethnic groups like Arabs, Muslims, Mexicans, and Blacks; political opposition groups, such as Democrats, feminists, journalists, and Republicans who refused to vote for Trump.You can read all the questions asked here.

Image used for the ascent scale anchor points in the study (page 32 of the survey).

Next measured was self-reported aggressive behavior, including online and offline name calling, physical threats, harassment, and willingness to make statements because others find them offensive. Economic issues followed, including perceptions of disadvantage among ten groups. Feelings of in-group and out-group political affiliations were discussed, followed by support for the police, governmental and economic corruption, trust in both mainstream and alternative media sources, and finally, feelings on race-based collective action, such as Black Lives Matter.

The Results

Members of the Alt-Right display low trust in mainstream media and moderate trust in alternative media sources like Breitbart and Alex Jones. They measured at the midpoint on Dark Triad traits, Social Dominance Orientation, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and dehumanization of religious and ethnic groups and their political opposition groups. They generally believe some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups.

The Alt-Right scored much higher on motivations and willingness to express prejudice and to harass others. They support the organization of Whites but claim Black Lives Matter has been harmful to the country. Their respect for the police was higher, and they derived more pleasure from dehumanizing othersnon-members were notable for not dehumanizing members of the Alt-Right. The two groups shared similar scores regarding the moral outlooks of their friends (in-group mentality), economic evaluations, and concerns about governmental corruption.

We found some evidence for the populist portrayal, as Alt-Right supporters expressed suspicion of mainstream media and trust in alternative media. Interestingly, we found little evidence that this populism extended to economic issues: Alt-Right supporters were more optimistic about the current and future states of the economy than non-supporters.

The authors recognize limitations. As a cross-sectional study, this paper only speaks to correlates rather than causes of Alt-Right membership. They only measured a subset of potential variables, leaving out anxiety about social status and other markers. As their recruitment process was through convenience sampling, the dangers of self-reporting are apparent, including people lying about their affiliations.

One of the more interesting aspects of this paper is the authors belief that members of the Alt-Right sometimes begin with populism and get pulled toward supremacism as they befriend more White Power advocatesagain, in-group mentality. This makes sense given how tribalism is expressed in many aspects on both sides of this study.

But no, that does not give credence to the notion that both sides are to blame for incidents like Charlottesville. This paper clearly shows increased levels of hostility and aggression as well as willingness to harass and dehumanize on the Alt-Right. Perhaps most sadly, though, is that both sides do express distrust in the government and economic forces ruling America. A united effort could produce substantial change, but so long as the tribes battle that seems impossible.

robert-sapolsky-us-vs-them-thinking-is-hardwired-but-theres-hope-for-us-yet

In his book, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, Robert Sapolsky writes:

Almost by definition, you cant have a society with both dramatic income inequality and plentiful social capital. Or translated from social science-ese, marked inequality makes people crummier to one another.

Bigotry, ethnocentrism, and oppression speak to our lowest, basest instincts. The biological mechanisms of out-group hostility played an important role in human development, but that time is over. So long as the fighting remains aimed at other ethnicities instead of the forces stoking nationalist flames, progress is impossible.

There are arguments amongst evolutionary biologists about whether evolution is gradual or has sudden jumps and fits. As this paper shows, we need a serious social jump right now, biology be damned.

--

Derek is the author ofWhole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health. Based in Los Angeles he is working on a new book about spiritual consumerism. Stay in touch onFacebookandTwitter.

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Who Is the Alt-Right? Researchers Build a Psychological Profile - Big Think

Rep. Maxine Waters delivered a mic-dropping speech at the Black Girls Rock! award show on Tuesday night, thanking her supporters and sternly reminding her critics that she is a strong black woman who will not be intimidated.

Waters, who was recognized as the honoree for the shows social humanitarian award, began her speech by underscoring the importance of safe spaces like Black Girls Rock!, which celebrates the beauty and magic of black sisterhood, and reiterated why representation matters.

For much too long, black girls have not reached their full potential but now things are changing, she said, going on to credit women including TV mastermind Shonda Rhimes, director Ava Duvernay, and astronaut Mae Jamieson for inspiring countless women. All of these fabulous women who are inspiring so many young girls and showing them that they too can be successful, they are certainly examples of what is possible, she said.

Waters then expressed gratitude towards the black women who have showered her with support in her efforts to call out President Donald Trump and his wrongdoings.

In recent months, Waters has consistently called for Trumps impeachment, citing his temperament, lack of experience and embrace of racismas reasons why he is unfit to lead. This has made her a target for attacks from right-wing politicians and white supremacist supporters.

However, countless women of color have rallied around Waters, including activist Brittany Packnett, who started the viral #BlackWomenAtWork hashtag in March to call out the disrespectful ways public figures, like former Fox News employee Bill OReilly, have treated Waters.

I know that if it was not for the love and respect shown to me by black women, those right wing, ultra conservative, alt-right haters would have me believe Im too black, Im too confrontational, Im too tough and Im too disrespectful to them but I know I am simply a strong black woman, Waters said.

We have power, we have influence, we can do things that others have told us we cant do, she added, before sending a stern warning to critics. If you come for me, Im coming for you.

Waters, who said she is grateful for the millennials who have openly embraced and supported her take on Trump, didnt leave the stage without reminding the audience of the power of speaking out and taking action.

Whether its the president of the United States of America or any of his cabinet members, we will say to them, we will resist you, she said. We will not allow you to damage this country in the way youre doing.

We will not allow you to take us backwards, she added. Not only will we resist you, we will impeach you!

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Maxine Waters Warns 'Alt-Right Haters': 'If You Come For Me, I'm Coming For You' - HuffPost

President Donald Trump stepped on stage in Phoenix on Tuesday night with something clearly eating at him. Minutes into his style rally, we learned what: It wasnt the white supremacists and KKK and neo-Nazis who threw the nation into chaos and allegedly killed a woman in Virginia last week thats bugging him. Or the intractable 16-year war in Afghanistan that he just announced hes revving up again.

Its the media.

Trump spent nearly a third if not more- of his 90-minute rally rehashing his public remarks in the wake of Charlottesville, Virginia, and complaining that he was widely criticized for them. In fact, about the only time he mentioned the racial tensions and violence stirred up last week was in the context of defending himself.

The president was so frustrated with media coverage of him, he printed out copies of some of the remarks he gave in the wake of the violence. He read them aloud to the crowd, pausing to express total disbelief that the tone of coverage wasnt more positive.

I love the people in our country the people. All of the people, he said at one point, waving his remarks around. It says: I love all of the people of the country. I didnt say I love you because youre black, or I love you because youre white, or I love you because youre from Japan or youre from China or youre from Kenya or youre from Scotland or Sweden. I love all the people of our country. By the way folks, this is my exact words. I love all of the people of our country.

. . . And then they say: Is he a racist!

Clearly, Trumps lashing out against Charlottesville coverage was premeditated. And the fact that the media, of all things, was the dominant theme of his first trip back to Arizona since winning the state by more than three points underscores two truisms about Trump:

1. He cares about the coverage he receives. A lot.

2. He blames the media for nearly all of his problems as president.

Actually, Trump didnt just blame the media for HIS problems on Tuesday. After one of the worst weeks of his tumutlous, halting presidency, he stretched that attack line and blamed the media for the NATIONS problems.

In one speech he:

Accused the media of turning a blind eye to gang violence

Accused the media of trying to take away our history and heritage (re: Confederate statues states and cities are taking down after Charlottesville).

Accused the media of giving platform to hate groups (The only people giving the platform to these hate groups is the media itself.)

Called journalists sick people

Said this: You would think they want to make our country great again. And I honestly believe they dont.

And said the media is the source of division in our country.

If you want to discover the source of our division in the country, look no further than the fake news and the crooked media, which would rather get ratings and clicks than tell the truth, he said.

What Trump failed to mention (another Trump truism: He leaves out context and facts when it suits him) is that the country isnt divided over the medias coverage of his remarks.

Its divided over the white supremacists who showed up in Charlottesville to prevent the tearing down of a Confederate statue and got violent. And its not divided over how the president responded. A majority of Americans, 56 percent, dont approve of the president equating these people with counterprotesters, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Nor do key members of Trumps own party approve of the way he handled it. The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said after Trumps press conference where he backed off denouncing white supremacists.

I do believe that he messed up in his comments Tuesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said at a CNN town hall on Monday. When it sounded like moral equivalency, or at the very least, moral ambiguity, when we need extreme moral clarity.

And white supremacists DO feel emboldened by the president.

Heres one of them, Richard Spencer, chiming in during Trumps tirade on the media:

Trump has never denounced the Alt-Right. Nor will he, Spencer tweeted.

Trump went to Phoenix with other chips on his shoulder, too. He didnt mention them by name, but he made a big show of hinting at his unhappiness with Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, R, for writing a book equating the Republican Partys relationship with Trump to a pact with the devil, and with Sen. John McCain, R, for casting a surprise no vote that sunk Republicans health-care bill.

One vote! Speak to your senator. Speak to your senator, Trump said, also making a big show of the fact that he was following advice not to call out Flake and McCain by names.

He called on Senate Republicans, again, to just get rid of the filibuster so they can pass legislation with 51 votes instead of 60. (Republicans hold 52 out of 100 seats in the Senate, which means the Senate is a major hurdle to Republicans agenda.)

But all of that came second, in Trumps worldview, to the coverage he received after Charlottesville. That, of course, is likely to earn him more criticism and negative coverage. Its likely Trump wont be able to let that go, either.

And Trumps all-out war against the media continues

More here:
Analysis: Trump has no intention of denouncing the alt-right; he had every intention of escalating his war with the ... - The Denver Post

Inquiring minds want to know: What exactly is the alt-right, and how large is the audience for the movement?

The essence of the alt-right can be distilled to this catchphrase: All people are not created equal. Thats even more extreme than it may sound. Prominent alt-right thinkers dont only believe that some are naturally taller, stronger or smarter than others, but also that some groups are more deserving of political status than others. They reject the concept of equality before the law.

Andrew Anglin is editor of the most popular alt-right web magazine, the Daily Stormer. He has written that The Alt-Right does not accept the pseudo-scientific claims that all races are equal. He also supports repatriation of American blacks to Africa or autonomous territory within the U.S.

Not all alt-right thinkers are so radical in their aims, but they all believe in some form of race-based political inegalitarianism. The unequal brigade includes in its ranks editors of and regular contributors to many alt-right web magazines, including Richard Spencer of Radix Journal, Mike Enoch of the Right Stuff, Brad Griffin (also known as Hunter Wallace) of Occidental Dissent, Jared Taylor of American Renaissance and James Kirkpatrick of VDARE (named after Virginia Dare, the first white child born in America).

The exact size of the alt-right is perhaps not of the utmost importance. As an ideological movement, the alt-right seeks not immediate policy or electoral victories, but longer-term influence on how others think about politics. Still, its possible to get a sense of the scope of this netherworld through web traffic.

From September 2016 to May 2017, I analyzed visits and unique visitors to scores of political web magazines of various political orientations. (One person accessing a site five times in a month represents five visits but only one unique visitor). Through interviews and using the site Media Bias / Fact Check, I identified nine alt-right sites, 53 sites associated with the mainstream right, and 63 with the mainstream left. I excluded left- or right-leaning general-interest publications, such as BuzzFeed, the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Data were obtained from SimilarWeb, a well-known provider of web-marketing information. All audience figures given here are monthly averages for the nine-month period I studied.

The total audience for alt-right political sites is much smaller than the audiences for mainstream left and right sites. The nine alt-right sites combined received nearly 3 million visits and 839,000 unique visitors, compared with 236 million visits and 102 million unique visitors for the mainstream left, and 264 million visits and 111 million unique visitors for the mainstream right.

But these numbers are less comforting than they may seem.

The coarsely racist Daily Stormer received 997,000 visits and 284,000 unique visitors. In so doing, it drew a larger audience than the sites for such longstanding mainstream magazines as the Washington Monthly (766,000 visits, 259 thousand unique visitors) and Commentary (594,000 visits, 268,000 unique visitors).

American Renaissance (497,000 visits, 158,000 unique visitors) and VDARE (427,000 visits, 132,000 unique visitors) both had larger audiences than the sites of the familiar leftist magazines Dissent (193,000 visits, 82,000 unique visitors monthly) and the Progressive (142,000 visits, 64,000 unique visitors).

Of course, traditional intellectual elites have not been overthrown. The audiences for the Nation (4.3 million visits, 2.4 million unique visitors), the New Republic (3.8 million visits, 2.2 million unique visitors), and National Review (nearly 10 million visits, 4.2 million unique visitors), all well-established magazines, were far larger than that of the combined alt-right.

The picture changes substantially, however, if we stretch the definition of an alt-right site to include Breitbart News. My sources did not classify it as such and the site does not explicitly reject political equality as the alt-right does. But former Breitbart editor Stephen K. Bannon once declared that his publication was the platform for the alt-right and its incendiary populism is very much in the movements style. At 85.4 million visits and 24 million unique visitors, it operates in a different league not only from the Daily Stormer, but from most tradition left- and right-wing political publications.

The anti-democratic alt-right has arrived and established a toe hold in our political discourse. That is the real matter of concern.

Thomas J. Main is a professor at the Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs of Baruch College, City University of New York. His book The Rise of the Alt-Right will be published in the spring of 2018.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook

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What's the alt-right, and how large is its audience? - Los Angeles Times