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When I was a teenager, I had to drive my older brother to downtown Phoenix. He couldnt drive himself; hed made a series of poor life choices, so it fell to me, the relatively responsible one, to ferry him about.

As we drove, he ranted to me about blacks, Mexicans, and Jews, using all the tried and true tropes of the traditional white supremacist right tossing in, for my education, that the Bible had given blacks over to whites as slave-animals. When we pulled up to our destination, a Mexican guy was hanging out on the Phoenix equivalent of a stoop; my brother would have to pass by the guy. I asked him, in that teenaged point blank manner, what he thought of the man.

Oh no, my brother replied. Hes one of the good ones. Switching off from racist extraordinaire, he proceeded to carry out his errand and have a light, polite chat with the very man whos race hed spent much of our journey together trashing.

It was my first encounter with the double-think that would swirl to become the Alt-Right.

The Alt-Right defined

The Alt-Right is a brand-new lexicon that came of age during the final months of the U.S. presidential campaign in 2016. The term itself is traceable to 2008. As written inSalon:

In 2008, conservative political philosopher Paul Gottfried was the first to use the term alternative right, describing it as a dissident far-right ideology that rejected mainstream conservatism.

Yet the intellectual force, not to mention the personalities, of the Alt-Right are considerably older: it pulls threads from old school fascism, 19th-century nativism, slavery-produced white supremacy, Goldwater conservatism, and 1970s-style disillusionment. It is also not a uniquely American phenomenon: Alt-Right forces have bubbled and gurgled throughout the rest of the world since the 1970s.

Today, versions of the Alt-Right are global. Virtually every developed country has at least one Alt-Right political party: even idyllic New Zealand hasNew Zealand First, an anti-immigration party. The English Alt-Right, head by the UK Independence Party, helped force Britain out of the European Union, and has since pushed its Conservative Party further right.

The populist Finns Party in Finland has surged to heights its never enjoyed before; the Alt-Right-leaningSweden DemocratsSweden Democratsare fighting against more refugees. Critically, in the Netherlands, France, and Germany, Alt-Right parties are growing to become not fringe but mainstream political phenomena. As the Dutch prepare to vote on March 15th, Geert Wilders, once a political pariah for his extreme Rightist views, is leading in the polls. Marie Le Pen, another Alt-Right force, has spent decades hoping to reach the political popularity she now enjoys.

How did we get here? And what does it say about the international system that produced this force?

The Alt-Right: Westerners only

The basic Left-Right divide begins in the French Revolution, when Right-wing forces supported the monarchy and Left-wing forces wanted to introduce Enlightened government through a republic. Depending on how hard they believed, their views could be quite violent.

Since then, Leftist forces have sought change: Rightist forces sought to slow or even reverse it.The Alt-Right builds on the conservatism and Rightist impulses of Europe and the United States. We should step back and look at those modern roots.

Western conservatives used to represent industrial, imperial/royal, and nationalist interests. They built the great empires of the late 19th century; their Christian zeal sent missionaries worldwide as their gunboats shelled native peoples into submission. They also managed to squabble their way into World War I, which completely discredited their royal factions and weakened their imperial ones.

But they kept hold of their industrial and nationalist ideologies until World War II exhausted those as well. Inspired by Allied propaganda, conservatism retooled itself as the ultimate arbiter of freedom, mostly via economic choice. On the western side of the Iron Curtain, it came to represent zealous anti-Communism (especially offended by Soviet godlessness), anti-statism (conflating Keynesian economics with Soviet central planning, which was a nicely dishonest way to start a movement), and cultural nationalism. That last part was a fine needle to thread: cultural nationalismcouldbe contrasted with the Soviet boogeyman, which was trying to refashion the many subjects of the Soviet empire into a single cultural entity. But it could go too far: millions had lived through Axis cultural atrocities.

They did not want to be seen allied to the old fascist survivors of the war, who lurked beneath the political surface. Fear of division in the face of the Soviet menace kept the public from gambling on anything but safe bets: the atomic bombing of Japan was too recent, and the many duck-and-cover drills of the 1950s and 60s hammered in the reality of nuclear annihilation.

How the National Front made the Alt-Right template

In 1972, just shy of the 30 year anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, Jean-Marie LePen founded the progenitor of the modern Alt-Right: the National Party. Planks of tough law-and-order, cultural and economic protectionism, and anti-immigration held together a coalition of French voters angered by the changes they were seeing in their country. Many of these changes were self-inflicted: Frances stubborn war in Algeria brought the first big wave of African migrants to the continent, producing a subnationality mainstream France could not figure out how to assimilate. Conflicts between die-hard colonialists and the rest of French society led to a wave of bombings in the 60s and the collapse of the Fourth Republic; old school Vichy Fascists found more mainstream allies willing to overlook their past faults in the pursuit of French national glory in Africa.

The National Front became the archetype of the Alt-Right political party: claiming to protect Western civilization from both its own decadence (often by alluding that Jews were corroding it from within) and from evil outside forces (like Islam and Communism), the National Front built a shaky base of French voters initially too spread out to have any national effect.

The 1970s coincided with a marked shift in conservatives throughout the West. Most went hard for the neoliberalism of Ronald Reagan and Margret Thatcher, who produced the conservative ideology only recently upended by the Alt-Right. But some split off: rather than seeing tax cuts and free trade as opportunities to get rich, they saw them as opening doors to new, increasingly different foreigners.

Its important to note they did not reconstitute with out-and-out old school fascists or racists, who also tried, and failed, to reinvent themselves in this period. Skinhead culture was appropriated by fascists hoping for a more modern edge; it fell flat when they refused to stop Seig Heiling. The Ku Klux Klan appointed a supposedly nicer, better-looking leader, David Duke, to wow cameras, but his traditionally vile worldview could not be hidden under any sugarcoating.

Even Jean-Marie LePen couldnt hold his tongue when it came to the Jews: as recently as last month,he was still making jokes about Jews in ovens.

As Reagan and Thatcher dominated conservatism, the budding Alt-Right could move nowhere. Too easily lumped in with neo-Nazis and fascists, and with too much at stake in the Cold War, the National Front and those like it went nowhere.

The ground shifts: Sunni supremacism, neoliberal corruption, revitalized Russia, and generational change.

Around 2000, the geopolitical understanding of the post-Cold War world began to shudder and break apart. Sunni supremacism began to violently lash out at Western powers long used to dominating the Middle Easts resources and states; Russia started a slow rise out of its post-Soviet collapse; neoliberalism as an economic ideology began to rust, and the generation that fought World War II began to die in large numbers.

All four combined to create an environment perfect for the Alt-Right.

Sunni supremacism provoked more and more Western thinkers and voters to conflate Islam with violence. Despite the best efforts of leaders like George W. Bush, Tony Blair, and Barack Obama, all of whom differentiated between violent supremacists and everyday practitioners, repeated attacks undermined their arguments. This was exactly what groups like al-Qaeda wanted; the more Westerners hated Muslims, the more Muslims would join al-Qaeda. It also thrilled the nascent figures of the Alt-Right. As early as 2005, Geert Wilders was quoted as saying, The analysis is clear, we have a great problem with Islam, in the Netherlands too. Once in the political wilderness, Sunni supremacist attacks in the Netherlands suddenly made Wilders appear sensible.

The return of Russia brought a structural discipline to a movement that hadnt had any before. While Putin himself does not practice an Alt-Right worldview (its more like an imperial nationalism, an older school of geopolitical thought), he saw use in the Alt-Right parties budding throughout Europe and America. Since repeated Sunni supremacist attacks made it increasingly okay to slam Islam, the Alt-Right could no longer be hammered as neo-Nazis as readily anymore. (A common Alt-Right defense for why their Muslim-bashing is not the same as Nazi Jew bashing: The Jews werent going around beheading people).

Since Putins goals were to roll back values-based institutions like NATO and the EU that might threaten his rule (and possibly undo the Russian Federation), he had to find useful assets that could corrode those institutions. NATO and EU values are rooted in neoliberalism: free trade and open borders through the EU and human rights protected by hard power through NATO. By supporting parties that undercut these values, Putin sought to undermine both the NATO and the EU.

We now know aboutPutins Facebook and Twitter bot armyandRussian financing of Alt-Right parties throughout Europe. The accusations that the Kremlin did something similar in the United States is gaining credibility. Russian spy tradecraft provided discipline to movements that were otherwise too prone to fracturing.

But that would have been irrelevant had neoliberalisms cracks not begun to show. Even as early as 2000, it was obvious that free trade deals were widening the wealth gap and benefiting only the upper classes. Thebattle of Seattle, the anti-globalization protests that took place in 1999, were just a harbinger of the energy that would be mobilized against neoliberalism.

The world realized the emperor had no clothes, however, in the wake of the Financial Crisis, when all the inequalities of neoliberalism were laid bare. Years went by with both American and EU leaders trying to cobble together formulas to save the system without addressing any of the problems caused by it: during that time, conservatives began to drift away from economic freedom and free trade and towards the protectionism that had long been espoused by the Alt-Right.

Finally, and perhaps most crucially, the 2000s also saw the end of the World War II generation as a major political force. The veterans and their memories of Axis horrors died off and left their children and grandchildren without any check on Rightist impulses. Political decency, a key post-war value meant to act as a breakwater again violent, thuggish politics, fell away: politicians and public figures could get away with saying increasingly outrageous things. Rightists felt no responsibility or connection with the Hitler era, and were so less stung by the accusation by their enemies that they were behaving like Nazis.

After all, can you imagine a World War II veteran excusing Trumps Pussygate?

The perfect geopolitical storm

When one sees Hillary Clinton as the standard bearer of discredited neoliberalism, her defeat makes a lot more sense. So too does Brexit; the European Union was always designed as a neoliberal project. The disappearance of the World War II generations political power has coincided with the rise of the Alt-Rights thuggishness: their check on the Alt-Right was crucial.

Yet these alone might not have been enough to propel the Alt-Right to its heights were it not for the machinations of outsiders. Russian plots to bolster Alt-Right parties have largely worked; their ultimate success will depend on the outcome of both the French and Dutch elections this spring. Moreover, Sunni supremacists welcome the takeover of the West by Alt-Right holy warriors, who want the same civilizational showdown they do. If the Alt-Right becomes the dominant ideology of the West, it would almost certainly mean wider war in the Muslim world.

Now what?

The Dutch election will be critical; should Wilders gain power, it will be another out and out Alt-Right government. That will put both France and Germany in the ideologys crosshairs. Nobody expected Donald Trump to win the presidency, just as nobody expects Marie LePen, the less overtly anti-Semitic leader of the National Front, to do so in April.

Such electoral victories might tip Great Britains conservative movement firmly into the Alt-Right; it already dangerously tiptoes that line. Other borderline governments like Poland, Sweden, and Denmark could also firmly act more like the Alt-Right. That would leave only Germany as a force powerful enough to withstand the complete collapse of neoliberalism. Such a task would be beyond its reach, however, should the United States slip firmly into a new Alt-Right consensus: Berlin cannot hope to stand up against both Russian and American political interference.

In the long run, should the West become dominated by the Alt-Rights nativism, nationalism, and protectionism, the world risks returning not to the 1930s but to the 1910s, when brute geopolitical interest propelled each power to seek its own short-term gain. The Alt-Right cannot hold together NATO; Alt-Right forces already mumble against it. It actively seeks to destroy the EU. Without either, Europe returns to its pre-war self: an anarchic continent of powerful nation-states unsure of the intentions of their neighbors. That is an environment Russia can thrive in, but it will leave Germany, France, and Britain all the poorer, as they waste resources trying to gain domination over one another.

There are good reasons to believe this wont happen. Already forces are arrayed against the Alt-Right, most powerfully in the United States. Should Trump be impeached and convicted over his ties to Russia, it could kill the movement globally. This could simply be the final, most dramatic act in the Strauss-Howe Crisis, giving way to a gentler 2020s.

Or it could be the beginning of a new normal. Watch the Dutch today; watch the French in April. And watch how long Trump occupies the White House.

(Correction: The ruling government of Sweden isnotan Alt-Right leaning government; the Alt-Rightists there are the Sweden Democrats. Sorry.)

Read more:
The global history of the Alt-Right - Salon

Misogynistic, highly populist and led unofficially led by Richard Spencer, the alt-right movement a faction of people with extremely far-right ideologies expanded underneath values that President Donald Trump supported throughout the election. Preaching strict white ethno-nationalism, the movement eerily resembles the Nazi party. During a rally in Washington D.C., members of the alt-right were filmed chanting Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!

The alt-right has grown rapidly since Nov. 8, gaining additional momentum when the infamous Steve Bannon was chosen to become Trumps chief strategist. Yet, despite their sudden rise, alt-right leaders recognize that there is additional recruiting to be coordinated.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (right) and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (left) participate in a conversation during the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Photo: Getty Images)

This time, it includes attracting women to join the dark side.

Writers that identify as alt-right have termed the process of bringing females into the movement, giving women the red pill. And it is understandably difficult. At each rally that is held, supporters rattle about the importance of alpha-males, often suggesting that women hold little value in the working class. Instead, a womans place is frequently identified as in the kitchen, a disgraceful notion which marks a significant regression from past societal advances.

Herein lies the issue with attracting women into the movement. However, this hasnt stopped female alt-righters from attempting to teach men about the recruitment process.

Earlier this month, The Economist featured a story about two writers named Cecilia Davenport and Wolfie James. Although they each have unique styles, they share a common interest. According to The Economists story, Mr. Spencer has said he believes women constitute around one-fifth of the movements followers.

Others who are familiar with the movement tend to agree that there is simply not enough representation of women in the group. That is where writers such as James and Davenport fit into the broader picture.

Through blogging, women in the alt-right are trying to gather others that are secretly partial to the movement. As Davenport saidin response to The Economist, You see alt-right women a lot more at private gatheringsmen are, by nature, more likely by nature to take risks: and there are real risks involved in being active in this cause.

Similar to others, Davenport recognizes that there is the potential to grow the movements female base. This prospect is exciting for a predominately white, heteronormative group of males that seeks the attention of women. Davenport continues by saying, alt-righters want women to have the option to stay home and raise a family making a sensible plea for women to support the cause.

If one makes belonging at home a privilege, rather than a punishment, there will naturally be women curious about the movement.

Conversely, there are others who believe that women will need a significant push from their alt-right boyfriends to join the movement. Among those who believe this is Wolfie James, who wrote the original manual for red-pilling women.

While I make reference to her work, I refrain from providing any direct link, as the articles language is rather vulgar and distressing. With sections entitled, Trigger her emotions; dont try to win an argument, Fear monger, and Support her when she starts to embrace it, James describes a step-by-step approach for men to recruit their partners.

The manuals rhetoric primarily uses fear as the catalyst for bringing skeptical women into the movement. It should be noted, though, that lacking from the guide is a strategy for alt-right men to actually attract women in the first place.

Its difficult to fathom that a political movement aimed at restoring white male nationalism is actively attempting to recruit women. Yet, unofficial leaders such as Spencer are convinced that females are apt to join the cause with a little nudge.

Whether it be from Davenport and James or others hidden amongst a sea of alpha-males, there is a growing push to expand the party. To expand the notion that multiculturalism is rife with issues, and that only a white America is safe from the tyranny of diversity.

This notion could not be farther from the truth or worth anyones respect regardless of gender or race.

This opinion piecebyNicholas Colemanoriginally appeared in The Daily Utah Chronicle, the independent student newspaper at the University of Utah.

Read the original:
Voices: Women of the alt-right - USA TODAY College

Will Canada become the next domino to fall to right-wing populism? Its been successful just across the border. Why not here?

The emerging movement of angry populism, the so-called alt-right, has already turned U.S. politics upside down. Its exponents, such as Donald Trump and his adviser Stephen Bannon, are at the top of their game.

They aim to permanently replace traditional democratic institutions with a modern autocracy free from legal, journalistic or institutional accountability.

Along with constant attacks on the media, courts and government oversight agencies, Trump promises to spend billions on the military and security services, while eliminating funding for arts, humanities and poverty programs.

Some Canadians feel this country needs a Trump, to drain the swamp in Ottawa, take down political and cultural elites and kick out unwanted foreigners.

To them, Justin Trudeau embodies everything thats wrong with Canada: hes from the wealthy elite, hes politically correct, he advocates for feminism and even welcomes refugees.

The alt-right wants us to heed the lessons of other countries where populism, nativism and mistrust of institutions are taking hold. Look at Trump, they say, or Brexit. Look at Europeans who are embracing right-wing parties in reaction to immigration, free trade, working-class stagnation.

In Poland, authoritarian President Andrzej Duda is restricting immigration, cracking down on the media and undermining judicial independence.

The French might well elect Marine Le Pen of the anti-immigration National Front party. She promises to expel undocumented migrants, severely restrict legal immigration and build prisons.

All these alt-right parties claim to be nationalists and patriots, as if you cant be either of those and a democrat. They laugh off the threat of Russian or Chinese manipulations and laugh off climate change as a hoax.

They insist Islamic extremism is the real threat to western civilization and want the borders closed to Muslims or anyone of suspect ideology.

But is the alt-right really ascendant? Theyre strong now, but there are limits on their growth.

Last week, Dutch voters rebuked the extreme right in national elections. Prime Minister Mark Rutte was re-elected in a clear rejection of anti-immigration Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party. Turnout was 82 per cent. The Freedom Party, supposedly surging, got 13 per cent.

In Poland, public support for Dudas Law and Justice party is under 40 per cent, despite a program of generous monthly handouts to families.

Recent polls suggest even the mighty Trump can barely hold a 40 per cent approval rating.

It could be the populist right is rising as a byproduct of decline among the left. The U.S. Democrats, the U.K. Labour Party and Canadas NDP are mired in leadership and directional crises.

Even so, alt-right ideology faces severe challenges here and not because Canadians are nicer than other people.

Trudeaus Liberals are hogging the political middle like a Hummer in a parking spot. They are generous with refugees but vigilant about borders. Theyre both pro-environment and pro-pipelines.

They understand Canadians value stability over ideology, that the country isnt perfect but isnt broken either. Theres no need for ideologues to fix Canada.

The alt-right poseurs among the Conservative Party leadership candidates have underwhelmed. Canadian Conservatives really are conservative: preferring cautious and incremental reforms to demolition of state institutions.

Still, anything is possible. If Trump does restrict trade and impose border controls, Canadas economy will get a brutal shock. Maybe that would bring on the tough times the alt-right needs to be successful.

I think its more likely the alt-rights achievements elsewhere will undermine the movement here. Every day, Canadians see more clearly what a vote for Trump-style leadership means: its a vote for kleptocracy, autocracy and bigotry. Its a vote for the rich against working people. Its a vote for fraud.

And unless something significant has changed, those still arent winning values in Canada.

See original here:
LEGER: Alt-right agitation won't work in Canada | The Chronicle ... - TheChronicleHerald.ca

Following up on Neil Gross introduction to The Good Fight last week, Social Media And Its Discontents brings the alt-right to the Good universe. In broad strokes, the episode does a pretty solid job of capturing just how horrifying and concerted the alt-rights online harassment campaigns are. If you think The Good Fight exaggerates the violent language used by the alt-right, then youve probably never been on the receiving end of this particular brand of personal attacks waged on the world wide web. As a queer woman of color who writes for the internet, I can certain testify to the veracity of this pointed and perceptive portrayal. Its all summed up pretty succinctly by the moment when Neil Gross asks Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad to organize flagged posts across his siteswhich include a Facebook-like social media platform called Chummy Friends and a Reddit stand-in called Scabbitin order to develop a new terms of service code and the lawyers decide to make a racist pile, an anti-Semitic pile, a threatening pile, and a misogynistic pile. The moment is far from subtle, but so is the alt-right. The Good Fight doesnt hold back in its critique, which makes the episode hard to watch at times.

The decision to make the hateful posts of these angry, racist white men more dynamic by including interstitials of these men delivering their diatribes to the camera instead of just showing the posts on screen or having another character read them aloud is an effective one. Online harassers often hide behind screennames and faceless icons, but The Good Fight gives them faces, makes it clear how real these people are. But other than that, the shows critique of the alt-right is weirdly impersonal, even though its character have clear personal stakes when it comes to the ideology perpetuated by these racist, sexist trolls. The only time we see those personal stakes at all is when Maia brings up her own history of harassment in the wake of her parents scandal, but even that moment feels forced.

And the plot mechanics of the episode just dont work at all, completely taking you out of the moment. The Good Fight stretches the reality of legal procedures like any other legal drama, but the specifics of this ChumHum plot are especially unbelievable. Luccas appeal process idea isnt too far-fetched. Twitter, in fact, has an appeal process for suspended accounts. But the specific appeal process she ends up suggesting includes an in person hearing...with the corporations top lawyers. That makes no sense at all. What it does do is put Felix Staplesa smug and dramatic Milo Yiannopoulos-like alt-right leader played by John Cameron Mitchellin the same room as Diane Lockhart, Adrian Boseman, Barbara Kolstad, Lucca Quinn, and Julius Cain to debate free speech, identity politics, and harassment. There are strong moments in there, and Mitchells performance is undeniably one of the best parts of the episode. But Social Media And Its Discontents isnt as narratively tight as the rest of the season has been, and a lot of the Felix Staples stuff just doesnt feel organic. The episode offers a striking depiction of the horrors of the alt-right, but the issue overtakes the story, and the characters get a bit lost in it all.

In the beginning of the episode, Barbara and Adrian notice that Neil Gross addresses Diane more than them. The characterization of Gross this season is interesting. On The Good Wife, he always came off as an arrogant asshole, but The Good Fight reveals another insidious side to him. He just keeps on insisting how much he loves Black people, which can in and of itself be a sneaky form of racism, which certainly seems to be the case here. He brings up over and over how thrilled he is to be at an African-American firm, and it all screams Im overcompensating! Here he is, talking about how much he loves his Black law firm, but he only looks at Diane Lockhart, the highest ranking white person in the room. But in this episode, it almost feels like The Good Fight is doing the exact same thing as Gross. Barbara, Adrian, and Lucca are all in the room with Felix, but Diane gets the last word in with him. The episode is about racism and yet never really gets into how the Black characters in its main cast are emotionally, psychologically, physically affected by racism perpetuated by the alt-right. Diane instead gets her grand moment of standing up to Felix. Well, its supposed to be a grand moment. But her monologue is muddled and ultimately flat, and it left me wondering if Robert and Michelle Kingwho co-wrote the episodereally do know why the alt-right is so scary. The episode takes lots of hits on the alt-right but then gives a weak final blow. And whereas we see the personal stakes of Maias reaction to the misogynistic language used by the trolls, that same specificity and grounded character work isnt seen in how the episode engages with racism.

And it all just really underscores how Julius Cain is really not working as a character. Hes more plot device than character, a way to exacerbate the in-fighting at Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad brought on by the ChumHum account. The episode uses Cain to represent a dissenting side of the issuealbeit a much more reasonable and innocuous other side than what Felix Staples represents, but hes just a walking talking point, and its still unclear why he is conservative. None of his motivations have been explained or explored, which makes it seem like his politics are just a plot convenience.

Theres a lot of hand-wringing over legal distinctions for what constitutes hate speech and threats in the episode. Im certainly glad The Good Fight makes no attempts at humanizing the alt-right or making a character like Felix Staples anything other than wholly hateable. Social Media And Its Discontents isnt entirely surface-level in its critique, and it doesnt play it safe either. But the storyline just doesnt quite click, especially because of the unreasonable set-up for this appeal process. At times, it feels like the episode is just a debate rather than a story that organically unpacks the different sides of the issue.

Go to the A.V. Club homepage

Read more from the original source:
"Social Media And Its Discontents" The Good Fight TV Review The ... - A.V. Club

Media Matters for America (blog)

NY Times Public Editor Helps Out An "Alt-Right" Harassment Campaign Media Matters for America (blog) This morning, The New York Times' public editor fell for an alt-right harassment campaign against a reporter of color for the paper, devoting her entire column to scolding the writer over a tweet. On Wednesday, the rapper Bow Wow sent an ugly tweet ... The New York Times Public Editor's Alt-Right Blindspot - The Daily ...Daily Beast all 2 news articles »

More here:
NY Times Public Editor Helps Out An "Alt-Right" Harassment Campaign - Media Matters for America (blog)