Has the Alt-Right been co-opted?

[primalmatter]

This is more a personal curiosity on my part in seeing the reactions of people with wildly different world views then my own but I have noticed quite drastic changes over the last year or so in the movements goals. agenda, and general motives. Where once they did seem to have a platform of what they wanted to accomplish it appears as though it is becoming more and more vague and disbursed as time goes on.

I admit to at least early on sharing some political views with the movement even if it wasn't what I would consider a perfect match by far but now when I look over the usual places members gather I am noticing the same pattern that over took the far left movement. People seem more interested in building up protections around ideas they hold dear rather then testing their strength in open debate. There is also a weird racial component to it now that before was strictly a cultural one.

So I ask you and especially those across the isle. Have you noticed a change or is this just something I never really paid enough attention to that always existed?

[Deleted]

The alt right are very honest about what they want and their goals are also honorable. I see no reason to seek witch-hunt them.

[JohnBrown1917]

Nah, they have always been neo-nazis, still are.

[GennGreymane]

They are rebels without a cause.

[Grapemask]

The alt right sees itself as validated. Because they believe their candidate winning amounts to their argument also being right, their argument no longer needs to seek validation - it is now correct by association. Now they can focus on getting weird(er) with it.

[Zandalarian Paladin]

They're losing traction. Which is good, since there needs to be a balance back in effect.

The far-left, namely BLM and Antifa, has lost a lot of supporters. The alt-right rose up after that, gathering followers with an objective of protecting the far-right ideology against the incessant attacks from these two groups.

In time, BLM and Antifa lost public support after a few strikes of violence, with only a core of mostly intolerant people remaining. With nothing to fight against, the far-right started cannibalizing itself, resulting in a heinous movement that also lost all credibility.

Sure, there are some imbalances remaining. Media still have a strong bias toward intersectionality and the far-right still have contacts that love to push fake narratives. But with the whole focus on Trump right now, monetizing the stupid political partisanship is less of an immediate objective.

[Pannonian]

They're losing traction. Which is good, since there needs to be a balance back in effect.

The far-left, namely BLM and Antifa, has lost a lot of supporters. The alt-right rose up after that, gathering followers with an objective of protecting the far-right ideology against the incessant attacks from these two groups.

In time, BLM and Antifa lost public support after a few strikes of violence, with only a core of mostly intolerant people remaining. With nothing to fight against, the far-right started cannibalizing itself, resulting in a heinous movement that also lost all credibility.

Sure, there are some imbalances remaining. Media still have a strong bias toward intersectionality and the far-right still have contacts that love to push fake narratives. But with the whole focus on Trump right now, monetizing the stupid political partisanship is less of an immediate objective.

I like fiction. What's the name of this book?

In case this is serious: you are aware that timeline (rise of alt-right, blm) doesn't match your narrative at all?

[Zandalarian Paladin]

I like fiction. What's the name of this book?

In case this is serious: you are aware that timeline (rise of alt-right, blm) doesn't match your narrative at all?

The rise does not mean that it didn't exist before. They gained momentum at these points in time. I have no narrative, nor do I aim to support one group over another. I despise them all equally.

[GennGreymane]

The alt right is not only rebels who never had a cause, but they are also normies who infected my meme sites.

[Pannonian]

i think you're overestimating the impact of BLM and especially of Antifa. It seems both groups, but especially the later are way more notorious on MMO-C than in real life.

What i mean. I dont deny it is reactionary in nature, but not reactionary to specific groups like Antifa and BLM, but rather the underlying mainstream push for leftish goals, where BLM and Antifa are two... interesting symptoms

[GennGreymane]

i think you're overestimating the impact of BLM and especially of Antifa. It seems both groups, but especially the later are way more notorious on MMO-C than in real life.

What i mean. I dont deny it is reactionary in nature, but not reactionary to specific groups like Antifa and BLM, but rather the underlying mainstream push for leftish goals, where BLM and Antifa are two... interesting symptoms

Correction: The internet. Although I think BLM had a larger IRL impact, its still grossly overestimated. BLM is the only one that ever seemed to get actual support by the parties in government, but it largely dissipated rather quick. Antifa is overstated beyond belief. I think they had one large thing happen, but literally every other college thing before that was a handful of students at a handful of colleges in the US.

The alt right is just reactionary, but has no actual values of its own.

[Deleted]

The alt right is the same filth we already had last century. They just pretend to be "conservatives" nowadays. While they infest the social media with the same racism and love for autoritarism as the Nazis did in the 1920s and early 1930s in germany and europe in public discussions.

I just hope people learn from the past and dont vote that fascists into office. And i hope Putin gets a heart attack, and takes his style of propaganda with into his grave. All those Sputniks and RTs, the Breitbarts and the Infowars. They are all the same brand. Propaganda for fools.

[Zandalarian Paladin]

i think you're overestimating the impact of BLM and especially of Antifa. It seems both groups, but especially the later are way more notorious on MMO-C than in real life.

What i mean. I dont deny it is reactionary in nature, but not reactionary to specific groups like Antifa and BLM, but rather the underlying mainstream push for leftish goals, where BLM and Antifa are two... interesting symptoms

The problem is that you don't need a massive amount of people to have an extreme group. Media coverage and narrative twisting are all that is needed. Big figures, like Alex Jones, are problematics because they skew the reality. Likewise, Antifa and BLM actions created a narrative, which was supported online by some rather big groups - and as Genn said, were also partially supported by some political parties.

I'll also agree with Genn that the alt-right is purely reactionary and seems more in concordance with the obstructionism PoV that seems to be in everyone's face right now. They're also massive hypocrites, but that's another topic for another time.

[Adam Jensen]

I don't think the alt-right has been co-opted.

I think the American right was co-opted by the Alt Right

[Glorious Leader]

The alt right is the same filth we already had last century. They just pretend to be "conservatives" nowadays. While they infest the social media with the same racism and love for autoritarism as the Nazis did in the 1920s and early 1930s in germany and europe in public discussions.

I just hope people learn from the past and dont vote that fascists into office. And i hope Putin gets a heart attack, and takes his style of propaganda with into his grave.

Part of the problem and why the alt right has been able to grow itself is because they have been able to distinguish themselves from other conservatives. Frankly this needs to end. Theyre all conservatives as far as im concerned and we shoyldnt give them a pass because one faction is just painfully stupid. I mean on an intellectual level i get the difference between conservative in the sense of someone like burke versus conservative as applied to newt gingrich but thats really pure academia and imo is not helpful to opposing these fools. Their all conservatives wether your milo yiannopolous or william f buckley i dont care.

[Deleted]

Their all conservatives wether your milo yiannopolous or william f buckley i dont care.

No they arent, they abuse the term "conservatives" to become socially acceptable. While they are what they are. Fascists.

[lazypeon100]

The alt right is not only rebels who never had a cause, but they are also normies who infected my meme sites.

A moment of silence, for our fallen memes.

OT: I am left leaning and don't particularly hide that fact. I do have some stances that would align towards the right (gun rights though that's purely due the constitution and the culture in the US making getting rid of guns pretty much impossible).

I never really saw the alt right as a legitimate movement. From the start they tried to hide their ideals away from others, dissenting opinion are largely just silenced or shouted down by people who don't seemingly have a point. Their goals are also not something I find to be desirable.

[GennGreymane]

A moment of silence, for our fallen memes.

OT: I am left leaning and don't particularly hide that fact. I do have some stances that would align towards the right (gun rights though that's purely due the constitution and the culture in the US making getting rid of guns pretty much impossible).

I never really saw the alt right as a legitimate movement. From the start they tried to hide their ideals away from others, dissenting opinion are largely just silenced or shouted down by people who don't seemingly have a point. Their goals are also not something I find to be desirable.

They are a dissent without opinion.

[primalmatter]

No they arent, they abuse the term "conservatives" to become socially acceptable. While they are what they are. Fascists.

I don't really want to flavor this as I do want other peoples views on it but conservatives and fascists are two different things. I wouldn't call the alt right conservatives myself but fascism doesn't really know a party.

[Xeones]

This is more a personal curiosity on my part in seeing the reactions of people with wildly different world views then my own but I have noticed quite drastic changes over the last year or so in the movements goals. agenda, and general motives. Where once they did seem to have a platform of what they wanted to accomplish it appears as though it is becoming more and more vague and disbursed as time goes on.

I admit to at least early on sharing some political views with the movement even if it wasn't what I would consider a perfect match by far but now when I look over the usual places members gather I am noticing the same pattern that over took the far left movement. People seem more interested in building up protections around ideas they hold dear rather then testing their strength in open debate. There is also a weird racial component to it now that before was strictly a cultural one.

So I ask you and especially those across the isle. Have you noticed a change or is this just something I never really paid enough attention to that always existed?

The alt right as far as I was aware was just a surge in racist sentiment that came as a result of our first black president, in line with the surge in militia membership.

They simply tried to find a new "friendly" name to call themselves to attract people who were uncomfortable but weren't openly racist in an effort to garner political power. Even now there are people who will try to argue that the alt right isn't about racism.