That is the exact question I faced when I first heard a news outlet mention the term.
To this day the general public doesn't seem to understand the full meaning of "alt-right". To some, it's a group of internet losers, to others it's fascists, and to even more it's Nazi Trump supporters.
Therein lies the problem with the term "alt-right". It's a word with a nebulous meaning, something uncharacteristic of words absorbed or created by the English language.
In order to come to an understanding as to the true purpose and meaning of "alt-right", you'll need knowledge of certain events, articles, or overall attitudes by various groups of people.
The first, and one of the most humorous events that comes to mind is Rick Wilson's pitiful diatribe.
Broadcast on January 1, 2016, Rick Wilson attempted to rally his followers by saying:
A very significant portion of the party that is a limited government conservatism based faction of the coalition. Now the screamers and the crazy people on the "alt-right" as they call it, well, you know - who love Donald Trump, who have plenty of Hitler iconography in their twitter icons and things, who think Donald Trump is the greatest thing - oh, it's something, but the fact of the matter is most of them are childless single men who masturbate to anime. They're not real political players. These are not people who matter in the overall course of humanity. What's really driving the Republican Party though is still a limited government conservatism.
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Fast forward to April 18, 2016, and the Vox Media headline:
What happens when white supremacy is bitten by a radioactive monarchist spider? Meet the alt-right.
The label blends together straight-up white supremacists, nationalists who think conservatives have sold out to globalization, and nativists who fear immigration will spur civil disarray. But at its core are the ideas of a movement known as neoreaction, and neoreaction (NRx for short) is a rejection of democracy.
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As you can tell from these first two events, "alt-right" was, and continues to be used to join disparate groups within Donald Trump's voting base.
If you were to investigate the various subgroups that are described as "alt-right", you would see that nearly every group is some type of classical conservative. Republican, Libertarian (limited government republican), Constitutionalist, National Socialist, Traditionalist, Fascist, and many more are all lumped together under one term.
What does "alt-right" even mean?
"alt-right" becomes "alternative right" when split and unabbreviated. What's alternative about any of the political ideologies I've mentioned? Are they edgy like "alt-rock"? Are they gay like those alternative scene boys?
Or are they alternative to the current false dichotomy of the Republican and Democrat parties?
When something is labelled as alternative, it's implicitly being described as "less". Maybe it's in reference to the target's capabilities or acceptability; either way, it's being classified as abnormal.
In this case, "alt-right" is the media's response to political viewpoints deemed unacceptable by their dogma.
The best way to test this hypothesis is to see if current year media outlets label The Founding Fathers as "alt-right".
November 25, 2017: The use of dubious science to defend racism is as old as the Founding Fathers, by Aaron Hanlon
This sloppy application of scientific knowledge in order to further white supremacy actually has a long history in the U.S.
We see a similar logic playing out in “alt-right” or white supremacist circles, which rally behind white “identitarians” like Richard Spencer but disavow the identity politics of feminists and Black Lives Matter activists.
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July 7, 2018: Why the Founding Fathers are the Perfect Role Models for the Alt-Right, by Patrick Brogan
Are the values of the current Alt-Right movement and those of the Founding Fathers in the US similar? Yes, yes they are. For one, they both love oppression.
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It should be obvious by now that the "alt-right" is a label for a nebulous group of dissimilar conservatives rallied behind a limited set of socially unacceptable goals or viewpoints.
But why the label? What is unacceptable about continuing the work of an original nation and it's builders?
That is a complicated question with an exponentially expanding list of answers. A very simple answer would be that those who view classical conservatism as unacceptable are working against the intentions of the founders who were guided by those same conservative beliefs.
That doesn't answer the question "why, though?"
One of the core tenants of current year politics is the necessity of compromising, reaching across the isle as they put it, to achieve any goal. To draw a line in the sand against anything not approved by the media is sacrilegious, so wholly unacceptable that it means the end of your political career.
All of the groups blanketed by the term "alt-right" want someone to draw the line, as seen by the spread of the phrase "BUILD THE WALL". This obvious rallying point is a physical manifestation of the act of drawing a line in the sand. In this case, it's a line in the sand against demographic suicide and ethnic replacement.
For too long the American people have been told to take mercy on criminals and foreigners.
Send $3,800,000,000 dollars to Israel in 2019! They're our greatest allies and the only democracy in the Middle East!
BEHOLD! I HAVE SOLVED HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES
Somebody needs to pay for my 15 kids!
Some of these are little lies, half truths, or bent words. None the less, they are all lies.
Questioning any of these lies, or telling the truth means you hold: racist, anti-Semitic and sexist views
The most intelligent nexuses within the groups blanketed by the term "alt-right" are quick to identify these lies by asking the standard journalist questions: who, where, what, when, why, and how, then apply a highly developed form of mental pattern recognition to sift through the garbage.
Who benefits?
Where did this happen?
What happened? What happened there recently, and when?
Why did this happened? What is the official story?
How did the event occur?
What is the timeline?
Who are the witnesses?
Where are the impartial observers (security cameras)?
Diversity is strength!
Diversity Is an American Strength, Not Weakness
"Diversity Is America's Strength," Out Gay Father And Congressman Tells DNC
America's diversity is our Army's strength
Diversity erodes the foundations of society, which predictably ends in violence.
Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women
The scale of the attacks on women at the city's central railway station has shocked Germany. About 1,000 drunk and aggressive young men were involved. City police chief Wolfgang Albers called it "a completely new dimension of crime". The men were of Arab or North African appearance, he said. Women were also targeted in Hamburg. But the Cologne assaults - near the city's iconic cathedral - were the most serious, German media report. At least one woman was raped, and many were groped. Most of the crimes reported to police were robberies. A volunteer policewoman was among those sexually molested.
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Good Fences: The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Peaceful Coexistence
Historical evidence suggests that for religious groups the boundaries in Switzerland were created to provide autonomy to a group with a shared identity and avoid conflict among multiple groups. Ongoing efforts to reduce tensions in Bern include introducing new political boundaries. The many political, social and economic factors that play roles in reducing violence [4]–[6], [9]–[14] build on a strong foundation of geographical borders. Our analysis suggests that when partition within a country is viewed as an acceptable form of conflict mitigation, such partition can give rise to highly stable coexistence and peace.
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Ethnic diversity, trust, and the mediating role of positive and negative interethnic contact: a priming experiment.
We find that interethnic contacts mediate negative diversity effects on trust in different ways for both groups. For natives, distant encounters and negative experiences with immigrants in diverse contexts reduce trust, whereas for people of immigrant origin trust in neighbors suffers from the relatively small number of native acquaintances in diverse neighborhoods.
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ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND ITS IMPACT ON COMMUNITY SOCIAL COHESION AND NEIGHBORLY EXCHANGE
Our findings indicate that social cohesion and neighborly exchange are attenuated in ethnically diverse suburbs. However, diversity is less consequential for neighborly exchange among immigrants when compared to the general population. Our results provide at least partial support for Putnam's thesis.
Additional reading:
The Geography of Ethnic Violence archive source
Predicting Cross-National Levels of Social Trust: Global Pattern or Nordic Exceptionalism? archive source
ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND TRUST archive source
Does Ethnic Diversity Have a Negative Effect on Attitudes towards the Community? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Causal Claims within the Ethnic Diversity and Social Cohesion Debate archive source
Trust in a Time of Increasing Diversity: On the Relationship between Ethnic Heterogeneity and Social Trust in Denmark from 1979 until Today archive source
Ethnic Diversity, Economic and Cultural Contexts, and Social Trust: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Evidence from European Regions, 2002–2010 archive source
Ethnic Nepotism as a Cross-Cultural Background Factor of Ethnic Conflicts archive source
If diversity is a strength then why do it's greatest proponents, white upper class liberals, not house refugees from vibrant cultures in their lavish homes?
"The documents show that ISIL and its predecessors have long generated the vast majority of the group’s funding internally."
Countering ISIL’s Financing
The quote appears on page 4 of the document, however it's been expunged from the internet. It's well worth the read if you can find a copy.
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The U.S. Government funded ISIL under Barack Obama's administration.
President Obama, July 8, 2015
As I said before this aspect of our strategy was moving too slowly but the fall of Ramadi has galvanized the Iraqi government; so with the additional steps I ordered last month, we're speeding up training of ISIL forces including volunteers from Sunni tribes in Anbar province.
"Get out and vote! Your vote counts!"
Get Out and Vote
The day you get the opportunity to express your voice and cast your ballot for candidates who support working people.
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Get Out and Vote
Each organization has been paired with a local designer to produce a poster with tailored messaging that highlights voting engagement issues specific to their mission. By collaborating with these organizations, AIGA Cleveland aims to understand and spotlight issues surrounding voting engagement and voter rights—with the ultimate objective of inspiring audiences to vote in the 2016 general election, as well as elections to come.
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Get Out and Vote
We encourage all Americans to register and vote in all elections.
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The American Government wags to the tail of one dog.
Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens
Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts
Pro-Israel Lobby Caught on Tape Boasting That Its Money Influences Washington
The debate over the influence of pro-Israel groups could be informed by an investigation by Al Jazeera, in which an undercover reporter infiltrated the Israel Project, a Washington-based group, and secretly recorded conversations about political strategy and influence over a six-month period in 2016. That investigation, however, was never aired by the network — suppressed by pressure from the pro-Israel lobby.
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Pro-Israel donors spent over $22m on lobbying and contributions in 2018
“I haven’t observed many other countries that have a comparable level of activity, at least in domestic lobbying data,” said Dan Auble, a senior researcher at CRP.
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House overwhelmingly passes resolution condemning hate after Rep. Ilhan Omar's comments
After debates and delays over the wording of the text, the House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a resolution that broadly condemned hate. The resolution, which was crafted after freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., made comments critical of Israel that critics said played to anti-Semitic tropes, passed 407 to 23.
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AIPAC spent record $1.7 million as it lobbied Congress to review Iran deal
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent what appears to be a record $1.67 million during the first half of the year as it lobbied Congress to enact legislation giving lawmakers the ability to review an Iran nuclear deal, which the group strongly opposes.
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Indiana House Unanimously Approves anti-BDS Bill, Haaretz
The bill sent to the state’s Senate defines “the promotion of activities to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel” as meeting the standard of “extraordinary circumstances” necessary under state law to mandate divestment from a company.
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Joining the fight to stop boycotts of Israel, Kentucky became the latest state to enact an anti-BDS law.
Kentucky’s governor, Matt Bevin, has signed an executive order that will bar any state contracts with companies that support a boycott of Israel, while calling the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement anti-Semitic and “repugnant.”
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The U.S. Just Agreed to Give Israel $38 Billion in Military Aid
The United States and Israel have reached final agreement on a record new package of at least $38 billion in U.S. military aid and the 10-year pact is expected to be signed within days, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
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Your vote is used to legitimize elections by masking massive electoral fraud schemes.
NYC Democratic Election Commissioner, "They Bus People Around to Vote"
In the video, NYC Democratic Commissioner of the Board of Elections Alan Schulkin is caught on hidden camera at a United Federation of Teachers holiday party admitting that there is widespread voter fraud in New York City.
“Yeah, they should ask for your ID. I think there is a lot of voter fraud,” said Schulkin, who elaborated on the types of voter fraud that are taking place in New York.
“You know, I don’t think it’s too much to ask somebody to show some kind of an ID…Like I say, people don’t realize, certain neighborhoods in particular they bus people around to vote,” said Schulkin.
Out of State Democrat Celebrates Voting for Doug Jones in Alabama's Senate Election
Reporter: “Why are you excited to see this victory?”
Soyboy: “Because, we came here all the way from different parts of the country, as part of our fellowship. And all of us pitched in to vote and canvas together, and we got our boy elected!”
731 Pennsylvania voters may have cast 2 ballots or voted elsewhere, secretary of state says
The figures show “there’s potential voter fraud in Pennsylvania,” said Carol Aichele, who added she is powerless to investigate or prosecute double voters.
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Allegedly unreliable Diebold voting machines are being adopted for elections across America. It's time to ask: can we trust Diebold with our democracy?
"I need some answers! Our department is being audited by the County. I have been waiting for someone to give me an explanation as to why Precinct 216 gave Al Gore a minus 16022 [votes] when it was uploaded. Will someone please explain this so that I have the information to give the auditor instead of standing here 'looking dumb'."
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Study supports Trump: 5.7 million noncitizens may have cast illegal votes
A research group in New Jersey has taken a fresh look at postelection polling data and concluded that the number of noncitizens voting illegally in U.S. elections is likely far greater than previous estimates. As many as 5.7 million noncitizens may have voted in the 2008 election, which put Barack Obama in the White House.
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Syrian Rebels
This is a complex lie in that it makes use of multiple layers of loaded words to illicit specific emotional responses.
"Free" Syrian Army
"Rebels", as in Star Wars "Rebels"
The rebels share a common goal of bringing down Assad’s regime, but that about's it. The vast majority of Syria’s political opposition says it wants a democratic Syria, and many rebels agree in principle that the nature of the post-Assad system should be decided in free elections.
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Regime
Initially established with the grand objective of representing a nationwide resistance organization formed to protect peaceful protesters and to initiate military operations against the Assad regime
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Haven't you noticed how American officials start calling foreign governments regimes and murderous guerilla fighters rebels shortly before engaging in a police action?
Haven't you noticed how the American media fauns over the rebels by calling them freedom fighters whose goal is to create democracy?
In this case, Israel funds Islamic State fighters to destabilize Syria in order to legitimize Israel's land grab.
The Golan Heights just so happens to house massive oil reserves. archive source
UN Reveals Israeli Links With Syrian Rebels
Reports by UN observers in the Golan Heights over the past 18 months reveal the type and extent of cooperation between Israel and Syrian opposition figures. The reports, submitted to the 15 members of the UN Security Council and available on the UNs website, detail regular contacts held on the border between IDF officers and soldiers and Syrian rebels.
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UN rejects Israel's claim over Syria's Golan Heights
The UN Security Council has rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that the annexed Golan Heights in Syria would "for ever" remain under Israeli control.
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UN first: US opposes resolution nullifying Israel’s right to Golan
The U.S. previously abstained on the resolution, but on Friday it voted “no” for the first time, joined by Israel, which has retained control of the area since Syria and three other Arab nations attacked Israel in 1967’s Six-Day War.
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War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength!
The groups labeled "alt-right" can be defined as insurgents. Not the twisted new definition of insurgent, but the classic:
Rising in nonbelligerent revolt against civil authority or a government in power.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 1975
The various groups blanketed by "alt-right" tend to be comprised of people who work towards peace through the minimal action necessary. Do you want to cut crime by over 30%? There's no need to arm and train police as soldiers, just stop the crime at the borders.
If a political target is peaceful outside of recorded instances of violent provocation, how can you spin them to be a murderous villain?
How do people referred to as "alt-right" behave in public?
Do they use words rather than violence?
Do they become violent as a means of aggression or defense?
Trump supporter smashed in the head with U-Lock by masked Antifa Thug in Berkeley
Eric Clanton, a former adjunct professor of philosophy at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, was arrested in Oakland on three counts of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon that isn’t a firearm and assault causing great bodily injury, East Bay Times reported.
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Baton wielding antifa member gets knocked out by man defending fellow protestor being mobbed by antifa.
Armed Antifa PROFESSOR Admits to Chasing Charlottesville Driver With Rifle BEFORE DEADLY CRASH
“I take perverse pleasure in having carried this Spike’s lower in the defense of Justice Park on August 12th. I used this rifle to chase off James Fields from our block of 4th St before he attacked the marchers to the south. Spike’s needs a good lesson in ethics and antifascism.”
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Trump supporter pepper sprayed during interview.
Were Brenton Tarrant's actions in defense of his people, or did he travel to the homeland of his enemies to kill them?
Did Richard Spencer attack his protestors?
"If I determine the enemy's disposition of forces while I have no perceptible form, I can concentrate my forces while the enemy is fragmented. The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it."
Who is the alt-right?
They're Nazis and Libertarians and Green Party members! They're Russian agents posing as candidates in order to undermine our great democracy!
What does the alt-right stand for?
They don't want immigrants! They want DACApedes!
They're racists, anti-Semites, and sexists! They want to protect women by defending their nations! They're homo incels!
They want small government! They want mass censorship of colleges and liberal news!
They want to destroy the environment! They hate China because China stole jobs and pollutes!
There are very few options when fighting a horde unified by only a few immensely powerful goals.
You could attempt to battle the horde head on.
David Brock attempted to do this during the 2016 presidential election using Share Blue and Correct the Record. Various forum moderators and website owners did it for free. Mayors allowed liberal rioters to attack the horde in various cities, and Chicago even allowed then Candidate Trump's rally to be shut down by rioters.
The horde was already immune to shills, and reconfigured itself to eliminate censorship violent or otherwise.
You could ignore the horde.
That doesn't work when the horde gains power the longer it's allowed to exist.
You could warn people about the horde.
Hillary Clinton tried to warn people at her alt-right speech on August 25, 2016. And what happened? She looked like a fool screaming about a threat the common man has never seen or is equipped to comprehend.
The problem with the characteristics of the group as a whole is that it's indescribably unacceptable.
They can't be sold as simple villains.
They can't be singled out effectively.
They can't be lied to.
Public opinion doesn't sway them.
Your only option when faced with fighting something that wins no matter what you do, is to subvert it's structure or the function of it's members.
The nature of it's targets, and the speed at which it was disseminated instantly indicated to me that "alt-right" is an engineered term.
In my words, an engineered term is any term whose definition is defined only after it's creation, while at the same time using cognitive dissonance to elicit an emotion. An example of an engineered term used within The United States would be "undocumented immigrant". Any immigrant of The United States who does not have proper documentation is an illegal alien.
In this case, "undocumented immigrant" is used to illicit the response:
They're just like us, so we need to apply the laws of a legal citizen to an illegal alien.
They've broken no laws by living here!
Unlike "engineered terms", natural words, terms, and phrases have definitions which exist in the minds of their users long before they're given form.
Ideas like "up" and "down" are examples of this. A monkey or insect knows what "up" and "down" are, but are unable to form them in language.
Since it's mass adoption "the alt-right" has distinctly altered the current structure and function of the group as a whole.
Figureheads have appeared and are either subverted from the start, or become subverted through some sort of manipulation whether it be sexual, financial, legal, or outright threats of violence as seen by the "punch a nazi" campaign.
Previously disenfranchised people now live happily under the umbrella "alt-right" like their boomer "tea party" brethren. They latch onto the maverick image, complete with merchandising, without knowing who they really are. How can you make a stand against anything if you don't even know who you are?
Both of these new subgroups have attempted to steer discourse within the larger group by banning certain ideas. The "Proud Boys" and their idea that "only based Jews are allowed to have an ethno-state" or the false consensus that Trump's warehouse fire sale quantity of Jews can't possibly influence his actions are perfect examples. Furthermore, these bandwagoneers have pushed the idea of "civic-nationalism" as a core tenant of the anti-liberal alliance. In those regards "alt-right" has been successful.
The formless has been coerced into a form.