Photo via dailywire.com
The alternative right, or alt-right, is a political movement in both the U.S. and Europe that has achieved increasing popularity with the presidential victory of Donald Trump, his adviser Steven Bannon and the recent debacle over Milo Yiannopolous though both the alt-right and Milo dont claim one another.
Its crucial to understand what the alt-right is, where it came from and what it intends on doing. Here Ill be laying out its philosophical basis, historical background and plans for the future. Though the alt-rights subreddit was taken down over policy issues, its base relocated to The Voat (similar to Reddit), from which Ill be getting a bulk of my information. Also, Richard Spencer, the alt-rights founder, publishes a journal called Radix along with other alt-right blogs.
The alt-rights main tenets are race realism and identitarianism. Race realism is the belief that human beings are divided into races and that those races are biologically unequal. The origins of race realism lie in the justification of Europes colonial dominance over the rest of the world from the late 15th century all the way until even the 20th century. As a means to justify the occupation and enslavement of native peoples, Europeans deemed them as savage and brutish races who couldnt govern themselves and needed to be colonized or enslaved.
Race science began on the premise that Europeans were biologically superior to Africans, Native Americans and Asiatic peoples. A common method of scientific racism is the measuring of human skulls. It was thought that European skulls were more apt for intelligence than the lesser races. Its important to note that Spencer, the alt-rights founder, has a picture from the book Crania Americana, the seminal text of skull measuring, as his Facebook cover photo.
Another aspect of race realism comes from the controversial book The Bell Curve, the premise of which is that intelligence is biological, IQ determines intelligence and that white people biologically have a higher IQ and therefore higher intelligence than other races. However, the major faults are the ideas that theres a set definition of intelligence (there isnt), intelligence is innate and unchanging (no evidence suggests this) and that there are races of human beings whose biology determines their IQ (flat out incorrect). Stephen Jay Goulds The Mismeasure of Man is known as the complete debunking of not only The Bell Curve, but the artificial connection between race and intelligence.
Identitarianism runs parallel to race realism in that it believes all men are NOT created equal and that identities (gender and race) create a natural hierarchy in society the most advanced, of course, being white men. The idea of hierarchy in society was espoused especially by the philosophy of fascism, in which an incredibly strict class structure is adhered to. The slave masters of antebellum had a similar paternalistic outlook in which slavery was seen as a positive good rather than a necessary evil. They believed they were following the laws of nature and keeping to a strict hierarchy in which slaves, wives and children were all deemed property of the male slave master. Identity being a key factor of a successful society white supremacy is explicitly adhered to.
Spencer made this perfectly clear in a speech he gave last November: America was, until this past generation, a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity It is our creation, it is our inheritance and it belongs to us.
Spencer and the rest of the alt-right believe America is culturally degenerating, that is, becoming socially weak. Compare this with Teddy Roosevelt, who believed America had to fight in wars to avoid the weakening of the American Race and its supposed break from masculinity.
Identitarianism and race realism, then, are inherent negatives on society and are based on false presuppositions of white and male superiority whose supposed supremacy came solely from the heinous and genocidal crimes of European colonial conquest on the rest of the planet.
The history of white supremacy can be traced not only through conquest, but the resistance of those fighting back. The Klu Klux Klan, for example, didnt appear until Reconstruction after the Civil War, in which black citizens, for the first time, held positions in government and had genuine political power for the first time in U.S. history. The Klan specifically targeted these officials. Also, going back to Teddys masculinity crisis, the Boy Scouts and many other male inclusive athletic organizations didnt arise until women began demanding rights such as suffrage, etc. In this sense, it is inherently reactionary, meaning it harshly pushed back on any social progress.
What does the alt-right intend on creating? According to Richard Spencer, it seeks to create an ethno-state, which he believes Donald Trump is helping become reality. An ethno-state, according to Richard Spencers own National Policy Institute, is the White mans only practical step forward. It is the belief that a country should be artificially created to preserve and uphold a specific race.
Spencer and the alt-right believe that the rise of a non-white population become the majority in America is a crisis that must be stopped via the creation and enforcing of an ethno-state, which inherently would involve ethnic cleansing. Ill let the alt-rights Colin Liddell speak for himself in his essay Is Black Genocide Right?
However, for too long now, when we consider questions of race, especially questions concerning the Black race, we have been framing things in completely the wrong way, Liddell wrote. Instead of asking how we can make reparations for slavery, colonialism, and Apartheid or how we can equalize academic scores and incomes, we should instead be asking questions like, Does human civilization actually need the Black race? Is Black genocide right? and, if it is, What would be the best and easiest way to dispose of them? This was published on the alt-rights official website.
The alternative right should not be deemed as such, but as what they are: Neo-Nazis. This movement in America is nothing new and has shown its face under different names throughout history, whether under a white sheet or otherwise. A dialogue should not be reached with the alt-right. They should be suppressed and stopped. Their views inherently entail the genocide of minorities, and, therefore, their existence is predicated on the threat of said genocide. Thus, the action that should be taken is not a dialogue, but an utter halt to their movement.
Image source: https://www.google.com/amp/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/508379/
alt-right bell curve genocide race white people
See the original post here:
The alt-right: America's neo-Nazi movement - The Vermilion