The Alt-Right, Free Speech, and Trump

Over the last couple of months, there has been renewed focus on the alt-right movement and what they actually believe in.  Unfortunately, this also gives these assholes a media platform to pretend that they are anything but the white supremacists that they are, so I want to take this opportunity to punch them in nethers and bring them down a notch, as it were.

First off, I just want to make something clear: the alt-right isn't actually a thing. This whole idea of them being a "new" twist on conservatism or a legitimate alternative to mainstream ideas is, in technical terms, bullshit. They are just the latest iteration of white supremacy and antisemitism that stretches back to The John Birch Society, Father Coughlin, and the Klan. Their idea that race is an actual thing with a hierarchy that white people sit at the top is an idea that puts them in league with well, every popular European nation and American public thinker up until, oh, 50 years ago.  That's not even mentioning their ideas on the roles of women and gay people, or who should be allowed to vote. These guys sat and had a good long think to come up with original ideas to introduce to the body politic and came up with things that have been common practice the world over for thousands of years. We should all be so gifted.

But the alt-right wouldn't be a regressive right-wing movement unless they had some story about how they're the actual victims here, and that's where Milo Yiannopoulos comes in. In July, Milo was banned from Twitter after he bragged about inciting and encouraging the users who were bombarding Leslie Jones with racist and sexist messages and images. Milo, predictably, cried foul soon afterward, saying that Twitter was censoring him and infringing on his right to free speech by not letting him be a complete dickbag for kicks. I know it's becoming something of an internet cliche, but seriously, anytime people complain about their free speech being violated by a private actor, just refer to this xkcd comic:




What's most galling about Milo and his ilk bitching and moaning literally every fucking time some tells them to go be worthless somewhere else, they always try to act like they are, somehow, being victimized. 

If you're going to be political provocateurs, at least try to have integrity when the push back comes. 

I mean, if you're going to devout all your time and energy- and really build your entire philosophy around- the idea that all of modern society is corrupt, weak, and pussified, than when you get shown the door by that culture because they're sick of listening to you, don't be a pussy in return. No one is stopping Milo from going on, at length, about how he's been unfairly censored and maltreated by the vile liberal conspiracy that is our culture. Shit, he was on CNBC last week, trying pass off the Alt-Right as anything other than white supremacy that swapped their sheets for suits a day before other Alt-Right leaders held a press conference that involved a dude saying the best future for America is making it an all-white country.

To be fair, it's not like Milo is going out and saying this bullshit because he wants people to not think of his ilk as horrible shitbags. No, he does it so the people that already buy what he's selling stay loyal and committed. See, if you bought into an ideology that's basically bigot bingo, you may eventually examine why you're being ostracized and figure out that hey, those are shitty beliefs and leave them behind. 

Since any awakening of common decency would completely destroy the alt-right's customer base, they create this narrative of victimization so when society tells them to go fuck off to the racist fever swamps they came from, it's not because they're the new Nazi's, no, it's because all those Social Justice Warriors just can't handle anyone coming in to tell people THE TRUTH!!! about how they've destroyed the world. Creating this narrative of victimization essentially guarantees that the adherents of this bullshit will double their support and effectively shut out any criticism or honesty about what their beliefs actually are because anyone who doesn't agree with their principles is either one of (((them))) or one of (((their))) useful idiot sheeple. That this whole tactic is based on the victimization culture the alt-right is so fond of accusing practically everyone of exploiting is an irony that, of course, goes completely over their heads.

Here's the thing: when people collectively decide what is and what is not acceptable to say in public discourse that's culture, nothing else. The 1st amendment was only meant to protect speech from government prohibition, it does nothing to protect you from other people saying "Shut the fuck up, already." Yes, cultural censorship can go horribly wrong and be misguided, but kicking these dregs back to the fringe isn't a mistake or something to cry over.  

So, the natural question is why do these people suddenly feel like they can say these things in the light of day and get a cheering crowd? The answer is pretty easy: it's because of Donald Trump. Now, I don't think Trump is actually a white supremacist or neo-Nazi like the idiots that cheer him on, mainly because having a political ideology requires you to think of the world as something larger than yourself, which I think he is literally incapable of doing. Trump's only real skill is realizing when there's a marketing opportunity afoot; so he spoke to those white, disaffected voters, people who felt like they were left behind because, in large part, as uneducated, poor, white people that is the bedrock of his base, they were. In response, they turned to a set of beliefs that was actively hostile to the culture they saw as demeaning and humiliating to them.

But what Trump is doing is courting and establishing a movement that, the longer it goes on, becomes more and more toxic. And the more he gets a free pass from journalists like Matt Lauer, or gets petted like a Chia Pet on Jimmy Fallon, the more he looks like just another politician saying outrageous things to get elected and the more the alt-right gets legitimized and accepted in mainstream culture. 

This is a fundamentally dangerous thing, because it means that when the next election rolls around, these fascists and Klan members and neo-Nazi's will be treated as a normal, acceptable part of American culture. The polls are close, but I still believe Clinton will win. It'll be by the skin-of-her-teeth, but she'll win. And since Trump is already laying the groundwork for saying that the only way he loses is if the election is rigged, his supporters aren't going to accept it. So they'll spend the next four years regrouping, reforming, crafting their brand so they can take another run at Hillary.  

Because that is what's going to happen, because Trump isn't an anomaly for the Republicans, he's their prototype. So tell me, in a world where Hillary is barely clinging to a national lead against the biggest piece of shit to run for President, what do you think her chances are when someone in a better suit, better hair, and can speak in complete sentences espouses the same shit Trump is, but takes a six point lead? Because the worst thing about this whole Trump business and the alt-right is sooner rather than later, they're going to be the mainstream conservatives they're lambasting now, and then, well, I guess we'll just have to find somewhere else to be, won't we?