I feel sorry for the alt-right. The sincere part of the alt-right anyway, not the contrarian trolls who say things just for a reaction and who would dread to be caught actually espousing those views in public; I pity the actual people who really agree with and who really believe the likes of Vox Day, Roosh V, Davies Aurini and Jordan Owen. No one is born thinking that way, for sure you can have a natural character, but something must have happened to you to end up thinking that way. For that at least I feel sorry for them, they have had to make changes and decisions along the way to get there as well but hate is ultimately a personal choice.
Obviously that’s nothing in comparison to those who suffer online and publicly because of the Alt-Right’s views, but still, I think it is good to remember that they are people albeit damaged people. You can have whatever views of the world you like (wrong as I might think them) but when you actually start hating someone you’ve never met, you have lost out on something.
I’ve been aware of the Alt-Right for a little while now, the thing I find most alarming about them is the weird mish mash of libertarianism, hard Christianity, racism and of course misogyny that they are pushing. That each one of these component parts can become a gateway to the others through the overlap of cultural spaces. What can start as a mere misunderstanding of how society works can quickly become a full blown case of anti-Semitism and rape apology.
I was reassured when I looked at the numbers on Twitter and Reddit and saw just how small their followings are, which is probably more of a demonstration of the power of the internet to spread an idea from its darker recesses through to mainstream awareness than anything else and then amp it up and multiply it for media purposes.
In a time when centre right wing feeling is sympathised with and adopted more and more by some parts of society, it is warming to see that the true extremes remain limited, lurking in basements and on moderated forums. Whilst they should be challenged, and challenged robustly it is not the case that they are a true and growing threat, its more the last adolescent backlash of a changing culture howling to anyone who will listen.
The youtube money, patreon cash and similar does seem to benefit a few of them though, who would have thought that the far right would be reduced to that? Effectively begging online! I wonder if the true views of the leading figures are actually a lot softer, that what was once indignant fury has softened despite the revolving cycle of youtube views, donations, crowdfunders and the like; now less to stop a feminist movement and more to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. It’s a cynical view and a harsh one, who would wish to be trapped performing their younger politics for cash, becoming ever more unemployable after each dwindling incoming flush of subscribers?
Its right to feel sorry for them, as long as that sorrow is matched with opposition and mockery. Whether its the great minds behind the Sarkeesian Effect or the idiots below:
Big or small, they hate and they are laughable because of it.
brainfriedsite 