AN ASSESSMENT FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT “RIGHT”: What, Exactly, is the ‘Alternative Right?’

A new, highly heterogeneous force in right-wing politics is taking hold, and they have their sights set firmly on the Republican “establishment.” Known collectively as the “alternative right,” this amalgam includes neo-reactionaries, monarchists, nativists, populists, and even a few self-declared fascists. . . .

As scattered and ideologically diffuse as it is, the alt right has had real success. “GamerGate,” along with the wildly successful Twitter hashtag #cuckservative, are apt displays of why the alternative right has often proven more effective at fighting progressive dogma than the traditional Republican party. How? The alt right taken the fight to the left in the best way possible—they’ve co-opted its tactics and deployed them against their bully makers. The end result: Trump, the darling of the populist alt right (and its cousin, conservative talk radio), is miles ahead of his challengers, while the right-wing blogosphere is everyday gaining ground against the left and converting plenty of American voters along the way. . . .

Rather than concede the moral high ground to the left, the alt right turns the left’s moralism on its head and makes it a badge of honor to be called “racist,” “homophobic,” and “sexist.” Instead of the GOP establishment’s soup of globalism, free markets, and foreign interventions, the alt right has resurrected some ghosts from the conservative past in pushing for protectionism, national capitalism, and an emphasis on protecting American lives at home, not abroad.

Perhaps the most notable point the article makes is how the alt-right is superior to the establishment or ruling-class “right” in that it denies “the moral high ground” to the left, and thus is “more effective at fighting progressive dogma.”