Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

The Far Right Is in Decline. If Only the Same Were True of the Far Left

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Good news is a scarce commodity these days, but here’s a heartening headline from the Wall Street Journal: “A Year After Charlottesville, the Alt-Right Movement Frays.”

Alt-Right rallies around the country are fizzling as white supremacist groups are hampered by lawsuits, infighting and a social media crackdown. “It’s been a total fracturing of the right,” the Journal quotes Jason Kessler, organizer of last year’s Unite the Right rally, as saying.

Hopefully, white supremacists will continue their downward spiral into total irrelevance. The answer to identity politics on the left is not identity politics on the right. Let progressives claim the banner of resentment and grievance. Conservatives and Libertarians need to preach a gospel of aspiration, prosperity, opportunity and uplift for all Americans.

According to a spreading progressive doctrine, racism by definition can exist only on the right, not the left. The expression of resentment, antagonism and hatred of ethnic/racial minorities, born of powerlessness, cannot be racism. Only those in power can be guilty of racism. From everything I’ve seen, those who hew to the white supremacist movement are, from a socioeconomic perspective, a bunch of sad, pathetic losers. Plumbers, truck drivers and gun-store clerks living in their parents’ basement have no power. But in places like Charlottesville and Portland, leftists control the levers of government. How’s that for irony?

Hypocrisy aside, if the left wants to make the argument that hatred is legitimate as  long as the haters are leftists, let them make that argument. That makes the choices all the more stark.

Speaking of which… Don’t miss Reed Fawell’s series of posts on “Charlottesville’s Path to Polarization,” which are based upon the meticulous and scrupulously even-handed, “Independent Review of the 2017 Protest Event in Charlottesville,” We published Part 1 a couple of days ago, and Part 2 will be forthcoming in a day or two, with the rest to come (hopefully) within a few days after that. The posts are long but immensely informative. Make sure you read them.

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20 responses to “The Far Right Is in Decline. If Only the Same Were True of the Far Left”

  1. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    There’s one big difference between the two groups. The far right engages in hate speech – against people – people of color, immigrants,poor people of color, basically anyone who is does not qualify as a white supremacist.

    Their message is one of hate and intolerance towards others …. just look at their websites and the signs they carry at their protests..

    The far left cares about people – they want equity for all people regardless of their race, color, gender, etc. They want more jobs, the ability for immigrants to get jobs, a cleaner environment, health care… and education – AND they oppose and HATE the hate and intolerance on the right.

    Trying to equivalence the two as if they are the same in motivation and ideals is just not dealing with the realities.

    The White Supremacists were around during Massive Resistance also – and yes there were “two sides” back then also… but we don’t seem to have confusion as to the differences between them… like we do now.

    1. djrippert Avatar
      djrippert

      The racism of the far left is more subtle that the racism of the far right bit it’s there, nonetheless. Take the mainstream media as an example. Black Lives Matter say the MSM. If a cop shoots a black man the news is covered 1,000 miles away. However, if a black man shoots a black man in somewhere like Chicago there is nothing but stone silence. In Chicago it’s Parkland every week.
      Where is the fury and uproar over the killing fields of St Louis, Baltimore, Richmond, Chicago, Washington DC? Apparently a young black man’s life isn’t worth reporting when it’s taken by another black man. Urban African American lives are marginalized by the leftist media. The murder of young black men is only a headline story when the murderer is a cop or a so-called “white Hispanic” using Florida’s stand your ground law. It seems that black lives matter to the MSM only when those lives feed the narrative of racist police brutality or white on black violence. Those same black lives aren’t worth so much as a fleeting comment on the evening news when the murder is another of the dozens that happen in America’s inner cities every weekend.

      How is that not racism from the left?

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        re: ” How is that not racism from the left?”

        You’re not only conflating racism with what you characterize as MSM reporting… but you’re confusing people who openly assert hatred of other humans with victims of gun violence who happen to be black.

        No wonder you guys are all over the map on this.. you can’t keep a cogent thought.

      2. Jane Twitmyer Avatar
        Jane Twitmyer

        djr … I don’t agree with your analysis … but for argument’s sake let’s say I do. Then the question is .. who is presenting solutions to the “killing fields” of our cities? Have the solutions … there certainly is not a silver bullet solution … been tried, do they help, and what demonstrates their success or failure?

        And finally, as citizens, what is our responsibility to the “least among us?”

  2. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    I said it last year and say it again: A plague on both their houses. Alt-Right, Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, Anti-Fa, they are all thugs looking to advance their political agenda with violence. Loving the little ironies of history that idiots who still idolize Hitler and the National Socialist Workers Party are considered right wing.

  3. Andrew Roesell Avatar
    Andrew Roesell

    Dear Jim,

    I don’t agree that the alt-right is in decline, though it may have been disrupted, in terms of particular organizations and events. The reason: The hatred of the Left for Whites and their hypocrisy for it, are not being stopped, but have become “mainstreamed.” Alt-right sects really don’t need to exist as separate groups since their messages and policies will win-over more and more Republican voters, as the Democrats have become more and more hard-left. Alt-right issues, so-called, are the stuff of Conservative web sites now. The alt-right, organizationally, in effect, is redundant, and the risks involved in public displays of their grievances, are the main reasons why I did not think going to Charlottesville in 2017 made any sense. The alt-right exists because of real grievances. The failure to address those grievances allowed both Trump to come to power and the alt right to become visible. Once again, the “grown ups” have no one to blame but themselves for the political revolution we are living through. They have forgotten that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Pat Buchanan tried to prevent in the 1990s what Trumpers and the alt-right are trying to roll back now. Any hope of maintaining a “center” in politics hinges on Trump being able to accomplish his agenda. Trump IS the center. He wants to maintain an Americanist or “citizenist” public philosophy and policy. He may, in fact, be a transition figure for what is to come, unless the Left can be seriously defanged. I am not optimistic that this will occur.

    Sincerely,

    Andrew

    1. fromthefuture Avatar
      fromthefuture

      ” The alt-right exists because of real grievances. ”

      You’ve got to be kidding.

  4. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    I don’t have a problem with ANYONE who wants to “remember” their heritage but I DO have a big problem when that includes overt vocal hatred of others and advocating discrimination and mistreatment of them because they are not of your own heritage.

    So apparently anyone who holds that view of the alt-right hater types – is themselves a “leftist” hater…

    My feeling is that the reason the Alt-right folks have dwindled down to a few willing to come out and demonstrate – feel the heat – of condemnation from a lot of people -way more than a few radical leftists.

    Most Americans believe that we’re all created equal and deserve equal treatment and opportunity regardless of our race, class, …. heritage.

    However, it’s crystal clear there are some who do not. They’re not new. they’ve been around a long time. Folks like them used to lynch black folks and others like them fully supported Massive Resistance in Virginia.

    So …standing up to them – gets one the label of “radical leftist” whereas those that refuse to condemn them – consider themselves as “neutral” and “moderate”…

    Sorry – just like during Massive Resistance – people showed their true colors… either you knew it was wrong and said so…or you supported it openly or you just kept quiet and did not like the “trouble”.

    1. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      Larry, you persist in the delusion that hatred emanates only from the Alt-Right. Either that, or hatred based on the best of motives — anti-racism — is defensible. Of course, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Mengistu and other communist butchers had the “best of motives” when preaching class hatred and starving or exterminating millions.

      1. Jane Twitmyer Avatar
        Jane Twitmyer

        BUT Jim… Those old historical haters are not the subject for what is going on now. I know no one on the left would excuse them. If you do, please tell me who and what they have said or done as part of this current argument.
        I have, however, seen Alt Righters carry the Nazi flags. Honoring the haters of the past is not good for any one.

        1. James A. Bacon Avatar
          James A. Bacon

          Just a recent example: the flap over the new New York Times columnist, Sarah Jeong, who has expressed her animosity to whites.
          https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/4/nyts-sarah-jeong-slammed-police-officers-men-twitt/

          Those who defend her do so mainly on the grounds that disparaging whites is defensible on the grounds that she has been subjected to white racism.

          Read the conservative blogs. They are highly vigilant these days to anti-white racist statements emanating from the left. The old inhibitions against expressing such sentiments are fast disappearing.

          1. Jane Twitmyer Avatar
            Jane Twitmyer

            I am not sure how to respond. I did go read the WashTimes, Fox News, and on the Left – Vox and Huff Post as well as what she said and what the Times said. I did not come away with the same judgment that you did.

            I do not condone what she said, but her expression does have a context. She claims she was responding in kind to harassment. “I engaged in what I thought of at the time as counter-trolling. While it was intended as satire, “ If you believe her … maybe emojis were called for ??? 🙂 The written word lacks the signals of the authors expression and tone in a direct way that face to face has. Finally, she apologized and claims she has learned. “I can understand how hurtful these posts are out of context, and would not do it again,” Jeong wrote.

            So I guess I agree with the NYT when they said … They hired her for her exceptional work covering the internet and technology, implying not for social analysis, and that she understands that that type of response serves to promote vitriol, that it is not acceptable at the NYT, and she has said she regrets her words.

            Given that .. I am not sure I would have hired her. Just don’t know. Her writings were only a couple of years ago and I have only her written words to judge. What I do think is the Wash Times did lack context for what they said about her writing and we women always ask for context.

      2. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        We’re talking about what YOU HATE! Some folks hate other humans because of their skin color or heritage… etc… and others don’t accept people who hate on that basis…

        You can try to normalize it all you want and distract by talking about Mao , Stalin, etc.. but the bottom line is – hating the kind of people who hate other humans for being black or hispanic is different.

        People who hate racism – hate the folks who advocate it… condemning those who hate racism and advocates of it – is totally misguided “thinking”.

        We ( all of us who do care) should make it clear to those who advocate racism that it’s wrong and we won’t tolerate it… period. Those who stand back and equivalence “both sides” lack moral character and basic decency in my view…

        We don’t accept racism.. and we reject people who engage in it.

        1. James A. Bacon Avatar
          James A. Bacon

          Here’s how you come across, Larry: You find only one kind of hatred indefensible — hatred on the basis of race, ethnicity and religion. Class hatred… no problem. Hatred of those with different views about, say, guns and abortion… not a problem. Oh, and one more thing, hatred on the basis of race is only indefensible if the wrong people are the objects of the hatred. If someone hates white people, well, tut, tut, you don’t advocate it, but you do understand the historical circumstances, and it’s kind of hard to blame people who have been subjected themselves to racism, and frankly, you just can’t get worked up about it.

          That may not be the way you actually feel, but that’s how you come across in your comments.

  5. Jane Twitmyer Avatar
    Jane Twitmyer

    Andrew
    Please tell me what those “real grievances” of the alt right are. I will say that real grievances exist on the left as well and they have been articulated by Bernie and Elizabeth Warren.
    A simplistic few … we must extend our free education beyond high school because the graduates need to know more now than they did 50 years ago and shouldn’t have to carry the debt level they are carrying to be competitive in the job market.
    or … every one should have access to health insurance regardless of their income level.
    or … everyone who works a regular work week should make enough money to have food, shelter and health care.

    No religious meaning here, but where is the moral equivalent of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.?”

  6. Andrew Roesell Avatar
    Andrew Roesell

    Dear Jane,

    I would say that the all or nearly all of the alt right’s grievances are correct, empirically. An elite conspiracy to reduce Whites in numbers, humiliate, discriminate, vilify and ultimately get rid of, exists. It is part economic interest, part mis-education, part ethnic vendetta, and part envy. Other issues that they espouse include economic damage done to the middle class, lawlessness in high and low places, etc. These positions are NOT extremist. The people who rule our society are extremists, i.e. “Globalists” and Christophobes. However, espousing the cause of Adolf Hitler, for those who do, and many alt-righters don’t, is not the way to go about it. But it sure gets the Liberals fired up. And there is a fair amount of rebelliousness and “poke ’em in the eye” revenge going on. I’m not endorsing that, but the Left has become so hateful toward Whites that, surprise, wouldn’t you know, it’s being reciprocated! How…unexpected?!?

    Sincerely,

    Andrew

  7. Jane Twitmyer Avatar
    Jane Twitmyer

    Andrew, again I disagree with you. I see only generalities and no specifics to back your conclusions. ????

    1. Andrew Roesell Avatar
      Andrew Roesell

      Dear Jane,

      Try looking at alt right sites and see what they are saying. AmRen.com is a good place to start. It is cool and rational and civil.

      Sincerely,

      Andrew

      1. Jane Twitmyer Avatar
        Jane Twitmyer

        I read through one very long editorial and I continue to disagree. Bemoaning the loss of the old National Review the new piece said ..“Today’s NR is no longer the brave journal that fought integration and tried to keep America European. It is not yelling “stop” to multiracialism and the displacement of the country’s founding stock by aliens.”

        In praising the old National Review here is what was applauded. “It is more important for the community, anywhere in the world, to affirm and live by civilized standards, than to bow to the demands of the numerical majority.” Not exactly the standards set forth by our founding fathers.

        Here are a few quotes …
        • Is “the White community in the South entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not prevail numerically? The sobering answer is Yes — the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. … statistics evidence the cultural superiority of White over Negro:
        • Senator Russell was quoted … “criticized school integration on the grounds of IQ differences, citing “a white average ranging from 105 to 111 and a Negro average of 87 to 89. (An intelligent quotient of 85 is generally considered the minimum for receiving education.)”
        • Also said “Inter-racial fights are frequent and constant vigilance is required to prevent molestation or attempted molestation of white girls by Negro boys or girls”
        • Buckley … “warned of “a suddenly enfranchised, violently embittered Negro population which will take the vote and wield it as an instrument of vengeance,”
        • the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and his associates have been deliberately undermining the foundations of internal order in this country. With their rabble-rousing demagoguery …

        Can’t call this stuff from the 60’s and 70’s anything but racist. To salute now what was said then is even worse. We live in a global society where the struggle is to live together, not to claim Hitlerian superiority.

        1. Andrew Roesell Avatar
          Andrew Roesell

          Dear Jane,

          That looks accurate to me. Thanks for looking.

          Sincerely,

          Andrew

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