[forgottenpass]

Claiming someone is alt-right is starting to have the feel of McCarthy era claims of communism.

I don't know what they stand for. But I visit generally progressive-leaning places on the internet and know I'm supposed to hate them.

I still haven't even figured out who the "reactionaries" are or what they believe in. I think what happened is some people used the wrong word when talking about "contrarians" and through a game of telephone turned created a new political boogieman.

Is the conservative side of the (American) political spectrum really going through this much ideological turmoil and restructuring? I haven't heard about it in any of the mainstream news when I glace at it, nor from the conservatives I talk politics with at work. It looks like a way for the left to shill hate.

[pessimizer]

The alt-right is what happened when 4chan trolls, MRAs/PUAs, and Stormfront had a baby called 8chan.net/pol/

It's a small group of maybe 10,000, of which 5,000 don't even take the positions seriously, just love to troll millennial college "activist" consumer-types. The Clinton speech about the alt-right will have the same effect as Geraldo Rivera's goofy coverage of Neo-nazi skinheads in the 80s - multiplying their numbers a hundred-fold.

[jshevek]

> It's a small group [some of whom] don't even take the positions seriously, just love to troll millennial college "activist" consumer-types.

I completely agree that this group exists, that this phenomenon exists. However, it's also apparent from the way many people use the label "alt right", that they are not limiting themselves to describing this group.

[forgottenpass]

It's a small group of maybe 10,000, of which 5,000 don't even take the positions seriously

Then why the fuck is anyone talking about them? Is the left really so terrified of taking positions or believing in anything at all that they have to scrape the bottom of the barrel like this for something to talk about?

[makomk]

Probably because questioning whether they're really the big boogeyman is enough to mark you as one of them in the core, outspoken, well-connected parts of the left.

[jshevek]

You make a good point. Usually when somebody attempts to slander someone by saying they are alt right, they are exploiting our lack of awareness of equivocation fallacy.

There's a tiny group of terrible people who happen to also be alt right. We are supposed to associate any person who is labelled "alt right" with that tiny group even if they have nothing significant in common with them.

[jshevek]

> about "contrarians" and through a game of telephone turned created a new political boogieman.

That's an interesting suggestion. It does look like many so called alt righters seem to be contrarians, non-conformists, critics of mainstream ideology or 'normal' right wing ideology. We need more of those people, and we often benefit from listening to them.

Some of them have beliefs I find abhorrent, but they also clearly do not all share the same beliefs.

Narrow minded bloggers and such on the left have cultivated this widespread belief (among some liberals) that we should automatically despise and ignore anyone that gets labelled "alt right"