What Is the Alt-Right?

Every other news headline involving President Trump's election has involved murmurs of the alt-right movement.

But, on the whole, most people don't seem to fully understand what is the alt-right movement, what they want, or even where they came from. Have you been one of the many wondering "What is the alt-right? You're not alone.

Most news groups have mentioned the alt-right in passing, but haven't really discussed what the political alt-right movement is about. Just in case you don't know, this is what the alt-right is, what they want, and an overall look into the movement as a whole.

"Alt-right" stands for "alternative right."

For the most part, the alt-right, also known as the "alternative right," is known for being a right-wing extremist group. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the alt-right movement as such:

"The Alternative Right, commonly known as the Alt-Right, is a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that “white identity” is under attack by multicultural forces using “political correctness” and “social justice” to undermine white people and “their” civilization."

Some newspapers, cheekily calling the alt-right the "alt white" group, are alluding to the political group's close ties with white supremacy. Much of the alt-right also tends to also look down upon women's rights, particularly when it comes to abortion, rape, and birth control access.

Unlike regular conservatives, the alt-right doesn't want to move away from overt racism or sexism. They also tend to be less religious than standard conservatives, and claim that they base their decisions in science. (That being said, most of the science they use has long been debunked.)

This is how the alt-right differs from mainstream conservatism.

It's really hard to talk about what is the alt-right all about without highlighting what it's not. Mostly, it's not traditional conservatism - and not only because of the over hatefulness. Truthfully, the alt-right has a number of factors that make it very different from most right wing groups.

Unlike typical conservative voters, members of the alt-right tend to skew young, are very active on social media, and also have been known to recruit on online forums dealing with dating. Many of the members of the alt-right also have become known for using internet memes like Pepe the Frog as symbols of their movement.

Additionally, the alt-right has come under fire because of the tactics that they use to gain attention, incite violence, and punish those who speak out against them. They're known to post hateful messages online, "d0xx" people, as well as issue out rape threats to feminists as well as race equality activists.

That being said, the alt-right isn't always unified. There are disagreements on economic policies, as well as issues dealing with faith in politics. For example, one of the biggest controversies deals with whether the alt-right sees Jewish people as white.

What is the alt-right doing as a movement?

Most people assume that the alt-right is a single party, or a single group. That's why many people are left wondering what is the alt-right doing as a movement, but not getting much in terms of answers.

The fact is that the alt-right is composed of a large number of different groups, as well as a lot of younger lone individuals who don't really align with any particular group or organization.

Some of the groups and sites that have been identified as alt-right, or have self-identified as alt-right include...

• Breitbart. This news source is known for being a right-wing news source that regularly has white supremacist undertones to their reporting. Brietbart's Milo Yiannopoulos was, for a long time, the de facto mascot of the movement until his sex scandal came to light.
• The National Policy Institute. This alt-right newsgroup and organization is headed by Richard Bertrand Spencer, who advocates for a "peaceful ethnic cleansing" of the US. When trying to have a conference in Budapest, Hungarians arrested and expelled him for inciting Neo-Nazism. (We should probably do the same.)
• The Stormfront. This is an online forum that is spearheaded by an Alabama KKK member, and is dedicated to white nationalism. Needless to say, it's also very strongly associated with the alt-right, as well as other "alt white" groups like the National Socialist Skinheads, the KKK, and the Aryan Brotherhood.
• The Daily Stormer. Borrowing from The Stormfront's name, the Daily Stormer has been called "The World’s Most Visited Alt-Right Web Site" by its founder, Andrew Anglin.

So, what is the alt-right? It's a bunch of hate groups, all of which seem to hate anything that isn't white and male. The movement, in its extremism, is diverse in terms of the reasons why they joined - but not the overall result of their decision.

As of right now, most of the alt-right is only visible online. However, recent rallies involving white supremacists in major cities have started to happen.

A fellow reporter noted that most alt-right movement members seemed to fall into one of four groups: militant Neo-Nazis, 20-something "Meme Team" men, identity politics haters, and anti-migrant "natural conservatives."

This is why you may have heard of the Trump alt-right bolster.

To understand why the alt-right ended up being infatuated with Trump, one only has to look at what Trump represented to them.

What is the alt-right looking to make happen? It's trying to make a white movement become mainstream. As a result, any political candidate that espouses white supremacist ideals tends to be a favorite among them.

Trump is known for not being politically correct, and he's been regularly caught saying some pretty racist things. His positions on many platforms, particularly in the fields of immigration, obviously would mesh well with white supremacy movements.

The Trump alt-right supporters were exceptionally vocal about their support of the fact that "Trump wasn't polite" about his beliefs. Chances are that if you were on social media, you may have noticed a lot of positive talk about Trump and the white supremacy movement. That was the work of the alt-right people who wanted to see him in power.

That being said, news groups reported that the "Alt Trump" movement ended up getting disillusioned with him after he admitted he couldn't build a wall or fulfill many of his promises. Many ended up turning against him as a result.

So what is the alt-right turning into?

Now that many alt-right members seem to feel betrayed by Trump, the movement seems to be trying to re-invent itself. Many people, upon being recognized in the mainstream as white supremacist, dropped the label of "alt-right" to ensure that they still were relevant in the mainstream world of politics.

That being said, there seems to be a serious push among alt-right movements to turn America into a white fascist state. They are doing so by becoming more vocal, working hard to recruit white men who may be disillusioned with life, and also bullying others into silence.

Only so much of that can be done before people get fed up, though.

According to multiple journals on the subject, much of the alt-right movement is based in fear of social change as well as the fear of a collapse of white identity. Statistically, America will be a minority-majority country within a matter of decades.

How they will struggle with an America that no longer will be majority-white remains to be seen. We're willing to bet that it won't be pretty - and that there's a good chance it will be violent, vocal, and filled with anger.

Assuming that there's not a violent coup, the alt-right will likely become treated as terrorists in the future. After all, what is the alt-right going to do when the states they're in start being majority-minority?