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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Maybe, but Alt-right is specifically something that proposes them as "different" from the "mainstream" right, I guess, in many ways they actually aren't. It's basically branding, and I've noticed people like to go against the enemies "brand'.
Same reason a lot of people don't say "pro-life" but "anti-choice". (I don't do that for that specific issue, but I get why others do it.)
At the risk of going into forbidden grounds, I gotta say I think "anti-choice" is the more fitting term. Especially when you're dealing with the assholes who rail against abortion in public while pressuring their mistresses into getting abortions. Whatever one's stance is on abortion, one has to concede that this is incredibly shitty behavior that is both hypocritical and shows no respect for the woman's choice in the matter.
edited 13th May '18 9:13:25 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedI find alt-right is a useful term for a variety of largely Internet based groups, including elements of the MRA, incel, white supremacist, neo-Nazi and neofascist, You Tube atheist, and lunatic conspiracy theorist communities.
edited 13th May '18 9:16:09 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar
The alt-right as we know it is this horrible stew of everything wrong with civilization brewed for years in the Internet like the "brown"
in A Song of Ice and Fire. The one thing alt-righters of all shitty flavors have in common is that they are at least one kind of bigot. Racist, anti-Semite, Islamophobe, homophobe, transphobe, misogynist, etc.
edited 13th May '18 9:24:00 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised"Alternative" Right gives off the impression of being anti-establishment, which is a pretty effective way of luring people to join up. I use the scare quotes because, as others have mentioned, there's nothing particular new or original about them. It's the same old shit. Hell, even their frog meme is something they stole.
edited 13th May '18 9:38:00 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedI do think it's worth noting that they do, sorta, have a major point of divergence with establishment conservatives— The alt-right doesn't particularly care about economics (at least as a movement. Individual members vary). Compare Republicans mostly using social issues as a way enact their economic policies
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"Alternative" in itself is a neutral descriptor. Sometimes alternatives are better, sometimes they're worse. Divorced from context, saying that you're against the alt-right makes you sound like you're mainstream. So are lots of people, it's why the stream is main. Saying you're against the pro-life makes you sound like a supervillain.
Alt-Right isn't a word which has any positive connotations. It's fine because it's a toxic description due to their actions.
The alternative right is, alternative because, "As few redeeming qualities as the Right in America have, we have removed them and made the evil even more overt."
edited 13th May '18 10:07:06 PM by CharlesPhipps
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Basically this is the only reason I use it. In terms of their core philosophy they might not be terribly different from garden variety white supremacists and fascists, but they do have a few distinctions in their age, how they came to their beliefs, their own subculture, etc that make them a separate faction.
edited 13th May '18 10:16:41 PM by Draghinazzo
The main difference between the alt-right and the bigots of old is that they congregate in chatrooms and messageboards instead of backrooms of meeting halls. Until they gained enough acceptance that they now meet in public with relative impunity.
edited 13th May '18 10:29:49 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedOne thing I do appreciate about the Alt-Right is they made the world make a bit more sense to me.
It turned out the internet didn't actually make people worse.
No, the trolls and ironic racists were just actually exactly as shitty and evil in real life as they were online.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.@M84: Speaking as someone strongly opposed to abortion, I don't like the term "anti-choice". Why? Because, making someone get an abortion is also anti-choice-and that's a position I consider heavily crossing the moral event horizon.
Having said that I think "pro-life" carries undesired baggage. If I call myself pro-life I'm expected to be some sort of All-Loving Hero or Actual Pacifist. I'm not really either. So, I simply refer to myself as "anti-abortion".
Leviticus 19:34
Thing is, it's not just the pro-choice advocates who are forcing people to get abortions. Heck, most of them don't do anything of the sort. As I mentioned, plenty of so-called pro-lifers do it. Heck, more than a few abortion clinics have stories of pro-lifer women getting abortions while insulting them to their face and making excuses for themselves about how their abortion is somehow different and justifiable. Or even scummier, you've got pro-lifer parents forcing their kids to get abortions or pro-lifer men forcing their wives, girlfriends, or mistresses to get abortions. That one former Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Murphy springs to mind.
Conversely, there's plenty of pro-choice advocates who would never be willing to have an abortion. The "pro-choice" movement is not the same thing as "pro-abortion".
edited 13th May '18 10:51:32 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised@The Alt-Right: Personally, I tend to define them as the inversion of Political Correctness Gone Mad. Similar to how PC Zealots see everything as some form of discrimination against minorities, they see everything as Political Correctness Gone Mad or discrimination against WAS Ps.
I didn't say pro-choice is pro-abortion, and I don't think they are. Someone who would force a woman to get an abortion is neither pro-choice nor anti-abortion.
edited 13th May '18 10:52:45 PM by Protagonist506
Leviticus 19:34
Thing is, the "PC Zealots", "SJ Ws", or whatever one calls them these days aren't really a thing. At least not compared to the alt-right. One is definitely a far more significant problem than the other.
edited 13th May '18 10:52:43 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised@M84: I didn't say pro-choice is pro-abortion, and I don't think they are. Someone who would force a woman to get an abortion is neither pro-choice nor anti-abortion.
Leviticus 19:34With saying PC crusaders (or whatever you wanna call them) don't really exist, the issue with that is the "really" part. They absolutely exist in the strict sense of the term. There is undeniably a community of at least 7 of them out there, so it's totally valid to have a term for them. Is this group particularly influential? Not really, no. But they definitely exist and they are highly vocal. They might not pose a threat, but it is valid to have a term for them. (I should note I am someone who has been accused of being one before)
And it is true that many people are too easily offended these days. The alt-right actually proves this-they throw a hissy fit when a Star Wars movie has a female protagonist.
The Alt-Right is a small group, too, though much bigger and a lot more vile all-around.
Leviticus 19:34

There is a difference in how the tactics differ, but that distinction is miniscule to the point it verges on being meaningless, and the mentality has always been there to some extent. I think one of the reasons it is still used by some on the left is to provide some cover for themselves so that they don't look overly "partisan", but that is just a guess.
edited 13th May '18 8:24:15 PM by Kakuzan
Don't catch you slippin' now.