Photo Courtesy of Massmatt via Flickr
After the horrific incident that took place on August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, now is a good time to differentiate between conservatives and the “alt-right.” It is important to know the difference in order to have a reasonable discussion between the two major parties. We need to understand that not everyone we disagree with holds bigoted views. We need to understand that a majority of Americans think the “alt-right” values are despicable and awful, regardless of political affiliation.
For the past four years, conservatives have been misaligned with that movement and it is time that stops. “Alt-righters” are not conservatives. Their values and actions are disgusting, and the things they say are evil.
Everyone who claims they are a member of the alternative right, supporters of the “alt-right” movement, are actually members of this terrible group. Simply enjoying memes or endorsing President Donald Trump is not enough to be part of the “alt-right.” What does make someone a member of the “alt-right” is clearly defined by its leaders. Jared Taylor is the founder and editor of the magazine American Renaissance and a self proclaimed long time member of the “alt-right.” He defines the group as “a broad dissident movement… Some members hold distinctive positions on sex roles, trade and free markets, forms of government and foreign policy. But they all agree on one thing, equality is a dangerous myth.”
True members of the “alt-right” believe that races are inherently different. They build different cultures, they have different averages of intelligence and there is no reason to believe that non-whites can maintain western civilization because they did not create it and therefore cannot understand its values. These ideas are disgusting and wrong.
There is no real proof that race has anything to do with the average IQ or the way someone acts. That all has to do with culture and upbringing. Western civilization was not built on the ideals of white nationalism, it was built on the principles outlined in the United States Constitution: freedom, the separation of powers, inalienable rights, personal responsibility and a limited government to protect these rights that is elected by the people. It does not matter what race, creed or sex you are because in a true western society, you are guaranteed all of these things, and that is what true conservatives believe.
Meanwhile, the “alt-right” objects to these ideas entirely. They think the Constitution is a failed document, that the white race is the only reason western ideas came to be and that it is impossible to assimilate non-whites into “white culture.”
While these ideas are awful in every way, it is extremely important to note that this movement is incredibly small – consisting of a few thousand people in a country with a population of over 300 million. A very small percentage of Americans actually conform to the “alt-right” movement, but due to the Charlottesville rally and the mainstream media’s consistently sensationalized coverage of it, the movement seems so much larger.
Major political figures like President Trump are partly to blame for giving them legitimacy as a movement because they did not condemn them from the beginning of their campaign. That alone does not make Trump a member of the alternative right, a supporter of the racist members of the “alt-right” or responsible for the march a few weeks ago. It is misguided to blame Trump for the actions of these people in the same way that it is misguided to blame former President Barack Obama for the death of five cops during a Black Lives Matter march on July 7, 2016 in Dallas, Texas.
The hatred generated by the “alt-right” goes beyond just the movement. It is a reaction to the American left’s ideas of identity politics. Identity politics divide people up by race, creed and sexual orientation, making an unprivileged hierarchy. This hierarchy is brilliantly described by conservative podcaster and editor of the Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro. He described how, as one gets higher up on the fabricated unprivileged scale, the more “oppressed” they are.
Therefore, in the eyes of the left, the more they deserve. So, gay, African-American, transgender women are on top and white, cis-gendered men are at the bottom.
So, the alt-right’s counter to the left’s privilege hierarchy is the racist, anti-Semitic, white supremacist nonsense that they spew across the Internet. But it is very easy to make this evil ideology die a quick death. All we have to do is stop playing identity politics, stop feeding into their agenda, condemn all racism and prejudice, even that against whites, and continue illuminating how ridiculous and un-American their way of thinking is.
So, I implore you to remember what you read in this editorial, but if there is one thing to take away from what I wrote, it is this: it is impossible to be a true conservative and to be racist. These two ideologies simply do not work.
A true conservative believes in limited government and the ideals expressed in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The idea that all men are created equal and that we all have the same inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no matter the color of our skin or sexual orientation.
A true conservative wants the government out of our lives and pockets and believes that how you live your life is up to you and you are alone, provided that you do not infringe on the rights of anyone else. They do not care what color your skin is, what gender you identify as or what religion you practice. A true conservative only cares that you have the same freedoms and opportunities as everyone else, and the true conservative will defend your rights just as he or she would defend his or her own.
