A Symbiotic Relationship

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Jason Willick explains at “The American Interest” why The Campus Left and the Alt-Right Are Natural Allies:

On the one hand, excessive left-wing speech policing and cultural brinksmanship on issues of race and gender was bound to make Milo-style ideological transgression more appealing. On the other hand, the alt-right’s newfound cultural power seems to vindicate some of the assumptions of the PC leftt: that racism and misogyny are deeply embedded in America’s cultural fabric, just below the surface, ready to erupt unless controls on thought and language are continuously tightened. …

The PC left and the alt-right exist symbiotically with one another: Working together to exacerbate tribal loyalties, to undermine the legitimacy of the state as a political unit, to question the idea that Western institutions can really treat groups of people with equal respect—in other words, to draw out and hijack the inherent weaknesses and contradictions in the Enlightenment liberal tradition. It’s unlikely that either movement has the cultural power or breadth of appeal to succeed on its own. But taken together, they make a fearsome foe.

From where I sit, it seems that far more center-right conservatives and libertarians are sharply critical of Trumpism and the alt-right than center-left progressives are of illiberal PC extremism, which they often strain to defend when they aren’t denying that it exists at all.

18 Comments for “A Symbiotic Relationship”

  1. posted by Tom Scharbach on

    From where I sit, it seems far more center-right conservatives and libertarians are sharply critical of Trumpism and the alt-right than center-left progressives are of illiberal PC extremism, which they often strain to defend when they aren’t denying that it exists at all.

    I’m not deep enough into the anti-Trump movement to know how their criticism of “Trumpism and the alt-right” quantitatively compares with “center-left progressives” criticism of “illiberal PC extremism”, but I would quietly point out a few things, Stephen:

    (1) The center-left (whether or not qualifying as “progressive” center-left) has been quite critical of “political correctness” on campuses. President Obama has spoken out frequently on the issue, for example, and somewhat sharply, as is evidenced by this example from an Iowa town hall last fall:

    “Sometimes there are folks on college campuses who are liberal, and maybe even agree with me on a bunch of issues, who sometimes aren’t listening to the other side, and that’s a problem too. I’ve heard some college campuses where they don’t want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative or they don’t want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African Americans or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women.

    “And you know, I’ve got to tell you, I don’t agree with that either. I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. You know, I think you should be able to—anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with them. But you shouldn’t silence them by saying, ‘You can’t come because I’m too sensitive to hear what you have to say.’ That’s not the way we learn either.”

    Many others have expressed similar criticism.

    (2) While a course correction is probably needed at some colleges and universities, the best colleges and universities (unless you consider a few small, liberal arts havens for the very wealthy and very spoiled among the “best”, simply because they cost twice what they are worth) are not buying into the “illiberal PC extremism” of which you constantly complain.

    The University of Chicago, for example, issued a Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression a few years ago strongly in favor of intellectual rigor rather than “political correctness” and has followed up with actual policies (e.g. this from a letter to incoming students: “Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called trigger warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.“). Many other colleges and universities have followed suit, and that’s a good thing.

    (3) In my view, the supposedly dire threat posed by “illiberal PC extremism” on campuses is overblown, a tempest in a teapot, exploited by alarmists on the right, nothing new, and most a product of the right-wing outrage machine, just as hyped-up fears about transsexuals using bathrooms and the box cars supposedly being reserved to haul Christians off to reeducation camps are products of the right-wing outrage machine. I’ll grant you that Alternet is a left-wing publication, but I’ve been around the track for close to 50 years of adulthood, and I’ve seen it all before.

    Just as an aside, I wonder how many “center-right conservatives and libertarians” are actively opposing “Trumpism” at this point. It is certainly not happening in Wisconsin, where almost the entire Republican hierarchy, from Speaker Ryan and Governor Walker on down, is falling into line, however unenthusiastically. And this in a state where TPP was demolished in the Republican primary 48% to 35%.

    And, for what it is worth, I hardly hear a peep from anyone on the conservative side about Gary Johnson. You would think that this would be a great opportunity for libertarian-minded conservatives to showcase libertarian ideas.

    • posted by Jorge on

      While a course correction is probably needed at some colleges and universities, the best colleges and universities (unless you consider a few small, liberal arts havens for the very wealthy and very spoiled among the “best”, simply because they cost twice what they are worth) are not buying into the “illiberal PC extremism” of which you constantly complain.

      I went to a competitive small liberal arts college, and its good moments have outweighed the bad. There has been a fair bit of illiberal PC extremism on campus (it’s birthed some odd racial controversies), but most of the time, everyone gets a chance to speak. 3000 students and 1-2 student newspapers leaves plenty of room for a backlash.

      Just as an aside, I wonder how many “center-right conservatives and libertarians” are actively opposing “Trumpism” at this point.

      Well, how many opportunities do you need to take before you conclude it’s someone else’s turn? This isn’t their opportunity right now–I don’t think most center-right conservatives or libertarians would have too many problems with his recent remarks on immigration and issues affecting the African American community. I think they should save their breath for damage control in the event Trump wins.

  2. posted by TJ on

    Again, the typical college student – party or politics aside -at

  3. posted by Houndentenor on

    No one denies that PC extremism exists. I only deny that it is as widespread a problem as alt-right pseudo-celebrities claim. Yes the campus left is a pain. Maybe we can create a reality show where we ship the campus left and the alt-right off to some island somewhere. It can be a reality show (they’d jump at that) and then those who want to watch can and the rest of us can do something productive for a change with all those idiots out of the way.

  4. posted by Tom Scharbach on

    As an aside to (or perhaps adjunct to) the political correctness circus, Glenn Beck, of all people, went after Milo Yappiopoulus yesterday on Beck’s Facebook page:

    You want the truth Milo?

    You are a hurt 13 year old boy.

    I don’t know what pain you had to go through to make you so cold and distant from any feelings of compassion and basic kindness but causing hurt makes you into the monster you are running from.
    Yes, society is screwed up, yes, PoliticalCorrectness is out of control and people do have the right to say what they want.

    But the question is: SHOULD WE? Not, can we.

    By you can hide behind anything that helps you sleep, and I am sure Steve Bannon helps you sleep, but at some point you will come to the realization that
    You have become that bully that hurt you so deeply in the past.

    I urge anyone who is a fan of mine to NOT dog pile on hate. You cannot conquer darkness with darkness. Only light. Hate is only defeated with love.

    Do not cry “hate crimes”; don’t try to silence him or anyone else as we believe in free speech and the only speech that needs defending is the speech that one abhors. I abhor most of what Milo says as well as those we works for and represents. (Brietbart/trump etc). But they all have a right to their views.

    No matter how ugly others may get, we must try to not become everything we stand against.

    These are the days of Bonhoeffer and Corrie Ten Boom. The sword the Lord came with was truth and love. Compassion, kindness, integrity, honor and love are the most powerful weapons we have because they can only be wielded by the righteous.

    A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. The tree of real life trolls, be it on line, in media or in politics is not a good tree.

    This is the path Robespierre not Jefferson and Adams. It is hard in the moment to see but we as a nation must wake from our coming nightmare. Even Thomas Paine missed the signs of the French Revolution. Even so, he was a patriot. Even the very elect will be fooled.

    This is the path taken by Russia 1917 and Germany 1930. We must distance ourselves from the populist and nationalist anger. At NO time in history has that lead any place of safety or freedom.
    I feel badly for those who are in or are drawn to this circle as they must surely be deeply wounded.

    The sexism, racism, hatred for anyone that opposes their line of thinking is, time after time, presented as something a desperate 10 or 13 year old boy would do.
    We need to pray for those who feel this alone.

    I’ll sit back and slam some popcorn while watching the right-wing circus, but I use way too much butter to keep my doctor happy, so I’ll just sit back, skip the popcorn, and watch the show.

    • posted by Jorge on

      I don’t like Glenn Beck much (mostly because of his ideology), though he was okay enough to watch when he was on Fox News.

      But I will give him a few things. He rarely makes unfair or unreasonable factual statements, as befits a worthy libertarian king. He wears his faith openly without using it as a weapon. He takes his weaknesses and failures seriously. And he has an uncanny and sharp mind.

      Why would he criticize Milo Yiannopoulos when he has long been on friendly terms with Ann Coulter? His Facebook post points to the ABC interview. Evidently he believes Coulter would have done something warm and compassionate in comparison. Beck is a more shrewd judge of character than I am to make such a distinction. I think it’s more likely Beck is either being influenced by his dislike of Trump, or that there’s an ageism thing going on.

  5. posted by TJ on

    Again. Students are not always the best representative of their party or ideology.

    I seen center left people object to campus political correctness & the like.

    I don’t see too many libertarian minded conservatives objecting to attacks on transgender people or poorly constructed religious liberty bills…

    • posted by Houndentenor on

      Back in 2009 when TeaPartiers were showing up at Town Hall meetings where members of Congress were trying to interact with constituents about health care reform and shouted everyone down, did anyone on the right object? Everything the campus left does that is objectionable they learned from the right. I don’t like any of it and have never minded saying so.

  6. posted by Jorge on

    Great. That means I actually have to look up what the “Alt-Right” is.

    ….

    Well, I won’t. Nor will I ever. I’ll just remain deaf to whatever dog whistle it stands for.

    The author of this article does not understand sarcasm, and I don’t think he understands the political right as well as he thinks he does. He does point to one important thing, though: the intellectual basis for Donald Trump’s support exists, has the potential to be stable and internally consistent, and is different from the (quite stable and internally consistent) intellectual basis for traditional American conservatism. The mistake I think he makes is in buying into the notion that it’s more extreme than conservatism. The PC left is part of the liberal left. Ann Coulter and Milo Y are part of the conservative right. Donald Trump is something else.

    From where I sit, it seems that far more center-right conservatives and libertarians are sharply critical of Trumpism and the alt-right than center-left progressives are of illiberal PC extremism, which they often strain to defend when they aren’t denying that it exists at all.

    Take away Donald Trump and that vanishes.

    • posted by Houndentenor on

      They’ve just smacked a new label on the same old racist, sexist and anti-semitic crap.

      • posted by Jorge on

        How big a slice of “the same old crap” are we talking about here?

      • posted by Tom Scharbach on

        How big a slice of “the same old crap” are we talking about here?

        You decide. I’d say fair-sized, but nothing you can’t swallow.

  7. posted by Tom Scharbach on

    Great. That means I actually have to look up what the “Alt-Right” is. …. Well, I won’t. Nor will I ever. I’ll just remain deaf to whatever dog whistle it stands for.

    No problem.

    • posted by Jorge on

      “Following condemnations by Hillary Clinton, everyone in the world is now trying to define exactly what the Alt-Right is. Most of them are getting it wrong.”

      Oh, joy.

      And it has a (yeeeeeech!) symbol on the website and calls itself the daily

      …that’s a word they use themselves? I thought it was a shorthand for (yeeeeeeech!)

      “Troll Culture

      In my view, the core identity of the current Alt-Right originates from the highly intellectual meme and trolling culture which was birthed on 4chan in the 00’s.”

      Oh, lovely. This goes right back to

      “The Alt-Right is an online mob of disinfranchised and mostly anonymous, mostly young White men.”

      Okay, now it’s beginning to make sense. I can’t believe a white nationalist website creates a convincing description of a political phenomenon. Well, 80% of it at least. The problem with the idea of using internet counterculture trolling to mask affirmative white nationalism is that it does the job so well that the two cannot be inferred from each other. Then again I don’t go to websites where there’s freedom of speech.

      Yuck. I’m getting poisoned just reading the conclusion. Good thing I’m a moderate. Wait, there’s one thing I need to look up.

      “It is plain as anything that Milo is attempting to use the movement – which is hip, rebellious and edgy – in order to transform himself into a counter-culture icon.”

      I found absolutely no affirmation of religion in that piece. I think I’m still safe.

      Many thanks, Tom.

    • posted by Tom Scharbach on

      I can’t believe a white nationalist website creates a convincing description of a political phenomenon.

      Jorge, if you don’t think that the alt-Right movement is becoming mainstream in conservative circles, skim Breitbart’s archives from the last year or so, and pay attention to the writing/statements of Stephen Bannon, Breitbart’s CEO and one of the two (the other being Kellyanne Conway) heads of the TPP&P campaign. TPP&P have made the alt-Right dreck “respectable” and Republicans are going to be living with the aftereffects for a long, long time.

      • posted by Jorge on

        You say becoming, I’d say threatening to become, same thing.

  8. posted by TJ on

    One of the most homophobic Americans died recently.

    In addition to being instrumental in opposing the ERA, she opposed just about every bit of legal progress made for gay citizens.

    Her son was out as being gay in the early 1990s.

    • posted by Jorge on

      Well, I think she had it right on the ERA, at least.

      Being that she was very old and had been around for a very long time, I worry about what I am going to find out about her. When I read her a few times I had nothing negative to say about her, but it was also clear she was quite conservative.

      http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/09/06/phyllis_schlafly_s_legacy_of_anti_gay_activism.html

      “It is no small irony that many of the things Schlafly railed against during her life—gay marriage, women in the military, abortion rights, no-fault divorce—succeeded, even though the ERA has yet to be ratified.”

      It’s exactly the way that should have happened.

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