Tags
blogging, clowns in the asylum, culture, design, insanitybytes, opinion, politics of hell, systems
“An Establishment Conservative’s Guide To The Alt-Right” is a rather longish article but a good expose on what is referred to as the alt right of the internet, partially encapsulating those I often call the manosphere, or “lunkheads” when the mood strikes me. They are a diverse group as this article attempts to explain, so I don’t wish to paint them all with the same brush or portray them all in a negative light.
However, speaking in generalities, rebels without a clue comes to mind, as well as the dangers of unchecked testosterone. I started reading the alt right several years ago, but plunged into it a bit deeper a few years back when I was attempting to understand what the heck was going on within our culture, why Marxism was becoming so popular, why feminism had been so hijacked, and what in world the far Left was rebelling against.
I also saw a candidate just like Trump coming on the horizon and I was trying to figure out how in the world we could go from Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am, Stuck in the middle with you. Someone once told me, “the middle? There’s nothing in the middle but roadkill!” Isn’t that the truth. One thing everybody hates is the middle, the truth, the reason based community that is always asking, are you people insane?
I spend a lot of time observing culture, politics, biology, the interplays going on within human behavior, cause and effect, systems, how we come to design the world we live in.
So some questions I had when I began this journey is what in the heck is with the Far Left, how can any human being come to these irrational conclusions, and what in the world are they reacting too? I live in the midst of the 9th circuit of hell, this is ground zero for the Far Left, also known as a tiny laboratory that often sends me fleeing in terror towards the safety of conservatism, small government, less intervention in our lives, traditional values. But I still seek to empathize, to understand. If we’re all going to go off a cliff, I’d like to know what motivated the driver to step on the gas before we all go crashing into the abyss.
The alt-right provides a really good peek into what lurks in people’s hearts, the rhetorical and emotional aspect of what motivates people to rebel against what they perceive as oppression, restriction, this suffocating thing called the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, that pretty much hates everybody and wants to eat puppies, revel in racism, and oppress women.
I wanted to poke a stick in the Left’s boogey man and see if he was real, if it was alive and breathing, a real thing or an imaginary enemy. The truth is a little of both. The alt- right can be pretty dang ugly, that part is real enough, but I suppose there’s some truth and beauty to be found there too. I’m a big fan of the market place of ideas and free speech, healthy debate.
Which brings the to the idea of rebellion, the entire concept of building a whole ideology around defiance and defense, reacting emotionally rather than thinking things through, perceiving oneself as being at war with others. That’s not a good place to be in the civilian world, because rather than focusing on creating a healthy system with a servant’s heart, you’re focused on sticking it to the man and damn the collateral damage in the process. Will to power, something that must be perpetually enforced by bullying and well, force.
That is now true of both the Left and the Right, because make no mistake about it, Trump is the alt right candidate just as sure as Sanders belongs to the alt left, and neither of the ideologies bode well for our country at large, nor does the heart behind them, the attitudes of the people trying to propel them into power.
There’s an old Irish blessing, “May you live in interesting times.” I’m doing my bestest to see it that way, to hang onto the idea that God has a way of making even the bad things fun for those of us in faith, but good grief, things are strange out there and we really are all perched on the edge of a cliff.
There is so much I want to say to people but of course they can’t hear me, wouldn’t listen even they could, but has no one studied political science, history, read the old science fiction tales, heard the lyrics behind the love songs, seen V for Vendetta? Doesn’t anyone know how the story always ends? Are people truly this uneducated, misinformed, unable to hear the canary in the coal mine, the poor little thing now no longer even chirping?
The pendulum always swings. I’ve come to see the truth in those words when it comes to politics, but this time it feels as if there are two pendulums, one coming at us from each side and who is standing right between the two? We are.
I’m left with Adele’s infamous Rolling in the Deep, lamenting about how we could have had it all, But you played it, you played it, you played it, you played it…… To the beat.
Like a complete moron, I might add.
See, there's this thing called biology... 
Both Bernie and Trump are talking about big changes that will raise taxes. the electorate will love anyone who strokes their ego and says the right words – but when time comes to make it reality and they realize it will cost every man, woman and child double what they now pay in taxes – they will revolt. Have no fear IB, the time is coming. Besides, I hear that Trump scared everyone shitless when he suggested spreading nukes around and even using them on Britain (I think he’s pissed because they voted to keep him out). That man will implode in the near future as his promises become more and more ludicrous.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think you’re right, Paul. Probably a good time to start working on my post apocalyptic wardrobe. I’m not sure what to wear to a proper revolt? 🙂
You may not be aware what the Sandinstas are really like, however. The heart that is behind him is really pretty scary and so many don’t see it. I often say they are simply flip sides of the same coin, both candidates seeking to overthrow the system as we know it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Paul:
What IB says about Sanders and his followers is completely true. The mainstream media here is completely in sympathy with Sanders so he doesn’t get the same scrutiny as Trump. His followers have not only disrupted (violently) Trump rallies; they’ve attacked Clinton and Cruz rallies too. Many times I’ve heard them say that they wouldn’t settle for Hilary if Sedanders didn’t get nominated.
Sanders was here in Seattle recently where he has overwhelming support. I saw an interview with a young woman who leads his supporters here. She said, without batting an eyelash, that she hoped Sanders would be elected because “I would hate for cities to burn and people have to take the country back by force…but if that’s what it takes…”
I know some of the community ‘activists’ who lead the Sanders movement here; and they are mostly the absolute scum of the city. Most have had past political experience with gangs like the Black Panthers, Code Pink, the Occupiers, Earth Liberation Front, etc. We’re talking about a Political Underworld here; not a populist movement.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I agree about Mr. Trump and Sen. Sanders, but I don’t think Sen. Cruz or Sec. Clinton are far behind their respective revolters! Which is why this is such a troublesome election. I’m still praying that God will be merciful and give us the President we need, not the one we deserve. The only way I can see that happening (but God has ways of working that we don’t see ahead of time) is for the Republicans to pick their candidate at the convention. I think someone other than the current front runners would be a cinch to win. I mean Gov. Kasich wins in polls pitting him against Sec. Clinton.
The problem for the Republicans–the conservatives–this election cycle has been the host of qualified candidates that segmented the vote and allowed the extreme candidate with his extreme followers to get out ahead. Then the bandwagon. And the media’s unrelenting coverage of anything remotely Trump.
I also agree that I’m floored at the ignorance of so many–the lack of awareness of history, even recent history, that should put up red flags for anyone who doesn’t want to live in a dictatorship. The problem, I fear, is that some people think a dictatorship would be just fine, as long as the dictator sides with them. They don’t think things through–that once a dictator is in place, he sides only with himself and they aren’t in a place to hold him accountable for the switches he makes in policy.
Raised taxes, I fear, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to changes in the way things will be, should one of The Extremes wins on election day.
Becky
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well Rebecca I think you have hit the nail on the head. Fear not though. I have found, in myself, that while I can sometimes discern the truth through all the grey and blurry swirling consequences around actions and occurrences, I am terrible at seeing timelines. It is as if the situation were flat in time and all the consequences were going to occur immediately. If we stand back and look at the really big picture, I think you will find that 1) the vast majority of sensible people are quiet until actually voting (as happened with the big recent scare in France’s election wherein the end result was solid election of the centrist majority) 2) Although our system is transferring more and more wealth to fewer and fewer wealthy, it is still a long way from revolution (i.e. Russia has a democracy in name still while 85% of the wealth is held by 11 oligarchs out of 300 million citizens); 3) Even though we are daily trading freedom for security – a sure sign that a dictatorship is inevitable – we are a long way from a breakdown , we still have free speech and are free to criticize our governments; 4) Any big thinkers have been clear from the beginning that our politco-economic system will require an occasional revolution – Thomas Jefferson said so, the Declaration of Independence specifically says that it is not only the right but the obligation of the citizens to throw out any government that is not acting to benefit the people and to install a government that does act in the people’s best interest, a recent high power think tank led by J.P.Morgan came to the same conclusion – the way we are going will and should lead to revolution unless changes are made..
So, all that said, you and IB are right – a revolution is coming but I suspect the timing will be hundreds of years out although it is likely inevitable. By the way I personally think that a capitalist democracy is the best politco-economic system yet invented but it has to be tweaked and cannot be allowed to proceed unchecked or it will lead to a revolution. One such idea for tweaking is to make a fixed percentage of profit sharing mandatory. This will make our businesses much more efficient and productive and profitable and competitive on a world market, while protecting capitalism and actually providing real trickle down economics. I have worked for such companies and they are record breaking. The problem is that the current rich see this as giving away their profits but that is narrow minded as such a program increases revenue more than what it takes to make up the profit sharing.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
LikeLike
You sure are hitting a cord here! I’ll have to check that link out, but no time this morning as our toddler grandson spent the night and we’re getting ready for church.
Main thing I want to respond to is that I know our Heavenly Father is up to something! We have been in the most unique weather in 40 years! We were nearly blown off the face of the earth last night, early this am. The left call it global warming or some nonsense. They rewrote history, you know, about how the continents were formed, etc., but I know our God and He’s reminding us He’s in charge!
So what should we wear? 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
The article on the “Alt-Right” is interesting, but I think you hit the mark here.
What matters is what we are for, not what who are what we are against.
Jesus spent a great deal of time preaching against Hell and sin, but consider what He did with the Ten Commandments. He summarized the thou shalt nots with two thou shalt dos: love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
Most of the people in our society uphold beliefs contrary to God’s commands. These are not extremists. That term is nearly useless. They are sinners, and there are endless ways to disobey God.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was thinking about Trump’s abortion comments and noticed this same ‘what we are for’ was lacking; as is typical with most of his statements. In Western Christian countries, the only country where marriages and birthrates are going up while divorces and abortions are going down is Russia. The Russian Government took the opposite approach: divorce and abortion are still legal in Russia, but the government took the path of ‘pro-family’ policies which have been effective.
Our culture and politicians and media have been stoking this ‘war mentality’ here for decades. War on Poverty; Gender Wars; War on Drugs; War on Terror; Culture Wars…and so on…things are constantly termed in phrases like ‘national crisis’ ‘epidemics’ genocides, etc. Combine this continual hysteria with a populace bent on instant gratification and avoiding personal responsibility and you get a smouldering powderkeg just waiting for a political arsonist like Obama, Trump, or Sanders to set it off.
What I’d like to hear is a politician telling the truth: flatly telling the Ameroboobs that it’s their own fault if they don’t like the way things are. And if they want to change things for the better, they need to get their heads out of their butts; turn off the Reality TV; put down their pot-pipes and happy pills and start DOING something about it. But nobody’s going to elected saying THAT.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Elected? No. The prophets called for repentance, and they did not fare especially well.
Very few politicians actually lead. Most just try to assess what direction the crowd is going and get in front. That is one reason why societies with big governments don’t seem to go anywhere. A mob doesn’t have much constancy.
LikeLike
You make some excellent points, Eric. I think many people don’t realize how anti-family many of our government policies are, throwing an additional challenge at families during a time where we already aren’t valuing them. So many people don’t get married for economic reasons, they can’t afford the higher taxes, they’ll lose their obamacare and be forced to pay fines. The courts often misuse and abuse their power too, so there’s the constant threat of divorce court, family court, child protective services, our public school systems. Those who still understand about personal responsibility and taking authority over your own, are often robbed of what little power they have by the system. So government could go a long way towards removing some of those barriers and promoting a culture of marriage and families, and also supporting fatherhood.
You’re right too, politicians often just tell us what we want to hear. Or as Citizen Tom puts it, they tend to jump out in front of the popular crowd and call it “leading.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
IB & Tom:
Rescinding anti-family policies was a big part of how Russia turned things around. Divorce and abortion rates were higher than the US when the USSR collapsed. A lot of Russian women were leaving the country to marry foreign men and kids were being adopted out to foreign couples in the early 90s. Yeltsin enacted a policy that expanded their equivalent of child welfare to married couples. When Putin recently extended the program, he noted that more mothers stayed at home to raise and have kids. At the same time, more SAHMs opened employment opportunities for more men—giving them the chance to begin families.
Putin’s additions also cut government funding for abortions and transferred the funds to things like fertility clinics and reproductive technologies. His administration has also carried on an aggressive pro-family media campaign.
The point being that Russia accomplished this without revenge and reprisals (such as I see our old friend Dull-Rock is advocating, a week after Easter no less) but by positive, pro-family initiatives.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen Eric! Positive reinforcement, praise, some moral support go a long way. You don’t have to be punitive, in fact, piling punitive measures on people who are already down can destroy them.
Dull-rock really isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed or perhaps he’s a double feminist agent or something, a parody of what traditional values look like.
LikeLike
Heartbreakingly true. We have no political memory and, consequently, make the same mistakes… over and over again.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh this is very well said. When I have time I will have to read the article you linked to. Your last line about being stuck in the middle of two swinging pendulums rings true. The questions is do we DUCK or push back?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Pingback: Alt-Christianity? | See, there's this thing called biology...