To understand the world of politics and change it for the better, it’s paramount that people begin to study political theory and the ways in which it has manifest throughout history up into the present day. By bringing light to the origins of political and philosophical thought, the present day becomes all the more explainable because one is now able to see the logical progression of such manifestations.
With this urge to better understand the root of many of the common political ideologies present in the world, The Last American Vagabond has decided to team up with Keith Preston in a new podcast series in which the who, what, where, when and how of different political theories will be explored.
INTRODUCTION
For those unaware, Keith Preston was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. He received a B.A. in Religious Studies and an M.A. in History from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, with additional graduate study in Sociology and Criminology. Keith is a former instructor of Sociology at John Tyler Community College. He is a former regional delegate for the Industrial Workers of the World and a former member of the National Committee of the Workers Solidarity Alliance, the U.S. section of the International Workers Association. He is the founder and director of American Revolutionary Vanguard and the chief editor of AttacktheSystem.com. Keith has been a contributor to LewRockwell.com, Antiwar.com, Anti-State.com, Taki’s Magazine, and AlternativeRight.com. He was awarded the 2008 Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize by the United Kingdom’s Libertarian Alliance for his essay, “Free Enterprise: The Antidote to Corporate Plutocracy.” Keith has been a featured speaker at conferences of the National Policy Institute and the H. L. Mencken Club. He has been interviewed on numerous internet podcast and radio programs and appeared as a guest analyst on Russia Today and BBC Persian. He is also host of the ongoing “Attack the System” online podcast series.
Part 5: The Alt-Right
In part 5, Keith and Tim take a look at the recently popularized term “alt-right,” which, to those who have done any type of research, is a complex term that means many things to many different people. If one was to simply do a surface level inspection of the alt-right through an examination of mainstream media’s critique on the term, it would appear that the alt-right is nothing more than ideology based on white supremacy and an outgrowth of the neo-nazi movement. However, upon further examination of the topic, it appears that this explanation is far too simplistic and inherently incorrect when it comes to encompassing the broad meaning of the term “alt-right.”
However, some racist movements have indeed chosen to fly under the banner of the alt right, but the truth is that the alt-right has its roots in paleo-conservatism, which was a reactionary movement against the neo-cons who took control of the Republican Party. This outgrowth went on to evolve and include the reactionary movement against cultural Marxism, which is a term used to refer to political correctness. This subculture that has become much more recognizable as a result of the 2016 presidential election has gone on to become quite a force, in large part because of its mastery of the Internet, such as through memes (Kek), forums (Pol), and social media infiltration at large.
One doesn’t have to label themselves alt-right to see that some issues brought up within this sub-culture are legitimate issues that need to be discussed, such as immigration, national sovereignty, and forced multi-culturalism. However, anyone who does label themselves as alt-right should also understand that having an ideology based on preservation of the white culture is undoubtedly not going to appeal to the wider diversity within the nation, and in many ways is going to hinder them from building bridges with other movements. It’s okay to have white identity politics, just like blacks, Hispanics, and Asians have their own identity groups; but in terms of building a united front with other groups against the establishment, it could be quite difficult.
The following podcast is designed to ask the tough questions when it comes to the alt-right, instead of worrying about appeasing either side of the debate. It seems that painting the entire alt-right with the broad brush white supremacy is incorrect and doesn’t really get into the nuances and history of such ideology, but at the same time, acting like the alt-right doesn’t have its own problems is just as silly of a stance to take. It seems that answer falls somewhere in the middle, with a variety of gray areas for people to dissect and come to their own conclusions. Hopefully, understanding the alt-right ideology will help people empathize more with such people, while at the time help people involved in the movement to realize some compromises need to be made if they are to gain any traction in terms of tangible change. If people of any ideology are actually serious about moving society forward, the only way is a united front of varying belief systems, which is why this podcast series was created in the first place. Take the time to see though the lens of others.
Previous Episode: What Is Anarchism?
