Reason put out this fantastic video that argues through how the alt-right and the “alt-lite” is absolutely intellectually opposed to libertarian principles, and when they coincide, conservative principles.
It’s really worth watching.
I’m not gonna say I agree with it 100% since I fashion myself a conservative, and not a libertarian, but Zach Weissmueller really lays out how the alt-right distorts history and undermines the free market and small government libertarianism.
This is one of the more convincing parts, since the alt-right is so opposed to all immigration, not just illegal immigration.
He points out that while immigration is increasing lately, it’s just returning to pre-war levels, when America was growing in prosperity and economic output. That doesn’t mean we should be for open borders, but it does mean that the alt-right’s vitriolic stance against all immigration is based more on irrational racialist fears than economic realities.
Another incongruity is how ignorant these people seem to be about what “Western Civilization” really means. It’s like they’ve fully accepted the stupid caricature that the left has of the West, and simply put a stamp of approval on it. That’s not defending the West, that is maligning the West.
Weismueller points out other very important ways in which the alt-right actually advocates for positions that very similar to the left. And this is ironic because so many are pushed into accepting these kinds of extreme positions because they think that we’ve gone too soft on fighting the left.
It’s like Nietzsche says, battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster. Or something.