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This is a brilliant piece by a small c conservative on the Alt Right
The Lincoln-Douglas debates still hold great sway in the public imagination, in part because they clearly articulate a moral turning point in American politics. The continued existence of slavery — and the racism that justified it — had undermined the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln saw the moral danger this posed, and warned against it; Stephen Douglas believed the status quo could be maintained, and stood in defense of it. Two giants of the 19th century clashed in seven public debates, and while the latter won the U.S. Senate seat they were fighting for in 1858, the former would go on to transform our national identity. Lincoln did more than critique the monstrous injustice of slavery; in those debates, and elsewhere, he established in the public mind a commitment to the Declaration of Independence. Ever since, our politics has been characterized by that great document, which has produced a tendency — however slow at times — toward greater political and social equality.
For decades, many of us took for granted that Americans shared the values that had been reaffirmed by Lincoln's "new birth of freedom." But the nomination of Donald Trump as the Republican candidate for president and his subsequent election to the office Lincoln once held ushered back to the public stage political ideas that had previously been rejected as unacceptable in a liberal society. The movement that has brought these ideas to the fore calls itself the "alt-right," and its members now populate influential right-wing websites, media outlets, and political organizations.
Unlike many white-supremacist groups of the past, the alt-right wishes to claim an air of intellectual respectability. In their article "An Establishment Conservative's Guide to the Alt-Right," Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulos insist that the alt-right is "dangerously bright," and that this intellectual sophistication is the "one thing [that] stands out above all else" when distinguishing them from "old-school racist skinheads." That intellect — and not moral decency — is the primary differentiator between the alt-right and skinheads should alarm anyone, but given their fervent desire to be treated as intellectuals, it may be worth reviewing the political arguments they believe are so compelling.
Some might say that directly addressing the alt-right like this affords them a legitimacy that their numbers would not otherwise warrant and that they do not deserve. But while they are only a small minority, the alt-right has already had an outsized effect on political discourse in conservative circles, and members of their movement are finding their way into the corridors of power. This newfound influence has also empowered those like the white supremacists who rallied in Charlottesville this past August, who see this moment as an opportunity to regain lost political power.
...
https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/answering-the-alt-right
For decades, many of us took for granted that Americans shared the values that had been reaffirmed by Lincoln's "new birth of freedom." But the nomination of Donald Trump as the Republican candidate for president and his subsequent election to the office Lincoln once held ushered back to the public stage political ideas that had previously been rejected as unacceptable in a liberal society. The movement that has brought these ideas to the fore calls itself the "alt-right," and its members now populate influential right-wing websites, media outlets, and political organizations.
Unlike many white-supremacist groups of the past, the alt-right wishes to claim an air of intellectual respectability. In their article "An Establishment Conservative's Guide to the Alt-Right," Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulos insist that the alt-right is "dangerously bright," and that this intellectual sophistication is the "one thing [that] stands out above all else" when distinguishing them from "old-school racist skinheads." That intellect — and not moral decency — is the primary differentiator between the alt-right and skinheads should alarm anyone, but given their fervent desire to be treated as intellectuals, it may be worth reviewing the political arguments they believe are so compelling.
Some might say that directly addressing the alt-right like this affords them a legitimacy that their numbers would not otherwise warrant and that they do not deserve. But while they are only a small minority, the alt-right has already had an outsized effect on political discourse in conservative circles, and members of their movement are finding their way into the corridors of power. This newfound influence has also empowered those like the white supremacists who rallied in Charlottesville this past August, who see this moment as an opportunity to regain lost political power.
...
https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/answering-the-alt-right
I wholeheartedly agree with his thesis that Americans , left and right, are united by ideals and the Alt Right are united by blood and soil and that chasm can not be filled. Where I wholeheartedly disagree with him is where he exculpates Trump and most of his followers of the charge they are Alt-Right. They definitely are.
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