So, as I understand it, the whole term, “alt+right,” came about because racists didn’t like owning up to being called racists. It hurt their feelings and people wouldn’t take them seriously. So they came up with something new to call themselves. That way they could go on news shows and stuff and pretend that they had respectable ideas that people should listen to.
So, now people have started calling things the, “alt+left.” I see it two ways. I see it when people are referring to potentially veiled racism from people on the left. This is normally used by people on the left to associate people in a derogatory way with the racism that is the rotten core of the alt+right. It’s supposed to be an insult.
On the other hand, I see it used by people not on the left to simply refer to people far on the left. I don’t know if it’s just a misunderstanding of the term, an intentional misunderstanding of the term, or just an easy way to create a, “both sides do it,” narrative.
Here’s my problem with it. We can’t stop the right from re-branding their racists as, “alt+right,” but we can refuse to go along. I don’t want a legitimization of racist voices on the left and I don’t want racist voices on the right to have a recognized faction on the other side to point to. So, we will have to give up our clever insult but I think it’s worth the loss.
One other thing. When it comes to doublespeak and re-branding, Republicans are just better at it. If we don’t push back against it they will twist it to mean what they need it to mean. Veiled meanings and innuendo is their jam and it’s going to end up serving their purposes.
It’s possible I haven’t thought this idea through all the way but every time I hear, “alt+left,” I think, “This is going to blow up in our faces isn’t it?”