The Alt-Right & Radical Left: A Love Story? (10 Minute Read)

I have a confession to make and it isn't an easy one. My entries and my content over the past few years have dwindled and are diminished, which is directly my fault.

To be honest, the political climate on social media and in the streets has become bittersweet since 2016. More people have now taken it upon themselves to become involved and educated on the political happenings around them, which is sweet and something we should all strive to continue.The bitter portion of this lies in the sources that they are using to educate themselves and also in the groups they are joining.

To be more specific, while everyone can agree that the United States have become more polarized since the election of Donald Trump, it appears as if the entire world is following suit and in doing so, creating a far divide between the political left and right.

On the left, we are seeing radical groups such as Antifa and Anarchic-Communist groups, that appear to have come into existence in order to directly counter a rise in Fascism and hate on the right. Unfortunately, many of their public appearances end up spewing hate toward their opponents and have also involved physical violence. This has essentially worked against their message, as it has allowed easy ammunition for their opponents to delegitimize them.  

On the right, alternative groups have drawn lines in the sand between themselves and fringe white supremacy/nationalist groups, while incorporating much more rhetoric from Libertarian sources. Their arguments and beliefs now fight in an effort to preserve free speech around the world, utilizing what they believe are unshakeable facts. A common argument you may hear from these groups is that their logic outweighs the emotional responses being displayed by social justice warriors on the left. 

I haven't had the chance to personally research many of the groups that have come into existence, so I took it upon myself to enter into a position that many people without direct knowledge often do. 

How did I do this? 

I began searching social media and message boards in order to get a better idea of what is out there and what they are talking about. In fact, I spent around 9 hours "researching" various right wing & left wing groups on YouTube, in order to witness their arguments and review their reasoning. An average person, who does not follow any specific political source, is more likely to see something on a social media feed or on YouTube, which is why I felt this would provide a more authentic way to see the sides created through a different set of eyes. 

The following is a sample of what has come from those 9 hours of my life...

It is no surprise that The Political Road Map has leaned more toward the left of the political spectrum in the past. While this may seem appropriate for any opinion based blog, it does not serve proper justice when the goal of this blog is to provide options for people who aren't well versed in politics.

We cannot properly assess an argument without first seeing both sides, which is why having proper sources of information and a balanced viewpoint serves people the best. 

Naturally, looking at the right wing or alternative groups is probably the best place to begin. I truly believe and can see that many people on the right are troubled with the current environment within western society. While they may not directly support Donald Trump, they have been grouped into the same category as him, along with a slew of other groups that range from Neo-Nazi's to immigrant hating nationalist groups. 

Their argument of free speech has stemmed from the belief that if someone questions certain topics, they are automatically silenced, or worse, left to the masses to be judged and destroyed. This concern is not only a real one today, but one that requires diligent yet blunt treatment in order to resolve.

For if we cannot argue or have a civil discussion, how does anyone expect to accomplish anything?

I would ague that the current polarization we are witnessing is not only due to the reinforcement of tribalism among groups on the political spectrum, but also the addition of more labels and a complete breakdown in communication.

I will not get into specific details on this post regarding certain right wing figures, however I will say that the left has failed horribly in the sense that many young people are being taught to automatically shut down a discussion if they do not like the message. Whether this is deliberate or simply an indirect by-product is not really known. For example: A right wing speaker comes to a campus to discuss free speech, immigration reform and values, which lately has been met with threats and protests that aim to disrupt the discussion. Instead of providing a counter argument to accompany these talks, disruption is seen as the only proper response, which is wrong. 

Many groups on the right are now using "facts" in order to substantiate their claim that free speech is under attack and that those who protest their ideas are somehow uneducated and thus destined to fail in life. This sentiment seems to be common, however it also shows a failure of these groups to look at the whole picture themselves, since many of their facts are snippets from isolated reports that are then compacted and made easily digestible for their followers. It is no surprise that when confronted in public, these same individuals can easily appear to be winning the argument, especially when their left wing opposition fails to provide counter facts and simply decides to stop any civil discussion. 

This is dangerous and is very common on YouTube, as these groups use encounters like this to further showcase how their position is one of truth. To be fair though, when someone targets young university students and begins to question them on complex problems, with a camera in their face and on the spot, you cannot expect to really derive some form of complex response. The reality is that people often best learn when asking questions, which I feel is not happening on the right level necessary to facilitate proper discussion.

So, when someone creates social justice warrior compilations for their base of supporters, it appears that they are able to reinforce their message, by casting the opposition off as comical or childish. In doing this, they also take the complexity of these issues out of the equation in order to further solidify their own points. For example: Build the wall, because a report has been released that shows cities in America that welcome illegal immigrants, are also seeing a rise in crime. Keep it simple and make it strike close to home and even with little facts to support the argument, someone can make a correlation between illegal immigration and vicious crime seem unarguable. 

One major point that I was able to gather from the media I was watching is that each side seems to be doing the same thing, with the same goals, just packaged differently. The left wants to abolish hate and avoid a rise in nationalist/Fascist organizations. While the right wants to abolish hate, but is on the defensive, because they feel the left is grouping them with Fascists and hate mongers, who they do not support, especially when it comes to big government. The key word here is "Big Government," which appears to be a very important point in the arguments provided by right wing groups.  

The right often claims that people on the left use emotion to support their claims, which is wrong, because it lacks a foundation of facts. The left counters that targeting immigrants and supporting a national identity have led to ideas, laws and examples of systemic hate in the political system, specifically when looking at Donald Trump. So while everyone is speaking, no one really has anything to say aside from you are wrong, while I am right and that is that.

Each side seems to be failing to see that common ground can exist, even though a large polarization exists. It is perfectly healthy in politics to have a disagreement on how something should be done, so long as everyone recognizes that their plan is being offered to provide a benefit to their country/group. Currently, this common ground is not being communicated, so each side argues, while not even taking a moment to hear what the opposition is truly saying.

It is one thing to hear someone speak, but quite another to actually listen. 

I felt this was an excellent photo to reinforce how people are treating a difference of opinion in today's world. 

Libertarianism

I am going to end this post with a look at something I have heard come up numerous times on social media. "I am a Libertarian and while I do not hate people, I do not believe a "big government" should spend my money for other people's problems." 

This makes me actually smirk every time I hear it, because if you look by comparison at the Hippie movement of the 1960's, something very similar existed in the root of its message.

While Libertarians say the government should stay out of it, because I can do better, many Hippie groups said society can stay out of it, because WE can do it better. Hence, the creation of Hippie communes and a paradigm shift in thinking that led to the counter-culture movement. 

Libertarians in the United States are using this kind of methodology to reinforce why things like abortions for example should not be made accessible with public funds and when incorporated with religious views, this also extends to contraception. In this example, the question brought forward is; why should I pay for someone else's sex life?

I could most likely create an entire post responding to these examples alone, but the main purpose of this entry was to not only warm up my writing skills, but also begin looking at how far right and far left groups seem to be moving so polar opposite, that they are in fact meeting at some point. The most unusual of love affairs, but it is said that opposites do attract. 

If you take anything from this entry, it is that we need to continue talking and not the opposite. You may not agree with someone, but their right to speech is one that we all should not take for granted.

Mind you, I personally believe that everyone in society is entitled to an INFORMED OPINION, which would remove ignorance and hate speech in an ideal environment. The reality of this is that we are all not educated on the same matter, at the same level. People will have beliefs for whatever reason that allows them to, which is why discussion is crucial to help reinforce proper beliefs, while educating those that are misinformed. 

So please, do not punch a Nazi, educate them better. Please do not vow allegiance to Communism, when it killed 100's of millions of people and please do speak to people with opposite views. People are different and there is nothing we can do about that, so in order to move forward, we must first work together to find common ground. 

-The Political Road Map-