What is the alt-right?

Everybody has an opinion about it, but nobody seems to know exactly what it is.

So I took it upon myself to find out.

I took a deep dive into alt-right culture.

I read their books, listened to their podcasts, watched their videos,

followed their blogs, and spoke personally to their leaders.

Here's what I learned.

First, they're really small, like your high school reunion small.

That big national alt-right gathering in Charlottesville in August 2017,

yeah, that attracted all of about 600 people, and that's on the high end of estimates.

And that infamous torch rally on the evening of August 11th,

there were maybe 100 Tiki torch carriers.

But however small it is, the alt-right does have a belief system, a worldview.

It's right there in their name.

The alt in alt-right means alternative.

The alt-right is an alternative to American conservatism.

So it's no surprise then that the alt-right has far more in common with the left,

another alternative to conservatism, than it does with the traditional American right.

Let me try to untangle this.

Both the left and the alt-right are obsessed with race and identity politics,

the belief that a person's value is linked to their racial heritage.

The left wants special status for racial and ethnic minorities.

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