The ABC’s of the Alt-Right: A Guide for Students

Preamble:  As a long-time professor on a number of American campuses, I have seen how universities work from the inside.  And for years before that, as an undergrad and then graduate student, I have seen how student life develops and evolves, and how important it can be for shaping future views and attitudes.  Now is the time to bring together these diverse sets of experiences and offer some insight and advice for current university students who seek to get more out of college than merely a degree.

Let’s start with the politics of right and left.  There has long been a “liberal bias” on campus, but for many years it was relatively benign; it consisted primarily of an openness to new ideas, an escape from dogmatic religion, a willingness to challenge traditional power structures, and an ethical idealism—all good things.  A liberal was a forward-thinking individual, selfless and civic-minded, and a participant in the global community.  In short: an enlightened person.

But then sometime in the 1980s, things began to change.  Campuses stayed liberal while national politics went ‘conservative’—but it was a conservatism with a twist.  Beginning with the presidency of Ronald Reagan in 1981, American conservatives made some significant shifts in policy, as compared to their traditional views: (a) they became more militarily activist around the world, anxious to project American power and to “bring democracy” to others; (b) religion—in the form of fundamentalist Christianity—became more important to civic and social life; (c) complex ideological issues got reduced to simplistic black-and-white, “us or them” terminology; and (d) Jews supporting Reagan became increasingly prominent and influential.  These new tenets came to compose a new brand of conservatism: “neoconservatism,” or neocon, for short.

Liberal college professors and administrators were generally appalled at these developments, and reacted accordingly.  They became more liberal, and more militantly liberal.  They grew determined to tackle the problem at its roots: at the level of college-educated youth, who would henceforth become increasingly indoctrinated in the key concepts of liberalism:  intrinsic human equality, intrinsic equal rights, over-socialization, radical feminism, excessive pity for the underprivileged, and the corresponding determination to impose such values on all Americans, and indeed on the world.  Such ideas took certain concrete forms:  anti-racism; advocacy for minority and immigrant rights; an inordinate celebration of multiculturalism and multiracialism; denigration of White culture, ‘White privilege,’ and White European civilization; functionally anti-male policies; attacks on the nuclear family; gay rights; and defense of gender and sexual-orientation ‘flexibility.’  But the militant liberals had one thing in common with the hated neocons: a prominent Jewish presence.  Hence anti-Semitism began appearing on the right (mainly concerned about mass non-White immigration and socially conservative) and the left (mainly concerned about the U.S. Jewish community’s support for Israel’s brutal treatment of the Palestinians).

Meanwhile, caught in the vice between neoconservatism and radical liberalism, traditional “old” (“paleo”) conservativism struggled for its very existence.  The most prominent advocate was probably Pat Buchanan, a former candidate for president who opposed much of the neocon agenda.  Buchanan and other paleocons argued for a strong form of nationalism, and generally opposed much of the globalist agenda of the neocons and liberals.  They also opposed military intervention around the world; argued for protectionist economic policies; defended core concepts of classic Western civilization; advocated for “states’ rights” policies (i.e., that individual states should have considerable authority to establish their own laws); supported traditional but not fundamentalist religion; and generally opposed gay and minority rights.  As a consequence, they also frequently came into conflict with Jews on both the neocon right and the liberal left; as such, they have often been slandered as anti-Semitic.

Through the 1990s and 2000s, up to the present, militant liberalism has only increased on college campuses—dramatically so, with the election of Donald Trump in late 2016.  In that election, radical liberals were convinced that “their man”—Hillary Clinton—would win.  Bill Clinton was good, Obama was better, but Hillary was going to be the best.  Feminists were elated that they were finally getting a woman president: one who was ultra-liberal, pro-Israel, pro-Jewish, pro-immigration, anti-racist, pro-big-government, and more than willing to project US military power around the world to enforce these “enlightened” values.  They could scarcely contain their champagne corks.

But it didn’t turn out that way.  With Trump’s upset victory, many academic liberals ‘snapped.’  They were in shock and denial.  They simply couldn’t believe that a “misogynistic racist” could have won the presidency, especially over their beloved Hillary.  So they redoubled their efforts.  They vowed to drive out all remnants of conservative thinking; to harass any faculty that failed to demonstrate fealty to radical leftism; to hire only the most militant—preferably female, preferably of color—faculty; and to punish right-leaning students.  They created “safe spaces” for fragile egos.  They condemned “hate speech” and instituted “speech codes.”  They hired yet more “diversity officers” and promised to step up efforts to cater to any offended minorities or protected classes of individuals.  Everyone, it now seems, had their protectors and defenders—everyone except White males.

Enter the alt-right, otherwise known as the dissident right.  In one sense, it is the natural outgrowth of paleo-conservatism: a kind of return to classical ideas of nationalism and political self-sufficiency.  But it adds new angles as well:  an emphasis on biological realism, in which evolution and genetics are seen as strongly influential in determining human characteristics; an explicit defense of White interests and White European civilization; and an explicit and active critique of Jews and Judeocentric policies.  And indeed, these can be seen as the three main pillars of the alt-right:

(1) Biology is destiny,

(2) Whites and White culture deserve to be protected and defended, and

(3) Jews pose an overriding threat to White interests. 

(Jews, incidentally, like all Latinos, are not White—not in any relevant sense given genetic differences and, more importantly, their lack of identifying with White European civilization.)  Among the wide-ranging dissident right, we see additional points of concern and variations on these themes, but in general, we can roughly define the alt-right movement as centered on these three concepts.  The first, on biology, is proven more and more true by the day; new studies repeatedly show that, to a very large degree, biology and genetics determine what we loosely call ‘human nature,’ and that these phenomena have a corresponding effect on society and culture.  The second is straightforward and obvious:  if Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims, and so on each have a right to their cultures and ethnic integrity, so do Whites.  The third becomes clear whenever one takes a look at the objective data regarding Jewish presence and Jewish influence in academia, government, media, Hollywood, and high tech.  Jews are massively over-represented in all these fields, and constitute a force in themselves; with their highly-effective ingroup strategy, they manage to reinforce their own wealth and power.  In fact, this becomes their overriding priority: an increase in Jewish wealth and power.

A Brief Manifesto.  The dissident right, then, advocates for White culture and White interests, and does so in a way that is aligned with science, history, and rationality.  When it veers into the realm of politics, it effectively becomes a form of White nationalism:  the idea that Whites should be self-governing and self-determining, and that, like all ethnicities, they have a fundamental right to do so.  As with ‘alt-right,’ there are varying definitions in the literature.  But there seems to be a broad consensus that White nationalism accords with the following ideas:

• The White race is of inherent value to humanity, has created the lion’s share of Western civilization, science, and technology which have benefited all peoples; the White race therefore deserves protection and defense.
• Whites globally are under threat, due to (a) declining numbers, (b) declining physical, mental, and moral health, and (c) loss of political autonomy and self-government.
• Some of the threats are sociological, economic, or environmental in nature, but others arise from deliberate and intentional actions by anti-White parties.
• The global Jewish lobby has an intrinsic interest in seeing a general decline in White well-being and a loss in White political power. They and their non-Jewish supporters pose the primary direct threat.
• Racial and cultural diversity has a net negative effect on human societies.
• All humans are, by nature, best suited to live in social and environmental settings from which they evolved—societies that are broadly racially homogeneous and monocultural. Humans have little or no evolutionary experience living with diverse races or ethnicities, and doing so causes inevitable problems.
• From the early Industrial Revolution, modern society has enabled the mass movement of people from indigenous to foreign lands. Left to their own initiative, people will always attempt to move from ‘worse’ to ‘better’ societies, but if this happens en masse, it will contribute to the decay of the very societies that they seek out.  Such movement must therefore be stopped.
• The only long-term solution for many present-day problems is to restore human society to its natural and original conditions—racially homogeneous and monocultural, broadly speaking. This entails political separation and/or repatriation of minority peoples to their native lands.
• The above goal can only be achieved, in the present world, by confronting and undermining Jewish power.

These are eminently practical and realistic issues.  Nothing here entails violence, hatred, misogyny, or other such evils.  These are simple statements of fact; and they lay out a roadmap for any White society that hopes to survive and flourish in the long run.

How to Organize.  I now shift my focus to you, the student reader, and your efforts to make a positive impact on this troubled world.  So much of college life is pointless or trivial, but you now have an opportunity to create a truly transformative college experience.  In a very real sense, the future of our society lies in your hands.  You can act now, to make a real difference.

Here are some key points to keep mind, and some specific suggestions on how to move forward.  Readings cited here are included in the list at the end of this essay.

• You have more power than you think. In a university, you are the paying customer.  Your tuition money pays a large share of your professors’ and administrators’ salaries.  Let them know that.  You are the future, they are the status quo.  You have ethics and high principles; they are just trying to keep their jobs.  Even a very small group, intelligently run, can have a huge impact.
• Know your rights. You have the right to speak up and make yourself heard.  As long as you stay within the broad rules of the university, they can’t punish you.  Don’t let faculty or staff intimidate you.  It’s like dealing with a spider or mouse:  they are more afraid of you than you should be of them.  Be assertive but not obnoxious.
• Organize. Create a student group or club that explicitly advocates for alt-right views.  Pick a good name.  It can be relatively innocuous, like “Campus Republicans” or “Campus Conservatives,” or it can be more confrontational: “The New Right,” “Dissident Conservatives,” “White and Right,” and so on.  Be creative.
• Have concrete goals. Your group should, at a minimum, hold regular meetings.  Simply talking through things among yourselves and sharing ideas has value.  But you will likely want to do more:  bring in speakers; hold debates; organize panel discussions; “table” your group in a visible spot on campus; do fundraisers; write for your student newspaper.  Visibility and success breed more success.
• Don’t let egos get in the way. This is not about who is president, or who has key roles.  It’s about the ideas and the mission:  to develop and communicate alt-right ideas on campus.  Leaders need to be self-confident, but if it becomes more about self-glorification, time to get another leader.
• Plan for the future. There is constant turnover in student groups; some people lose interest, some graduate, some have personal issues, others just get too busy.  To sustain and build membership, you need to be constantly planning ahead.  Get to the younger students and recruit them.  They’re not “just freshman”; your group needs them, and every new class presents new opportunities.  Also, plan for post-graduation.  You need to sustain activity after you move on to your career.  This again presents new opportunities for action.  Stay in touch with fellow grads—and not just on-line.  Meet face-to-face.
• Don’t make it a “guy’s club.” Alt-right groups tend to be heavily male.  Acknowledge this, accept it, but be welcoming to female participation.  As long as they buy into the main principles cited above, there is no reason not to welcome women.  You want members—and they represent half (actually, considerably more than half) of your student population.  Be respectful, and allow them full participation.  Listen to their ideas; they know better how to reach other women than you do as males.  They are smart and motivated.  They have as much equity in the future as you do.  Women are also good networkers, and may make connections that the guys tend to overlook. And besides, most all of us want partners in life, and this is a great chance for both genders to meet like-minded friends.
• Have high standards. Try to avoid crude polemics, name-calling, dirty tricks.  Be mature.  You are a role model; try to act like one.  Intelligent commentary and well-organized events are much more effective than some graffiti sprayed on a dorm wall.
• Be knowledgeable, be smart. There is much to learn about alt-right and dissident ideas.  Take the time to study, like a serious and intelligent person.  And not only online blogs, and not just Youtube videos.  Get actual books and read them.  The list below offers several good sources to start with.  And then be a good detective: follow up on interesting leads, hunt for clues.  Learn how to sift out the bullshitters and the nonsense.  There is a lot of bogus information out there, especially on the Internet; some of it is there to deliberately mislead you.  Be skeptical, and do background research.
• Stay agnostic on religion. Conservatives tend to be more religious than average, and so you may well attract religious people.  Accept them, but don’t let theology rule the discussion.  Keep religious ideas safely to the side.  Be particularly wary of fundamentalists, who tend to be too irrational to be much good.  The same holds for so-called Christian Zionists.  Beyond this, there are good reasons to believe that Jesus, for example, is a Jewish construction, and serves Jewish purposes (read Nietzsche).  And in truth, all Christians (and all Muslims) worship the Jewish God, albeit with a different name.  In sum, best to let that dog lie.
• Get political (1). Yours’ is a movement of major political importance.  You need to acknowledge this, and engage in political debates.  There are many local, regional, and national policy implications for the dissident right.  Engage at every level.  Make well-reasoned recommendations, and defend them against critics.
• Get political (2). There are good reasons to think that the situation may be hopeless at the national level; the corruption may simply be too deep to be redeemed.  Rather than ‘fixing’ Washington, we may need to abandon it.  Consider a strong “states’ rights” position, even to the point of secession.  In a practical sense, White nationalism may only be realized in smaller political units than that of the monstrous, multiracial mish-mash of an American nation.  Start by reading Kohr.
• Know your opponents. As an alt-righter, your main opponents are non-Whites, Jews, and liberal Whites (among both students and faculty).  Even some mainstream Republicans may oppose you.  Learn how they think, and what their ‘hot button’ issues are.  A calculated incitement of your opponent can be very useful.  Non-Whites, for example, typically get excited by talk of limiting immigration or of mass deportations of illegal aliens.  Jews get excited by talk of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against the state of Israel.  They also hate when prominent Jews are outed.  And they hate when someone questions the highly-dubious Holocaust story—see sources below.  Don’t be afraid to use these issues to your advantage.
• Name names (1). In other words, be specific and detailed in your critiques.  Use facts, and check your facts.  Instead of saying “the Jews in the Sociology department are complaining about us…” say “Jewish faculty like Bob Greenberg and Joel Baumgarten in Sociology are complaining…”  Instead of railing against “media Jews,” rail against “Jewish media execs like Noah Oppenheim and Andrew Lack at NBC.”  Specificity shows that you know what you are talking about.
• Name names (2). Here’s an interesting project:  Conduct your own ‘faculty diversity survey,’ to determine rough numbers of Whites, non-Whites, and Jews.  They are certainly pro-diversity, so they can hardly object.  Note:  you are looking for Jews as an ethnicity, not a religion (‘Jew’ can be either).  Print up a simple survey with a few specific categories:  White (non-Hispanic, non-Jewish), black, Asian, Jewish, Hispanic/Latino, mixed/other.  Responses will be very instructive.
• Watch out for moles. Any moderately visible or successful group will very quickly attract attention, from both friends and enemies.  A well-worn tactic of the other side is to infiltrate successful groups and manipulate them from within—ideally, even take on leadership roles.  It is amazing how many Jews, for example, have taken positions of influence within nominally alt-right or dissident right groups; think of Andrew Breitbart, Larry Solov, Milo Yiannopolous, Alex Marlow, Ben Shapiro, and Joel Pollack, all associated with Breitbart News; or Stephen Miller, the alleged “White nationalist” in the Trump administration; or Michael Savage; or Matt Drudge.  Know your members, and look for signs of less-than-honest opinions. If Jews are admitted to the group, they must acknowledge the role of Jews in our current malaise.
• Watch out for spies. In line with above, successful groups often attract quiet members who are just “taking notes”—and perhaps reporting out.  There’s not much you can do about this, but be aware that someone in your group may be looking for dirt.  Keep things above-board, and don’t give them anything to report.
• Don’t demonize the masses. In general, it’s not good strategy to refer to your fellow students as idiots, morons, dupes, etc.  For the most part, you need them.  You are trying to win them over—even if they are idiots or dupes.  Educate them.  Be patient.  Be tolerant.  Figure out what is stopping them from accepting the truth, and slowly bring them around.
• Insults are a badge of honor. Don’t take it personally when your enemies start calling you names.  In fact, welcome it; it’s a sign that you are succeeding.  And have no doubt, they will call you every name in the book: Nazi, racist, bigot, fascist, anti-Semite, Klansman, White supremacist, and so on.  Show poise; just let it roll off your back.  Point out that they don’t really know what they are talking about; most of them cannot even define ‘Nazi’, or ‘bigot,’ or ‘fascism,’ etc.  Be smarter than them, and use your knowledge to upstage them.  Show them to be the fools that they are.
• Learn about the real Nazis. Since it’s inevitable that you will be called this, you might as well learn something.  ‘Nazi’ is short for National Socialist, and there is nothing inherently evil about either nationalism or socialism.  Adolf Hitler was arguably the first major alt-righter of the twentieth century.  He spent his youth in a social environment not so different from our own.  As a young man, he faced many of the same problems that we do.  His story is instructive; see the list below for some good sources.
• Stay healthy in body and mind. Again, be a role model.  Be better than the average slacker.  Watch your weight, and stay in shape.  Work out.  Get strong.  Cut down on meat, sugar, and junk food.  Avoid recreational drugs and heavy drinking—these things can destroy your focus and motivation.  Avoid mindless Internet surfing, and stupid TV reruns, and moronic Hollywood trash.  Get the airpods out of your ears, shut off the insidious Black rap “music,” cut down on texting and Instagramming.  You have a mission in life, and you need all your faculties to succeed.  Jews and liberals would like nothing more than for you to spend nights smoking pot and binge-watching their garbage on your laptop or phone.  Don’t give in to them.
• Don’t get sucked into the technology. Along the same line as above, be very cautious about getting sucked into technology day and night.  Excessive gaming, Internet addiction, on-line porn, too much social media…these things pose real psychological and physical risks to your wellbeing—seriously.  Keep them all to a bare minimum.  And then get informed on the many risks of high-tech (read Kaczynski, for starters).
• Be visible. Take some time to get organized, but once you are up and running, get the word out.  Put articles or ads in the school newspaper.  Post flyers around campus, or leave them loose on desks in random classrooms.  Scribble messages on blackboards/Whiteboards.  Go on the school radio.  Talk to local media.
• Don’t get too stuck on ideological labels. ‘Right’ and ‘left,’ like ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative,’ are vague terms, and arguably are more harmful than helpful.  In reality, they don’t allow for much subtlety of definition.  Yes, you are alt-right, but don’t hang everything on this one label.  Many liberals have some conservative opinions, and many alt-righters hold some traditionally liberal views.  This is not a major problem, and don’t be pushing ideological purity tests on anyone.  Views shift over time, especially for college students.  Any student who thinks he has it all figured out has a lot to learn.  It’s not a weakness to change your opinions—it’s a sign of growth.
• Don’t be “woke.” ‘Woke’ is one of those truly stupid labels that you should avoid.  It comes from Black slang (appropriately), and refers to a heighted sensitivity to racism, black interests, oppressed minorities—in other words, all those traditional leftist views.  It represents political-correctness run amok.  What you do want is people to “awake”—wake up to the false and distorted reality they have been living in.  But that’s entirely different.
• Be persistent, take notes, follow up. This is just good organizational technique.  Write things down, because everyone forgets.  Get people to commit to tasks, and hold them accountable.  Acknowledge and reward those who follow through and get results.  It’s a long war, and nothing of value is won overnight.  Pace yourselves.  Don’t burn out.  Be in it for the long haul.
• Use publicity to your advantage. Universities hate two things:  money problems and bad press.  Your group is a constant threat for the latter.  This is one of your few pieces of leverage over them.  Use it appropriately.  If you are succeeding, get the word out, not only on campus but among the public at large.  If you are under attack, publicize the implicit assault on your rights of free speech and association.
• If they disband your group, go underground. An effective group will get attention, and a really effective group will get a lot of attention.  At some point, they—the university bureaucracy—may well concoct some reason to shut you down, even if you’ve broken no rules.  If they do this, publicize how unjustified they are.  Let your fellow students know that free speech and free expression are not welcome on your campus.  Then go underground.  Most universities are public institutions, and they cannot forbid your group from meeting—they can only withhold funding and institutional support.  If that happens, so be it.  Meet in the library, in the student union, or at a local café.  They can’t stop you from posting flyers, doing stuff on-line, renting small spaces, organizing events.  This can even have its advantages; underground groups have a lot more freedom than ones reliant on university funding.  Put this to good use.
• Stay in touch, and network. Work with other student groups and other campuses, where possible.  Build alliances where you can.
• Document your work. Write, publish blogs or hardcopy essays.  If you’re up to it, publish a small book (we can help you).  Keep track of successes and failures.  We all can learn from each other, and we should try to avoid repeating each other’s mistakes.  You are working not just for the present, but for the future.  Those to come will benefit from your hard work.
• Speak the truth. Sometimes these days, just saying the truth out loud is a revolutionary act, one that calls for real courage.  The truth is on your side.  Be strong, be confident, and speak the truth.

This last point bears repeating:  You have justice and truth on your side.  Your cause is just.  You have the weight of history behind you.  Many great thinkers of the past and present stand at your side, ready to help.  Don’t give up, don’t apologize, don’t surrender.

There are people around who can help with questions, problems, or advice.  The TOO editor is available (editor@occidentalobserver.com) and I can assist as well (thomasdaltonphd@yahoo.com).  We both know how to get articles and books published, if interested.  Don’t hesitate to reach out.  Good luck; we’re counting on you.

Suggested readings:

Dalton, T.  2015.  Debating the Holocaust (3^rd ed.).  Castle Hill.

Dalton, T.  2016.  The Holocaust: An Introduction.  Castle Hill.

Dalton, T.  2019.  The Jewish Hand in the World Wars.  Castle Hill.

Dalton, T.  2020.  Eternal Strangers: Critical Views of Jews and Judaism through the Ages.  Castle Hill.

Duke, D.  1998.  My Awakening.  Free Speech Press.

Goebbels, J.  2019.  Goebbels on the Jews.  Castle Hill.

Hitler, A.  2019.  The Essential Mein Kampf.  Clemens & Blair.

Hitler, A.  2019.  Hitler on the Jews.  Castle Hill.

Johnson, G.  2018.  The White Nationalist Manifesto.  Counter-Currents.

Kaczynski, T.  2019.  Technological Slavery (vol. 1).  Fitch and Madison.

Kohr, L.  1955.  Breakdown of Nations.  Dutton.

MacDonald, K.  1994.  A People That Shall Dwell Alone.  Praeger.

MacDonald, K.  1998.  Separation and its Discontents.  Praeger.

MacDonald, K.  1998.  The Culture of Critique.  Praeger.

Nietzsche, F.  1887.  On the Genealogy of Morals.  Vintage.

Nietzsche, F.  1888.  “Antichrist.”  In The Portable Nietzsche.  Penguin.

Plato.  1997.  “Republic.”  In Plato: Complete Works.  Hackett.

Shaw, G. (ed.).  2018.  A Fair Hearing: The Alt-Right in the Words of its Members and Leaders.  Arktos.

Suggested websites:

www.theoccidentalobserver.com

www.thomasdaltonphd.com

www.davidduke.com

www.unz.com

www.holocausthandbooks.com

www.vdare.com