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> And I would also hope you realize that the reason why there's such a strong reaction against the alt-right is because they want to specifically take away thos

> And I would also hope you realize that the reason why there's such a strong reaction against the alt-right is because they want to specifically take away those rights from minority populations. I hope you would realize that the reason there's such a strong reaction to the "alt-left" is because this kind of thinking leads people to such crazy places that they would defend Soviet gulags as "compassionate." https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/11/soviet-labour-camps-compassionate-educational-institutions-say/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/11/soviet-labour-ca... The 20th century had horrors of Naziism and racism, yes, but it also had horrors perpetrated in the name of "progress" and "reeducation." If you have emotionally internalized the horrors of Germany and Jim Crow, but haven't done the same with the USSR, the Cultural Revolution, and the Khmer Rouge, then I can understand why ideologically-enforced progressivism might seem harmless and noble.

fzeroracer 8y ago
The 'alt-left' as people claim barely exists in any tangible form. Yes, there are going to be people that'll excuse the crimes of the USSR but to try and equate them to the alt-right is a false equivalence. Particularly because when you look at the spike in hate crimes, violence, antisemitism etc, you primarily see members of the alt-right fall within that group. Considering how our president behaves and excuses members of the alt-right, I'll start worrying about the alt-left when and if they start holding positions of power. Before you start trying to point out further members of the alt-left: I'll just remind you that it was during that same speech that the alt-left term was invented.
- haberman 8y ago
  > Particularly because when you look at the spike in hate crimes, violence, antisemitism etc, you primarily see members of the alt-right fall within that group. Let's just go from the last week. Here is some left-wing violence: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/22/us/conservative-activist-assault-uc-berkeley/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/22/us/conservative-activist-assa... Here is a weekly roundup of anti-semitism, and much of it is from the left (associated with Britain's Labour party): https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/week-headlines-tell-story-anti-semitism/583393/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/week-headl... And for hate crimes, the news is that Jussie Smolett has been arrested for staging the "modern-day lynching" against him that has captured national attention for the last few weeks: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jussie-smollet-chicago-attack-hoax-empire-actor-full-timeline-live-updates/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jussie-smollet-chicago-attack-h... I'm not saying the alt-right is nothing to worry about. I'm saying the left is capable of real harm too.
  - fzeroracer 8y ago
    Considering how you seem to be sympathetic for the alt-right in the past times I've had to argue with you, I'm not surprised that you would be massively disingenuous with your arguments. Your second link does not indicate how 'much of the anti-semitism is from the left', and you're deliberately burying the lede. In your first, I'm not going to deny that violence against certain conservative activists exists. But my entire point is that there is no 'Unite the Right' rally or far-left groups murdering people like with the alt-right [1]. And for your third link, a single person being an idiot does not a movement make. You're grasping at straws and trying to claim a group exists where it doesn't. You're trying to justify a term made up by a president who in the same speech defended and attempted to justify the murder of a woman by the alt-right. [1] https://www.splcenter.org/20180205/alt-right-killing-people https://www.splcenter.org/20180205/alt-right-killing-people
    - topmonk 8y ago
      > You're trying to justify a term made up by a president who in the same speech defended and attempted to justify the murder of a woman by the alt-right. If you just look at the speech by itself, who Trump was referring to was unclear. The protest was originally over whether some statues were to be torn down, and he could very well have been talking about those protestors. But if you look at his presidency in total, the fact that he's never has appeared to expressed support to neo-nazis or murder(!) of people of the alt-left before or after should make it clear that he was supporting the people protesting the removal of the statues and not the alt-right.
    - dang 8y ago
      Personal attacks will get you banned here, regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. When you're on the edge of posting like this to HN, please catch yourself and take a step back—as we all need to do. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: it looks like you've been using HN primarily for political battle. That's against the rules here, and we ban accounts that do it. More importantly it's against the spirit of this site, so please don't. It also looks like you've been crossing repeatedly into incivility. Please don't do that either.

fzeroracer 8y ago

The 'alt-left' as people claim barely exists in any tangible form. Yes, there are going to be people that'll excuse the crimes of the USSR but to try and equate them to the alt-right is a false equivalence. Particularly because when you look at the spike in hate crimes, violence, antisemitism etc, you primarily see members of the alt-right fall within that group. Considering how our president behaves and excuses members of the alt-right, I'll start worrying about the alt-left when and if they start holding positions of power. Before you start trying to point out further members of the alt-left: I'll just remind you that it was during that same speech that the alt-left term was invented.

haberman 8y ago
> Particularly because when you look at the spike in hate crimes, violence, antisemitism etc, you primarily see members of the alt-right fall within that group. Let's just go from the last week. Here is some left-wing violence: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/22/us/conservative-activist-assault-uc-berkeley/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/22/us/conservative-activist-assa... Here is a weekly roundup of anti-semitism, and much of it is from the left (associated with Britain's Labour party): https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/week-headlines-tell-story-anti-semitism/583393/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/week-headl... And for hate crimes, the news is that Jussie Smolett has been arrested for staging the "modern-day lynching" against him that has captured national attention for the last few weeks: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jussie-smollet-chicago-attack-hoax-empire-actor-full-timeline-live-updates/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jussie-smollet-chicago-attack-h... I'm not saying the alt-right is nothing to worry about. I'm saying the left is capable of real harm too.
- fzeroracer 8y ago
  Considering how you seem to be sympathetic for the alt-right in the past times I've had to argue with you, I'm not surprised that you would be massively disingenuous with your arguments. Your second link does not indicate how 'much of the anti-semitism is from the left', and you're deliberately burying the lede. In your first, I'm not going to deny that violence against certain conservative activists exists. But my entire point is that there is no 'Unite the Right' rally or far-left groups murdering people like with the alt-right [1]. And for your third link, a single person being an idiot does not a movement make. You're grasping at straws and trying to claim a group exists where it doesn't. You're trying to justify a term made up by a president who in the same speech defended and attempted to justify the murder of a woman by the alt-right. [1] https://www.splcenter.org/20180205/alt-right-killing-people https://www.splcenter.org/20180205/alt-right-killing-people
  - topmonk 8y ago
    > You're trying to justify a term made up by a president who in the same speech defended and attempted to justify the murder of a woman by the alt-right. If you just look at the speech by itself, who Trump was referring to was unclear. The protest was originally over whether some statues were to be torn down, and he could very well have been talking about those protestors. But if you look at his presidency in total, the fact that he's never has appeared to expressed support to neo-nazis or murder(!) of people of the alt-left before or after should make it clear that he was supporting the people protesting the removal of the statues and not the alt-right.
  - dang 8y ago
    Personal attacks will get you banned here, regardless of how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. When you're on the edge of posting like this to HN, please catch yourself and take a step back—as we all need to do. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Edit: it looks like you've been using HN primarily for political battle. That's against the rules here, and we ban accounts that do it. More importantly it's against the spirit of this site, so please don't. It also looks like you've been crossing repeatedly into incivility. Please don't do that either.