Don’t know where all this alt-right/alt-left stuff originated but it’s linguistic obfuscation. No one knows what the hell those categories stand for politically & in an era of such sharp polarization what we need is absolute clarity, not more bullshit. The phenomenon of concern which incorporates the alt-right & alt-left is the emergence of libertarianism as a significant political force. It was a marginal, lunatic fringe which developed into a cult in the mid-70s out of former socialists & became a force with the influence of the libertarian journal Global Research in 2001. It has erupted into a cancerous social movement based on white supremacy, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, war-mongering.
The reason it confuses is that alt-left libertarians talk out of both sides of their ass. On the one hand, they’re for universal health care, women’s rights, & oppose the Muslim ban. But then they mocked & ridiculed all protests for salvaging Obamacare, those against the Muslim ban, & the women’s march of millions on every continent because “it was just liberals” marching. Most have never gotten off their asses to march against any wars but they sure as hell hate US imperialism & regime change operations. Their anti-militarism doesn’t include Russian intervention in Syria nor Syrian bombing of civilians because they believe Assadist propaganda that it is “head-chopping Wahabi jihadists” against a democratic, secular regime.
The two issues which most expose alt-left libertarians are Syria & Israel & those are the issues that expose the convergence between the alt-left libertarians & the alt-right libertarians who are fascists. One cannot distinguish a difference between the analyses of these two political currents because they are both rooted in Islamophobia & anti-Semitism–manifest most in the head-chopping Wahabi narrative & allegations that Israel engineered the war in Syria as part of a grand scheme to annex it into a Greater Israel. Their hatred of Israel is based not on support for Palestinians but hatred of Jews.
Alt-left libertarians call themselves revolutionary & socialist. Their derision for liberals is a hallmark of their politics allowing some to support Trump. They are not a sui generis political development; there is an analog in history called national socialism. It may come as harsh reality to people like Oliver Stone, Cindy Sheehan, Pepe Escobar, Tariq Ali, Ben Norton, Max Blumenthal, Phil Rockstroh, Rania Khalek, Jeff Mackler & their followers, but they are morphing into or rendering legitimacy to national socialism.
Just a word about those liberals who alt-left libertarians hold in such contempt: chances are most taking on dictatorships, war & occupation include every religious & political current under the sun, including liberals. Those who hold the forces of social rebellion in contempt are elitists morphing into fascists. If you’re in that camp through misunderstanding, it is not too late to retreat & stand with the oppressed.