The Kids Are Alt-Right

Who to blame for the recent epidemic of racist assholes (WARNING: Game of Thrones Spoilers)

Jared Hussey
Aug 25, 2017 · 4 min read
(Photo/Wired)

To my knowledge, I have never fathered a child, so you wouldn’t be remiss in saying, “Hey, this guy has no idea what he’s talking about,” and then lighting your laptop/smartphone/tablet on fire.

But, please, bear with me.

I’ve been thinking of Charlottesville nonstop since it happened. Sure, we can argue over the violence on both sides, and who did what, and Antifa and all that, but that’s not what this post is about.

This is about the kids who — for whatever reason — think it was acceptable to march in broad daylight spouting racist nonsense and anti-American views. (Yes, anti-American. While they may be a part of the “MAGA” crowd, we can all agree white supremacy and nazism goes against everything America stands for.)

And don’t give me the, “Oh, some of those kids just really liked the statues” bullshit. If you’re marching with dudes who are saying, “Jews will not replace us,” here’s a lifehack: GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE. FUCK THE STATUES.

My generation is supposed to be the most liberal, loving, tolerant generation of all, but, for some reason, most of those racist assholes looked a lot like me. So what gives? Why are there still people my age with these beliefs? Who’s to blame?

Here, I’ve broken down the blame into percentages:

Trump, 20%

Al Gore, 35%

Yes, the Internet is a great thing. However, without the Internet, white supremacists would not be able to organize as effectively. Many racist assholes would think they were alone in this world if not for message boards and racist websites. We could divide this blame between several prominent social media creators, but we’re better off tacking it all on to Al, since he started it all.

Barack Obama, 1%

Hillary Clinton, 4%

Here’s a Game of Thrones metaphor: Trump is the Night King, and Hillary is Jon Snow. She couldn’t put him down, and now Trump has a racist, powerful ice dragon.

You People, 40%

Do some math, fuckers. Racist parents are always racist. They instill those values in their kids. Some kids can break the racist spell, but some can’t. If you’re born into a racist household, chances are you will grow up with those values.

But some kids aren’t born into racist households. They’re born into indifferent households. The people who think if it doesn’t affect them, then they don’t need to form an opinion on a given subject. Just like how you hear the phrase “power vacuum” thrown around in the Middle East, an indifferent household forms an “opinion vacuum,” where even the slightest push can sway an apathetic kid to the Alt-Right.

Or worse, these apathetic kids can just soak up the privilege of not having to be on a side and sit at home and eat sheet cake.

The people who want to make this world a worse play — KKK, white supremacists, Nazis, Zach Braff — are never going to give up. You people who are apathetic about all of this are just making it easier for them to win.


The Bigger Picture

Oddly specific. Universally applicable. Submit your writing to biggerpicturemedium@gmail.com.

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Jared Hussey

Written by

I peaked in high school. https://jaredhusseyexperience.wordpress.com

The Bigger Picture

Oddly specific. Universally applicable. Submit your writing to biggerpicturemedium@gmail.com.

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