/lit/ - Literature

>>13026044
>The alt-right does not exist as a cohesive or coherent ideology anymore
> It probably never did
Originally the "alt-right" had no resemblance to the contemporary definition.

It used to be just a term for "alternative right wing movements, predominantly on the internet". Just an umbrella for all the right wing ideologies that were not represented in the Conservative party. So by definition it was never coherent, because it wasn't supposed to be one ideology. The only shared traits were the internet humor and them organizing on politics discussion forums on the internet. And it was only cohesive in so far as they shared the common interest of gaining platforms to share their ideas and participate in politics.

That umbrella encompassed probably a pretty large group. Hundreds of thousands around the globe would be my guess.

But once the "alt-right" became a popular discussion topic and the media put their spin on it, just in time for the elections. It got defined as:
>fascist
>trump supporting
>white supremacist
>ethno nationalist
>all of the -phobias

As you could guess most of the people jumped ship, except for those who actually feel comfortable with that definition.
That leftover group is pretty small though. In the US maybe a few thousand. Not enough to actually show up on a bar or pie chart of political ideologies. And yes, it's controlled opposition. People like Richard Spencer get propped up and given platforms while moderate right wingers with alternative views get banned left and right.