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from the will-provide-tattoos-for-right-applicant dept.
Seems someone got the whole thing seriously wrong, but evidently there was a casting call for actors for a Cadillac commercial that was looking for "alt-right" or "neo-nazi" types.
Cadillac caused a stir this week when a casting service put out a request on behalf of the American luxury brand looking to fill the role of an "alt-right (neo-Nazi)" in a new commercial. Cadillac denied it had ever authorized the notice and condemned it, while the casting company took responsibility, saying that it had been issued by mistake. Regardless of who did what, the idea had to have been hatched somewhere and by someone, which reveals something far more troubling than a mere streak of poor taste and even poorer judgement in corporate America: the marketability and mainstreaming of an alt-right population, or those "identified variously with anti-globalist and anti-immigrant stances, cartoon frogs, white nationalists, pick-up artists, anti-Semites, and a rising tide of right-wing populism," as Tablet contributor Jacob Siegel wrote in a profile of Paul Gottfried, the alt-right's "godfather."
Hmm, maybe now that the "alt-right" has become just another marketing demographic, we do not have to worry about them taking over the country? I mean, who buys Cadillacs as a status symbol anymore? Not like they are your father's Oldsmobile. Except that, really, it was your father's Olds. So that brand no longer exists. Are we at the point where we can say, "Brietbart: it's not your grandpa's fascism!"? Except, really, maybe it is?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Friday December 30 2016, @12:13PM
I don't think most alt-righters are calling for a white-only state. I think there are two separate dynamics going on, which can be easily confused:
- Support for a single culture (as opposed to multiculturalism). The strength of the US was that it once functioned as a "melting pot" where people surrendered their original culture and became Americans. A nation of immigrants. Today, people are encouraged to retain their original culture. Many in the alt-right see this as a problem.
- Second, many whites in the US seem to feel that they are disadvantaged in a country where they are the nominal majority. They are accused of racism, told to "check their privilege", etc. - almost as if they are supposed to be ashamed of being white. Why is "black pride" laudable, but "white pride" is racist?
Of course, there are genuine racists and white supremacists who use the alt-right for cover. However, they appear to be a minority. Most alt-righters are typical of the many people who supported Trump [umich.edu]. The real problem is the fact that the liberals and progressives cannot get their heads around why anyone would feel this way - a complete breakdown of communications, between two very different groups of people sharing the same country.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Bethany.Saint on Friday December 30 2016, @01:26PM
Good points. Some spot on. So I'll only respond to a few.
>>Today, people are encouraged to retain their original culture.
This is true. Taken to extreme, I see this a being a problem as well. I support efforts to "melt" immigrants. I believe many in the middle left do too.
>>Second, many whites in the US seem to feel that they are disadvantaged in a country where they are the nominal majority.
They do, but they are not disadvantaged because of advances by minorities. This narrative of minorities has been a mainstay of Republicans for years now. Unfortunately it's become ingrained as fact in the Alt-Right.
>>They are accused of racism, told to "check their privilege", etc. - almost as if they are supposed to be ashamed of being white.
They are not. This is in their own minds and not in reality. This, in particular, seems to be a blind spot among the Alt-Right.
>>Why is "black pride" laudable, but "white pride" is racist?
It is not. But we don't see many examples of "white pride." What we see is attacking blacks (and most minorities) as the cause of current conditions rather than pride for white achievements in and of themselves. (For example, waving the "Confederate flag" is not white pride. It's out and out racism.)
(Score: 2, Troll) by khallow on Friday December 30 2016, @02:18PM
>>They are accused of racism, told to "check their privilege", etc. - almost as if they are supposed to be ashamed of being white.
They are not. This is in their own minds and not in reality. This, in particular, seems to be a blind spot among the Alt-Right.
And a whole bunch of universities to name a prominent example you missed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 30 2016, @02:28PM
it's easy to avoid problems by redefining them as something else which is fine
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Friday December 30 2016, @02:08PM
That's not what "melting pot" means. It means they become part of the mix, not that they disappear into the original solution and the original solution remains unchanged. But fine, let's run with your definition for a moment to see what that country you yearn for would look like.
Starting immediately, eat not a single taco, pizza, or bowl of spaghetti more. Hot dogs and hamburgers are also right out. No chow mein, no burritos. No Irish pubs, no bagels. No foreign cars, because those might sneakily insinuate foreign driving concepts into a pure America. No computers, because computers are not made in America any more and are clearly a vector for attack by the People's Republic of China. Just keep carving away all the "foreign" bits until you may eat unflavored oatmeal mush for breakfast and dress like a Quaker of yore. Disallow any outside influences whatsoever, hermetically seal the culture in a glass jar, and set it on the shelf of your altar of purity.
The America you know is the result of multi-culturalism, and nothing but that. And if you know your history, you'd know that it has never been "pure" at any time. When the first Europeans arrived on these shores there were already hundreds if not thousands of distinct languages and cultures at play on the continent. Among the Europeans there were the Spanish, Dutch, French, and English. Even if you said no, no, nobody counts but the English you'd still not have any kind of purity because there were Scots, Welshmen, Irish, Quakers, Puritans, Anglicans, Catholics, and many other distinct groups among them. That you eat corn and potatoes and possibly smoke tobacco is directly because there was cultural mixing with the Indians. You use foreign words from that mix all the time, like "raccoon" or "Chicago" without thinking about it.
So it's an impossible goal, what you're striving for. America has never been what you imagine, nor will it ever be. It's also quite likely you would not even want to live in the country that twinkles in your dreams.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 30 2016, @10:15PM
So what you're saying is that I need to stop appropriating other cultures?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 30 2016, @09:09PM
> Most alt-righters are typical of the many people who supported Trump [umich.edu]
Oh look! Brad is lying by omission to make his position seem like its some sort of super-majority.
Here's that same graph [umich.edu] scaled by population and then colored by the percentage of the vote. Not really overwhelmingly red anymore is it?
If there is one thing you can count on, its that brad has absolutely no problem using intellectual dishonesty to support his arguments. Its comforting in a way, because once you recognize the pattern you realize its a confession that not only is he wrong, but he knows he's wrong but instead of changing his mind to fit the facts, he'd prefer to lie instead. Which means nothing he says should be trusted.
For the curious, here is the full article. [umich.edu]