From alt-right to neo-populism: can you decode the new political lexicon?

Here is the lexicon of the new Right, says Susannah Butter
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With only weeks to go before Donald Trump moves his rococo furniture into the White House, and Nigel Farage jetting back and forth to buoy him up, the Right is in the ascendant. Next year will bring a new world order, and with it a barrage of new words to decode. Here is the lexicon of the new Right.

Alt-Right

Not to be confused with the Right, this broad alliance wants to reclaim conservativism from the mainstream. The movement is popular with young people — mainly white men — and fights its battles online. Members of the alt-Right oppose immigration, multiculturalism and political correctness, and back Trump even though he has distanced himself from them. One of the first to use the term was Richard Spencer, an American white nationalist who founded the website Alternative Right. Spencer mistrusts Jewish people and wants to see people of European descent “protected” from other races through state-sponsored segregation...

Alt-Reich

...so it’s hardly a surprise, then, that some quipsters have given this collective of angry internet crusaders a rebrand.

Neo-populism

A populist doctrine holds that the world is divided into two antagonist groups — a corrupt ruling elite and the people — and that a new politics is needed. The “people” are pitted against “the establishment”, and there is much derision of “experts”. Sound familiar? Trump’s victory is the latest in a global wave of populist uprisings that transcend the Left/Right divide, from the Brexit vote to Momentum.

Producerist

Populism entails pitting members of the electorate against each other and producerism is one way to do this. It stipulates that those engaged in the production of wealth are of greater benefit to society than liberals with inherited wealth. See Trump’s rhetoric of defending the white working class in opposition to an alliance of the liberal elite and parasitic immigrants. Trump’s wealth is different because it makes him immune to the demands of those with special interests and free to look out for ordinary Americans.

Libtard

A liberal retard. The alt-Right doesn’t care if such terms are politically incorrect. In fact, political correctness is for libtards.

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Globalist

Even the most diametrically opposed ideologies can meet in the middle. The Left is anti-globalisation when it allows capitalism to dominate unchecked, while the far Right is anti-globalisation when it means letting foreign influences dilute the power of nationalism. Trump refers to Hillary Clinton’s “corrupt globalism” while his chief strategist Stephen Bannon is engaged in an attack on the “globalist elites” with a damaging belief in open borders and cheap labour. Incidentally, Bannon is known as “honey badger” because of his relentlessness.

Economic nationalism

Often confused with racism — but really, definitely, not the same thing. Bannon says this is about “Americans looking to not get f***ed over”: “The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia.” His remedy is a dose of economic nationalism.

Fiscal conservatism

Trump promised to slash taxes while spending more on infrastructure and the military, which has worried Republican law-makers — they’re not known for being flash with the cash.

Droopy

When Nicolas Sarkozy was President he called François Fillon a loser, and the name stuck. But “Droopy” is now the favourite to win the French presidential election in May next year. Fillon, 62, isn’t as hardline as Marine Le Pen but he is a social conservative who wants to ban adoption for gay couples and slash public spending. He is a defender of Russia and has been described as “Thatcher and Reagan wrapped into one”.

“That Obama creature”

What former Ukip leader-turned Trump hype man Nigel Farage calls the departing President of the United States.

Neoreactionaries

Also known as the Dark Enlightenment, this group wants to return to feudalism. They eschew feelings in favour of supposedly rational thought, traditional gender roles and neofascism.

Nationalism

A celebration of European civilisation. The politically correct Left has made white people feel guilty about their privilege but nationalism is about encouraging them to embrace who they are. It exists in opposition to multiculturalism — but again, it isn’t racist.

Cuck

Short for cuckservative, a portmanteau of conservative and cuckold describing people who call themselves Right-wing but are deemed to be selling out by, say, helping their Polish builder with his social housing application. The opposite is uncucked.

Glorious

The ultimate compliment. Trump is referred to as “Our Glorious Leader”. The alt-Right has appropriated the word from the Third Reich, where “fields of glory” was used by Nazis to describe the mass murder of Jews in the Second World War. Trump is also known as God Emperor.

Follow Susannah Butter on Twitter: @susannahbutter

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