The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics

Journalist Malice (Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il) attempts to lay out the logic behind the foundational beliefs of what he terms the “New Right” in a work that wavers between anthropological observation, screed, and memoir. He writes, “They’re not crazy. They’re not suicidal. They’re as American as apple pie.” Disgusted by the Left’s totalizing views of Trump supporters, Malice first encountered the New Right, a loose coalition of people who oppose progressivism and egalitarianism, on Trollboard, an online gathering place for anarchists, and was eventually exposed to right-wing ideas including Curtis Yarvin’s the Cathedral (a term used to describe universities and the press, or supposed leftist social control). Malice spends many pages on the New Right’s internal discussions about how to counter progressivism, including the belief that liberals and leftists are irrational and can’t be reasoned or argued with. Though his observations are insightful, he employs almost every rhetorical tactic he denounces; criticizing the Left’s tendency to paint with broad strokes, for example, he argues that the Left uses the word racist simply to describe people with whom they disagree. He doesn’t achieve his goal of providing “logical, rational explanations.” This partisan text will appeal to members of the New Right and ruffle plenty of feathers on the Left. [em]Agent: Joseph Veltre, the Gersh Agency. (May) [/em]