Could Republican candidates avoid stirring up social issues, e.g., gay marriage and abortion, and focus on the economy, international relations, etc.?
They could....But they won't.Because their only economic plan is to keep shoveling money into the maws of billionaires. They can't win an election on that, so they gin up all this distracting bullshit about Planned Parenthood and "religious freedom" and immigration and "The-muslims-are-coming-to-get-you" and "the-black-people-are-out-to-get-you" and "the-gays-are-going-to-steal-your-children"and the-commies-want-to-take-your-guns and Obamacare-will-kill-us-all and the rest of their utter horseshit.It's plain as fucking day, if you step away from any sense that you "owe" some misguided loyalty to the ungrateful GOP, and take a hard look at what they say they do, and what they ACTUALLY do.The only two reasons to vote republican are if you're already as rich as Croesus, or if you're so emotionally damaged that you can't live in any other state than a 24-hour-a-day shitfit of paranoia and religious mania and fear.
Why is alt-right called the "alt" right? Is there an "alt-left"?
The “alt” in “alt-right” means that they are opposed to many Left leaning stances and views, but not traditionally aligned with the modern day Right. They are an alternative to the Right in opposition to the Left.An example of this is Richard Spencer. He views that a strong authoritarian socialist government is necessary for the creation of a nation to serve as a homeland for the “white race”. None of that sounds like traditional conservatism with most of its arguments centered around deregulation and small government. There are so many inconsistencies with modern conservatism and the traditional values of the American right, that many of the hard liners can’t function in that sphere. That said, they disagree even more with the aspects of the Left, such as their implementation of speech codes and arguments for diversity to the point of excluding any identity group it viewed as oppressive, that they formed in opposition to that.Calling themselves the “alt-Right”, therefore is meant to engender them to those who also disagree with the Left, but who could never find common ground if they knew the underlying philosophies behind the movement. Their actual ideology, it needs to be said, is actually a dramatic shift leftward.As for answering if there is an Alt-Left, there are several. The most prominent, however, isn’t a radical division from many of the themes the Left has advocated for many years, such as sympathies for a radical communist ideology. So while the Alt Right is radical and incompatible new iteration with the traditional Right, the Alt Left is just a Leftward shift from the mainstream political discourse of the Left, similar to what we’ve seen in decades prior.This answer is part of my session on Understanding and Dismantling the Alt-Right.Follow The War Elephant and on Facebook at War Elephant for more.
What risk is there of a right-wing neo-fascist takeover in the United States?
I think the biggest threat to fascism in the US is Vice President Michael Pence. A Reconstructionist Christian, Pence puts his religion first over his obligation to the US Constitution. These Reconstructionist Christians are sworn to overthrow democracy in the US and replace it with a “Christian commonwealth.”Let's face it, President Donald Trump is not doing well. Things are not going as he envisioned them. With numerous calls to impeach him and his own discomfort in the job I doubt very much that he'll make it through 2020. If the president is removed or steps down for any reason, Mike Pence, this imbalanced religious zealot, is going to be the 46th president of the US.The US is not like other countries. We have a lot of balance points in place to prevent one ideology from overwhelming others. But this is the first time an evangelical has actually been elected to a top executive position. Remember that McCarthyism, based in an irrational fear of communism, completely overwhelmed the right to freedom of speech, thought and expression. But it was ultimately defeated. Nonetheless, fascism can definitely happen here.