Elspeth McLean reviews Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump by David Neiwert. Published by Allen and Unwin/Versio.
If you want to pull the duvet over your head and hibernate at the mere mention of anything to do with Donald Trump, David Neiwert's Alt America may not be for you.
However, if you can face taking a closer look at the background to the Donald's rise to power, investigative reporter Neiwert's study of the role of the growth of fascism and far-right terrorism in the United States over recent decades is well worth adding to your reading list on the subject.
Neiwert says those who had studied the extreme Right in depth considered America had been "very, very, very lucky so far when it comes to fascistic political movements'', but with Trump's presidency that luck appeared to have finally run out.
Trump, Neiwert argues, was no overnight sensation, but the logical end result of a "years-long series of assaults by the American Right, not just on American liberalism but on democratic institutions themselves''.
Alt-America had "always functioned as a refuge for people who reject factual reality, a place where they can convene and reassure one another of their fabricated version of how the world works''.
In Alt-America, among the beliefs are that Barack Obama is secretly a Kenyan-born Muslim who conspired to impose sharia law on the US, climate change is a hoax, global elites want to disarm the population so they can impose tyrannical dictatorship, and prejudice and oppression against white people is greater than that faced by anyone else.
Neiwert tracks its development and growth in influence from the 1990s - patriot militias, anti-government conspiracy theorists, militant racists and its evolution into mainstream conservatism through the Tea Party, all given credence by powerful right-wing media.
While the official and media focus has been on Islamic-inspired domestic terrorism, Neiwert points out that between 2008 and 2015, 115 of the 201 cases of domestic terrorism (a total almost three times the rate of the preceding eight years), involved right-wing extremists. The total also included 63 cases of Islamist-inspired domestic terrorism.
Neiwert's carefully annotated tome is not a fast read and I must admit the plethora of characters sometimes saw me flicking back to the index to remind myself who was who.
Neiwert is not without hope, but he says it will take liberals coming to terms with their own prejudices and their "easy willingness to treat fellow Americans - the ones who are not like us - with contempt and disrespect''.
He says it is "vital for liberals, progressives, moderates and genuine conservatives to link arms in the coming years to fight back against the fascist tide''.
This will require organising and real outreach and some self-reflection.
"Respecting those from rural areas, those who hold deep religious beliefs, doesn't force progressives to compromise their own beliefs or standards. It simply means being part of a democracy, which is enriched by its diversity. It means once again empowering the many rural progressives who have lived there all along, fighting the good fight against all odds, because they are the people who are best equipped to have those many dinner-table conversations.''
I raise a tentative glass to his optimism.
Elspeth McLean is an ODT columnist and former health reporter.
