Wednesday, January 10, 2018

PAYWALLS SPROUTING UP ALL OVER THE ALT-RIGHT


'If only you had donated more we wouldn't need to do this.'
The new trend in the Alt-Right right now is the paywall, with an increasing amount of content now being available only to 'special subscribers' at a range of popular Alt-Right sites.

Previously I had only associated this term with dying mainstream media publications, but now the paywalls are shooting up everywhere. Not sure when RamZPaul started his paywall, but a lot of his content seems to be subscriber only.

The Alt-Right's favourite podcast, The Daily Shoah, now has every second show behind its new paywall, and has even introduced a 'Svencam,' showing studio activity during podcasts for paying subscribers. 

More recently AltRight.com, Richard Spencer's site, started running paywalls on some content, including a bit of bantzing on Milo, who, as everyone in the Alt-Right knows, is Richard Spencer's least favourite black-cock-sucking Jewish-English Greekman.

Of course the superficial appeal of paywall is obvious.

For those being paid, it is a way to restock depleted coffers. As the Alt-Right has grown, the overheads of being a fully-functioning Alt-Right site have soared, but at the same time donations have been hit by the actions of tech companies like Patreon and Paypal.

Recently, however, Alt-Tech has stepped into the gap with Hatreon. For example, every month Richard Spencer receives $849.00 per month from Hatreon donors, in addition to other donations paid directly to AltRight.com by credit card and check. Donations are still a completely feasible way to fund the Alt-Right.

For those paying the subscription, there is the benefit of feeling more 'privileged' -- as if being White isn't privilege enough -- of being a 'special little snowflake subscriber,' privy to more of the 'table talk' of the elite inner circle than the non-paying plebs outside in the cold and dark. 

This has a raw psychological appeal for many people and gives them a much-needed sense of 'belonging' and of having their commitment 'recognised' in some way, even if it is just by a piece of browser recognition code.

But there is a negative side to paywalls. 

While the older generation has a lot of money to subscribe to this or that club or group, Generation Z, the generation that will ultimately carry the Alt-Right to power, is dirt poor. Reducing their flow of Alt-Right content or making them feel like 'second class citizens' in the movement is highly dangerous. 

Colin Liddell the Chief Editor of Alternative Right, the founding site of the Alt-Right, which he admits is neither popular nor tech savvy enough to put up its own paywall, recently made the following hard-hitting points on Twitter:
But perhaps the most eloquent comment on the situation was made in a secret Alt-Right forum by Alt-Righter William Rome:
'We need to appeal to poor working class whites hit hard by the economy and immigration...they must pay to hear us stand up for them.'
Meanwhile...