It’s doesn’t take the gift of clairvoyance to predict that this weekend’s deadly demonstrations by alt-right groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, will almost certainly be turned into the far Right’s next iconic rallying cry, just like Ruby Ridge and Waco were in the 90s. The radical starboard fringe cleave to any event or action they think will foment racial unrest on such a grand scale that it will lead to the violent, permanent dismantling of America’s culturally diverse status quo.
But there are other occurrences that also showcase the alt-Right’s native talent for engineering social change. These moments (which are, perhaps, even more emblematic of the movement’s true nature), should also be kept in mind as the media work themselves into a froth over the reach and scope of this extremist movement, especially now that they have a kindred spirit in the Oval Office.
Take, for example, what happened on November 15, 2014, in the village of Wunsiedel, Germany. Every fall for 25 years, neo-Nazi groups from all over the country would gather in the town for a march and rally on Rudolph Hess’ birthday to promote their white supremacist, anti-immigrant and pro-German nationalist views. (Hess was one of Adolph Hitler’s closest aides. He secretly flew to Scotland in 1941, supposedly to try to negotiate peace with Britain, but was taken prisoner by the British for the duration of the war and, later, convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life in Spandau Prison in Germany. Hess, the last prisoner in Spandau, is said to have committed suicide in 1987. Until 2011, when his body was disinterred, he was buried in Wunsiedel.)
The march and rally had become the biggest annual public event in the neo-Nazi calendar in Germany, much to the consternation of the residents of Wunsiedel. Not surprisingly, they were less than ecstatic over the idea that their town was known as the home of right-wing extremism in the country. In 2014, they decided to do something about it. Something incredibly clever.
Instead of trying to stop the neo-Nazis from marching, they secretly turned the event into the, “most involuntary walkathon in the country.” Working with Exit Germany, the people of the town came together and pledged to donate 10 euros for every meter the skinheads walked to the nonprofit. Exit Germany is a charity dedicated to helping neo-Nazis safely leave the neo-Nazi movement and return to normal living. The goal of the walkathon was to raise 10,000 euros for the charity.
The subterfuge was planned with the precision of a military operation. Hundreds of skinheads and neo-Nazis showed up at the appointed time and started their march carrying various symbols and signs to promote their cause. But moments after the march commenced, the towns people displayed billboards, signs and posters of their own. They called it the, “Nazis Against Nazis,” walkathon. The route was peppered with signs thanking the marchers and encouraging them to soldier on for the cause of dismantling their own movement. Helpful mile-markers were painted in the street showing how much money had been raised to that point by the marchers. There were even tables of free bananas for the participants to help ensure they had the stamina to finish the trek. A carefully coordinated social media campaign was also launched moments after the march began to tell the world about the Nazis marching to end their own movement.
Oh, by the way, that was the last year the neo-Nazis marched in Wunsiedel.
And that wasn’t even the first time Germany’s version of the alt-right got punked by Exit Germany. In 2011, the group staged the “Trojan T-Shirt,” coup. Several neo-Nazis musical groups had decided to come together and stage a massive right-wing rock concert to promote their common causes and recruit young people to their side. (What would you call such an event, “Hatestock?” “Hitlerpalooza?” “Reich-ella?”)
Exit Germany decided to help the Nazis with their event. Through a dummy front company, they gave the promoters of the concert more than 250 specially designed T-shirts that were to be distributed free to concert goers. The T-shirts had an elaborate design on the front that said, “Hardcore Rebels – National and Free!” Attendees snapped the freebie shirts up in minutes. They were less thrilled with their “big score,” however, when they got them home. After a single wash, the intricate design on the front of the shirts transmuted into the message, “If your T-Shirt Can do It, So Can You!” Contact information for Exit Germany was also helpfully provided on the shirt. Angry neos peppered the internet with statements of outrage at being duped which, of course, only caused news of the prank to spread even faster.
Putting aside, for the moment, whether the President’s remarks were appropriate (spoiler alert – they weren’t), one of the best ways to put these people back on the lonely, empty outskirts of common public discourse, is to show them for what a very high percentage of them are, ridiculous losers who, for the most part, swing from very, very low branches in the brain forest. There’s more than one reason they so admire Trump. In addition to echoing their hateful sentiments about race, gender and sexual orientation, he’s every bit as stupid as they are. Just as sunlight is the best disinfectant for public officials misdeeds, reason is the alt-Right’s kryptonite. Let’s give them a major dose, every time they heave their unibrows into public view.