Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

I'm not surprised the so-called "alt right" consists mostly of bitter nerds.

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:14:10

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678352651822768129

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:14:10

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

Among nerds, there's grievance *and* a real strain of self-superiority, i.e., "Because my hobbies require my brain, I am superior jocks."

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:14:21

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678352700711522304

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:14:21

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

Most of us grow out of this pretty quickly. But for some, it becomes a foundational part of their self. It grows and curdles.

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:14:36

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678352763621896193

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:14:36

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

You take that curdled belief in your own superiority and its attendant elitism, add racism, a dash of anti-semitism, deep ignorance...

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:15:05

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678352884988276736

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:15:05

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

...and medieval fetishism—common to people interested in fantasy—and you have your basic dude who thinks he would be a feudal lord.

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:15:21

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678352953057665024

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:15:21

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

From there, add different elements for different variations. Maybe he's a PUA, maybe a religious reactionary, maybe a techno-libertarian...

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:16:02

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678353123551944704

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:16:02

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

...maybe an Ivy League kid who flipped through the Bell Curve, read a little Richard Spencer and now thinks he holds forbidden secrets.

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:16:11

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678353162269499392

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:16:11

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

...It all comes back to the anger and hurt of not being in the right crowd when you were 15.

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:16:21

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678353201498836996

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:16:21

Andrew Vahrenkamp@drew_vkamp

@jbouie So much is right with this analysis. But don't forget the misogyny that comes from no dates at 15.

@jbouie

·

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:17:56

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/drew_vkamp/status/678353626469896192

— Andrew Vahrenkamp (@drew_vkamp)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:17:56

Amy Keyishian@madfoot

@jbouie I've watched it happen to two friends ... So odd

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:18:54

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/madfoot/status/678353843248205825

— Amy Keyishian (@madfoot)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:18:54

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

I saw it happen to a friend in college. It was the strangest thing.  https://twitter.com/madfoot/status/678353843248205825 …

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:19:37

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678354025495060481

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:19:37

Alexander Rinn@Scaridium

@jbouie Really the universal theme with any extremists seems to be social isolation when young creates terrible people later on.

@jbouie

·

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:20:35

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/Scaridium/status/678354335319891970

— Alexander Rinn (@Scaridium)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:20:35

Dean C ن@constans

@jbouie fair. I am pretty suspicious of nerd-bashing, though.

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:22:42

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/constans/status/678354802758275073

— Dean C ن (@constans)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:22:42

Jamelle Bouie@jbouie

I was a teenaged nerd! This isn't nerd bashing as much as noting how bad tendencies among nerds can curdle.  https://twitter.com/constans/status/678354802758275073 …

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:23:43

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/678355058250162176

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:23:43

Jeet Heer@HeerJeet

@jbouie This has a deep history in nerd culture. Witness how sci-fi fans used A. E. van Vogt's novel "Slan" (1940) 1/n

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:29:21

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/678356473852903425

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:29:21

Jeet Heer@HeerJeet

@jbouie In van Vogt's novels, Slans are persecuted supermen, superior mutants hated by normals. Fans took this allegory to be truth 2/n

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:30:21

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/678356728342253568

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:30:21

Jeet Heer@HeerJeet

@jbouie 1940s sci-fans coined slogan "Fans are Slans" -- i.e. fans are literally next stage in human evolution. Some actually believed that

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:31:03

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/678356901860663296

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:31:03

Jeet Heer@HeerJeet

@jbouie Of course, fans who think they are mutant super-beings are in minority. But tendency is there. 4/4

Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:31:45

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/678357077606203392

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet)Sat, Dec 19 2015 23:31:45