The self-help to alt-right pipeline

How self-help and alt-right ideologies are intrinsically connected and what we can do about it.

Nov 20, 2024

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You probably wouldn’t recognize me fifteen years ago. Graduating high school, I was a product of my environment: a Christian Republican. I went to church every Sunday (and later would even be a camp counselor at a church camp) and regurgitated my family’s views on politics.

Now, fifteen years later, I’m writing to you as an Atheist Marxist. So, what happened?

It was a slow process, this change, and one that took around ten years, but the root of it all was knowledge. I was lucky to have English teachers in high school that even though my political beliefs were the opposite of theirs, they took the time to plant the seed of curiosity in me. They taught me how to check sources, do thorough research, and how to effectively defend my viewpoints. It’s because of them that I never wanted to stop learning (and also was a huge reason as to why I wanted to become an English teacher myself).

And I never did stop learning. Throughout college, I surrounded myself with information. I interviewed hundreds of people for my job as a journalist who had different viewpoints than mine. And slowly, but surely, I started to realize that my intrinsic values didn’t align with what I was taught to think growing up. I learned how to find primary sources and learned how systems work, the consequences of those systems, and how everything I had thought to be true was actually false.

And I’m still learning.

Looking back on it all, even though I’m ashamed as to who I used to be, it also gives me hope. If I’m able to be open to learning new things, changing my viewpoints, and fighting for a better world, then anyone can do it. This is why I believe in the power of education over a long period of time so deeply. I do believe, because I know, that it can change and collectively make the world a better place.

But, what does this have to do with the world of self-help?

Because much like my religious and political ideology journey, my journey with self-help has been one of transformation and change.

Growing up, I looked to self-help books and resources a lot. I was a mentally-ill teenager who was lucky enough to be able to go to therapy (and lucky to have parents who took mental health seriously), but I was always looking for more help. This continued into my twenties when I consumed everything I could about self-help. Eventually, I started to critically think about what I was reading and saw some patterns emerge.

I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that I had a conservative Christian upbringing and that I turned to self-help. And upon further examination over the past few years, I also believe that it goes the other way around as well.

Looking at ideologies and motivations behind the self-help industry as well as the ideologies and motivations behind alt-right conservative movements, I do believe that there is a strong link between the two.

To be clear, I’m not saying that everyone who reads or has ever read self-help is on the path to becoming part of the alt-right movement. I mean, look at me. But I do think that if we’re not careful, more and more people will follow down that path. In order to stop this from happening, we need to understand the link and work on providing other resources to educate people who may be going down that path.

What’s the link?

The main message and ideology of the self-help industry is that only you can help yourself. That you as an individual are the problem that needs fixing in order for you to live a better life. This same thinking is also tied to the wellness industry where self-care (an ideology stolen and bastardized from Audre Lorde) and personal responsibility are believed to be the answer to perfect health.

Both industries encourage questioning of authority and institutions, promoting a focus on individual success and health. In the self-help industry, this messaging turns into promoting that anything is possible if you have a positive mindset and in the wellness industry, this messaging turns into taking wellness into your own hands by foregoing traditional medicine.

Wellness influencer and alt-right podcaster Alex Clark (Photos from @realalexclark)

This individualistic ideology is a slippery slope. Because the same thinking is the basis of alt-right movements and this is something alt-right movements prey upon.

In 2011, Charlotte Wad and David Voas wrote a paper in the Journal of Contemporary Religion that introduced the term “conspirituality”. The paper defines it as “a rapidly growing web movement expressing an ideology fuelled by political disillusionment and the popularity of alternative worldviews.”

This movement continued to grow and connect the wellness and alt-right community, specifically during the start of the COVID pandemic. Both communities shared common ideologies in regards to the distrust of institutions, promoting a life of self-reliance. The increase in self-care mentalities and industries has slowly demonized community care and has caused a growing distrust of social programs. And this distrust is what the alt-right movement has grabbed onto as a gateway of sharing further alt-right ideologies to those in self-help/wellness circles.

Jordan Peterson | Jordan Peterson speaking with attendees at… | Flickr — Jordan Peterson is a prime example of how an individual can go from being a psychologist, turned self-help author, turned alt-right conspiracy theorist. (photo from Gage Skidmore)

Interestingly enough, while individuals are prioritized in the alt-right movement, the enemy that alt-right movements focus on are collective groups of people that they blame for societal issues. While these groups’ concerns for global health, poverty and inflation, and human trafficking may be valid, their scapegoats are anything but.

All of these ideologies from the self-help, wellness, and alt-right world encourage the focus on individuals. As a result, this thinking “others” everyone who isn’t them and everyone who may be part of a different ideology or belief system. This othering has the effect of every type of othering—a creation of a common enemy within groups. And when you other groups of people, that enemy is always another group of people.

This breeds the racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and sexism that we see and fear today. The real root of this evil lies within the individualistic and selfish ideologies of these movements. Instead of focusing on the real enemy (the systems created to harm), these groups are focusing on groups of people that have been created as scapegoats by the systems who are oppressing everyone.

And this is where the real danger lies. This is where humanity is losing because community care is being destroyed.

What can we do about it?

The answer to stopping this cycle is to change our thinking and ideology as a whole. Instead of embracing an ideology that focuses upon an individual’s need to fix a problem, we need to collectively look at and combat the systemic issues that harm us.

Unfortunately, the alt-right movement is considering groups of marginalized people as the systemic reason for their problems and have concrete plans rooted in hate and harm to “solve” these problems. These groups are empowering individuals and community by encouraging them to spread messages rooted in hate.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world who hope to combat these narratives seem to still be embracing self-help narratives that only you can make a difference. Yes, they’re embracing the same narratives that the self-help industry perpetuates, but what is different about the alt-right movement is that they’re mobilizing individuality and self-reliance ideologies while also creating a collective to push for harmful change.

These groups understand what journalist Talia Lavin outlined in her book “Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy” where she states: “No hate is an island.”

Because of this, love can’t be an island.

As Lavin continues, she states:

“Dismantling the rise of fascism is best not left to lone vigilantes, nor to the punitive mechanisms of the state, but to people working together to stamp out hate wherever it arises.”

The self-help, wellness, and alt-right movements have placed an emphasis on individuality in order to place a veil over alt-right’s true motivation: power. Once you strip a group of people down to individuals, you take away their power.

It is only through a collective push for systemic change that true liberation (and health) can be achieved. This is the answer and the only way we will be able to stop the flow of the self-help to alt-right pipeline.

And I know that this is possible. Although, ironically, I am only one individual, I am proof that through education and awareness, opinions can change. I was on this pipeline (as much as it pains me to admit) and I was able to break it within myself. Individuals are single drops of water. However, when we come together, we can change the flow.

The self-help to alt-right pipeline

How self-help and alt-right ideologies are intrinsically connected and what we can do about it.

What’s the link?

What can we do about it?

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