PAYWALLS SPROUTING UP ALL OVER THE ALT-RIGHT

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:

Donation vs Paywall?

Donation is clearly superior because you not only support the site you like, but also facilitate it broadcasting its message out to everyone else. Paywall works the opposite way. You are actually paying the site to shut down their message to the wider world.

— Alternative Right (@NewAltRight) November 11, 2017

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...