# What exactly does "far right" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 8, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162 "2017-05-08T22:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/1 "2017-05-08T22:20:39Z")
Can someone name three _specific_ differences between the “far right” and mainstream conservatives? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/2 "2017-05-08T22:30:47Z")
I can name one, right off the bat. Mainstream conservatives are Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/3 "2017-05-08T23:23:33Z")
The far are more likely to have racist underpinnings to their belief system. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/4 "2017-05-08T23:42:15Z")
The Far Right tends to be both authoritarian and anti-government (those are not mutually exclusive). They also tend to be nationalist and/or racist and very pro-military. You would have to look at something like Stormfront to see them in action because we don’t have many of them around here. Moderate conservatives do not meet that description. There are a variety of different types of conservatives ranging from libertarians to old-school types like P.J. O’Rourke and George Will to Bible thumping Baptists. Massachusetts is a strongly blue state but has a history of electing moderate Republican governors including Mitt Romney and now Charlie Baker. They are all about fiscal responsibility and don’t focus much on social rhetoric. I count myself among their ranks. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/5 "2017-05-08T23:45:35Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/6 "2017-05-08T23:51:02Z")
There is an interesting phenomenon in Political Science called “[Horseshoe Theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory)”. It states that the Far Left and the Far Right aren’t opposites at all. The movements wrap around like the ends of a horseshoe and aren’t far apart at all. The only difference is what kind of crazy you are and what your fashion sense entails. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/7 "2017-05-09T00:14:54Z")
dodgy dude: > [@](#): > > What exactly does “far right” mean? ``` It's a mistake to ask this way. There IS no such thing as an OFFICIAL "far right" or "far left." Therefore there IS no "exactly" involved. ``` One more thing: I suggest you consider that it isn’t just an certain POSITION which can be “extreme.” Someone can take any idea or policy or position to an EXTREME point. In other words there very well CAN be such a thing as an EXTREME MODERATE. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/8 "2017-05-09T00:15:21Z")
It is a term for the overton window rankings based on the local culture. Far left - center left - centrist - center right - far right The definition changes based on the culture. In the US, Bernie Sanders is considered far left. In Germany, he is center left. Communists are far left in Germany, whereas they don’t exist much in the US. Far right means the party to the right of the center right. If you are looking for differences, I’d say the far right are far more nationalistic and far more concerned with racial and cultural purity. The far right also seems less concerned with economics (or are openly socialist, for the right people) while the center right is more libertarian economically. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/9 "2017-05-09T01:04:47Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Can someone name three _specific_ differences between the “far right” and mainstream conservatives? Mainstream American conservatives are egalitarian secularists and favor globalism and representative democracy and some forms of social safety nets, welfare, and regulations on industry. Compare that to various far right movements: White nationalists Neo-reaction/Dark Enlightenment Anarchist capitalists Dominionists It’s possible Trump and/or Objectivist Freedom Caucus types will continue to push out Romney and McCain types so the mainstream will have to be redefined, we’ll have to wait and see. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/10 "2017-05-09T01:18:19Z")
This question is a good illustration of the way that many political terms are flawed especially when it comes to a Left-Right continuum. The Far Right believes very different things than moderate conservatives do just like the Far Left isn’t just a liberal having a bad day. They aren’t just more of the same thing. They are fundamentally different positions. They are all very different movements. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/11 "2017-05-09T16:07:56Z")
There is no such thing as the “far right” in America. Our politics just doesn’t work that way, with a continuum of parties running from very strongly nationalistic, pro-security, pro-capitalist to very strongly nationalistic, pro-security, anti-capitalist. That’s part of why the parties we do have (Republicans and Democrats; ignore the insignificant parties which, other than Minnesota, never manage to elect anyone) have such infighting. They are agglomerations (or, if you prefer, coalitions, though that implies active bargaining and compromise among the groups) of groups with different main points of emphasis (pro-business, for example, or anti-abortion, or pro-environmentalist, or pro-entitlement, etc.) There are at least two main axes at work, and where anyone falls tends to depend upon where they are in the co-ordinate plane. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/12 "2017-05-10T16:43:41Z")
I consider myself to be on the left, but not the far left. From where I stand, the difference between the far right and a mainstream conservative seems to be not so much about what they believe, but how they want to approach the issues. The far right seems to be about hating minorities and anyone with a different viewpoint. Take a look at the comments on Yahoo news articles or Facebook posts on any number of issues as an example. Recently the Texas senate passed a bill similar to the infamous North Carolina HB2. Their are numerous comments in stories about this event stating things like transgender people are all ill and should all be killed, that all liberals should be deported, that if they see a man in the women’s bathroom that they will just beat the person right there on the spot, etc. I can link some articles if anyone wants me to, but I think that hatred of anyone not exactly like them is the defining characteristic in the USA today. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/13 "2017-05-10T17:35:38Z")
IME and IMO, the far right are those who believe wholly in the “1955” myth. See recent thread. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/14 "2017-05-10T18:26:02Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Can someone name three _specific_ differences between the “far right” and mainstream conservatives? Fwiw, I didn’t understand the BBC’s coverage of the recent French election; Marine Le Pen was constantly described as ‘far-right’ in reportage yet her main policies of controlled immigration, border controls and France-first seemed very similar to Donald Trump, who was never characterised as far right. I think in any European context i’m aware of of course Trump is far right - how can election pledges like the forced repatriation of 11 million people be otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/15 "2017-05-10T19:40:11Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > There is no such thing as the “far right” in America. Our politics just doesn’t work that way… You see Pat Buchanan (to use one example) as a “mainstream conservative?” > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Fwiw, I didn’t understand the BBC’s coverage of the recent French election; Marine Le Pen was constantly described as ‘far-right’ in reportage yet her main policies of controlled immigration, border controls and France-first seemed very similar to Donald Trump, who was never characterised as far right. > > I think in any European context i’m aware of of course Trump is far right - how can election pledges like the forced repatriation of 11 million people be otherwise. Not to be too charitable to Trump or Le Pen, but I think Le Pen has an actual set of principles that guide her to her far-right positions. I think it is harder to pin Trump down as far right when he sometimes expresses support for abortion, single-payer health care, and gun control. But then a few minutes pass and he says something totally different. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/16 "2017-05-10T20:16:27Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > You see Pat Buchanan (to use one example) as a “mainstream conservative?” Showing you missed entirely the point I was making. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/17 "2017-05-10T20:24:11Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Showing you missed entirely the point I was making. :smack: Feel free to clarify. I resent the implication that I’m the only one who didn’t understand your brilliant post. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/18 "2017-05-10T21:55:00Z")
Check out [Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right](https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0307947904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494453120&sr=8-1&keywords=book+dark+money) by Jane Mayer to see who is greasing the wheels and why. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/19 "2017-05-10T22:28:08Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Not to be too charitable to Trump or Le Pen, but I think Le Pen has an actual set of principles that guide her to her far-right positions. I think it is harder to pin Trump down as far right when he sometimes expresses support for abortion, single-payer health care, and gun control. But then a few minutes pass and he says something totally different. Yeah, fair point. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162/20 "2017-05-11T00:17:19Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > Fwiw, I didn’t understand the BBC’s coverage of the recent French election; Marine Le Pen was constantly described as ‘far-right’ in reportage yet her main policies of controlled immigration, border controls and France-first seemed very similar to Donald Trump, who was never characterised as far right. > > . It’s true that a strong nationalism is more mainstream in the USA than it is in Europe. However, the Front National has an history that Trump doesn’t have. Besides anti-immigrant nationalists, it was build around the racists, the former supporters of Petain regime, the terrorists opposed to the independance of Algeria, the fundamentalist christians, the antisemites, the neo-nazis even. Even though Marine Le Pen is bent on making it more mainstream (or at least appear more mainstream) and doesn’t use anymore skinheads as security detail, most of the unsavory characters or their spiritual heirs are still there in the background. And sometimes forget to close their mouths and stumble on the foreground. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-does-far-right-mean/786162.md?page=2)