Going to extremes

An analysis of the work of the alt-right” in NZ makes for sober reading.

- MARK FRYER

FEAR: New Zealand’s hostile underworld of extremists, by Byron C Clark (HarperCollins, $39.99).

There was a time when you’d find one in just about any public bar – a lone figure, always ready to treat a passing stranger to a monologue on the United Nations’ secret plan for world government, the international Jewish conspiracy, bloody feminists, fl fluoridation, Māori getting too big for their boots …

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we can now enjoy the same rich vein of opinion without leaving the comfort of home. Social media has allowed formerly solitary misanthropes to contact like-minded souls, gather “evidence” to reinforce their beliefs, recruit followers and generally make themselves appear more numerous and more representative of the wider population than they really are.

This book is mostly a catalogue of such individuals and groups in New Zealand, occupying what can be loosely described as the “alt-right” end of the political spectrum.