There was a brief period when I was in my early to mid 20s in which I could have been described as a 'fellow traveller' of the alt right, or even as 'alt lite' for a while.
Much of this stemmed from the usual factors - social isolation, economic deprivation and a sense that left-wing movements had (and have) betrayed the blue collar support base that they used to represent, in favour of corporate-funded identarian movements (i.e. they were complicit in dividing the working class on the basis of skin colour, what kind of junk they have between their legs, who they pray to and whether they like to shag their own sex or a different one.)
I still stand by that argument but back then I was an active social media user and of course got dragged down all the usual rabbit by people who ostensibly shared my grievances, which led to contact with some truly vulgar individuals.
How have you gotten out of it?
There were three factors at play. The first is that, quite simply, I'm not an idiot and as soon as people in my online social circles started trotting out long-debunked racialist theories from the 19th century I got the hell out of there.
The second is that I got a job, my isolation ended and I started associating with people in the real world. Most crucially, I started befriending people who were different to me. I became close friends with someone who was a Muslim, I met some people on the political left who weren't radical, foaming-at-the-mouth extremists, I had a very affable co-worker who was transgender; Suddenly these people who had been much-maligned online transpired to be very decent human beings in the flesh.
The third is that I deleted all my social media accounts. Suddenly I was no longer privy to an endless stream of dubious half-baked conspiracy theories.
Have you know anyone that has gone further?
I have come into contact with such individuals in the past but I refuse to have any sustained contact with them.
Is there an end?
Yes but it would require certain grievances (especially those of the mostly white and male working class) to receive a fair hearing and for people with similar economic interests to wake up and realise that they're being turned against each by bad actors who profit from fomenting division in the lower classes.
But by far the best way to end it is to simply get out of your echo chamber and start talking to people who are different to you because as soon as you realise that they're human then the cycle of dehumanisation will cease to have any power over you.
Also, getting rid of social media would help. A lot. I would not shed a single tear if Facebook, Twitter, et al went bankrupt and disappeared forever.