2,532 words
In the wake of Charlottesville, the Dissident Right is undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. For those paying attention, this is a very rich irony for a movement that has “identity” as its axis. Debates rage about optics, tactics, strategy, leadership, and every other facet imaginable among self-styled experts. We know that we have a destination in mind, but we don’t know exactly how to get there, nor who should steer the ship. We know that to arrive, we must be able to convincingly assert the very messages that we are still struggling to articulate and then deliver them to a shrinking audience that does not want to be persuaded of such things, anyway. Time is not on our side to figure this out, and the stakes could not be higher, considering that failure means the erasure of our people. Our vessel can still be righted, but it is going to require the same three countermeasures that stop a ship from listing: changing its angle of incline, shifting the center of gravity, and redistributing the weight.
Our primary failure is not recognizing what we truly are or what our task actually is. We have allowed ourselves to be defined in a political sphere, but we are not merely asking society to change its politics – we are asking society to change its soul. We cannot make progress until we understand that we are not political reformers, we are religious reformers, and we must begin acting that way. In our current climate, we have no moral standing, and this, more than anything, relegates us to pariah status. People don’t merely disagree with us, they see us as evil. People don’t debate evil – they crush it. There is no path forward that does not require this aspect to change before anything else can. To know the way out, we must know how and why we arrived at this point so that we may correct our direction by first changing our angle of inclination.
The Angle of Incline
By the mid-twentieth century, still reeling from the sheer volume of casualties in two consecutive continental wars, white nations began a process of restructuring their institutions and purging nationalistic tendencies among their native populations. In a spiritual awakening of sorts, European-descended peoples explicitly identifying as a group became equated with atrocity – the holocaust of Jews, slavery, segregation, colonialism, apartheid, subjugation, exploitation of resources, and denial of the rights of non-white peoples the world over. A new morality emerged to guide whites toward what they believed to be the pursuit of absolution. Our very identity became an original sin. Strident positions on race, especially the wickedness of whites, effectively became a new religion that entrenched itself in every aspect of society and culture.
European nations removed themselves from the undeveloped world as colonial powers. In the United States, the government began forcefully integrating its various racial populations and engaged in massive programs to address poverty and the political disenfranchisement of blacks. All white nations opened their borders to welcome non-white peoples from every corner of the globe to live among them as equals. Economic policies transitioned in scope over the decades from national to global. No longer was the primary focus of a nation protecting and growing a stable, prosperous, native-born middle class so that they could enjoy comfortable, rewarding, family-oriented lives. The primary focus of European-descended peoples instead became uplifting the non-white world, while simultaneously wresting away the ability of their own native populations to use democratic means to act in their self-interests, lest they drift closer toward “evil.” No offering was considered too great to address these wrongs – even if that meant placing themselves and their societies upon a sacrificial altar. Such were the demands of salvation.
Nationalists were not defeated by failing to change people’s minds through persuasive debate, academic arguments, and empirical data. They were defeated first in warfare, and then by failing to win their people’s hearts by accessing their sense of justice. The public did not change intellectually – their moral axis reoriented. Unfortunately, it was not that difficult to create the world we now live in, precisely because of the methods crudely used to oppose those pressing the reorientation. Freedom riders were lynched, black churches were bombed, activists were assassinated, black children were spat upon – the KKK was indeed a terrorist organization. All moral standing was effectively poisoned decades before almost everyone in this movement today was even born. The average person could not abide seeing such things play out in their societies. It strengthened their sense of certainty that they were, in fact, fighting evil, which enabled them to tap into the endless resolve that ultimately carried them to victory. This victory enabled the erection of a pseudo-religious State dedicated to racial justice and the dismantling of “white supremacy” as its permanent calling. This is a position it enjoys to this day, but which it has dramatically overstepped, which is why all of us are here now, firmly beneath its boot. It has no intention of stopping where it is. Its goal is not fairness, but rather judgment, punishment, and retribution.
Like it or not, fairly or unfairly, the opponents of this post-war spiritual reckoning will forever be associated with the mistakes of the opposition during the Civil Rights Era, no matter how sound our reasoning is regarding the ultimate consequences of these ideals, up to and including our resistance to white genocide. The Western world is like Abraham atop Mount Moriah, with Isaac bound to the rock and raised blade in hand. An angel has not yet appeared to interrupt this appeasing gesture to the God we cannot see, but whose demands we can hear, urging us, as a testament to our devotion, to plunge the dagger into our victim. Listing as we might be, the Dissident Right has no choice but to be that interrupting voice.
The Center of Gravity
The moral underpinnings of these post-war imperatives rapidly led to the development of doctrines which became an informal State religion, continually reaffirming the creeds of its faith through culture, institutional education, and peer-enforced social customs. What we call “the narrative” is in fact the self-reinforcing creed of a very pious population practicing a faith that is just short of compulsory, being a condition for acceptance in civic life. The system itself is in crisis because the position of high priest (the POTUS) is currently staffed by someone viewed as insufficiently pious to the doctrine of the Church. The clergy (the media) treats him with the legitimacy of an antipope (Russian collusion?) for his blasphemies (the border wall, anti-globalist language, the Muslim ban, “shithole countries,” etc. . . .).
We must understand that we are taking on a theocracy that has assumed power precisely because the public sees its aims as morally justified and its critics as morally bankrupt. We have to recognize that there are few things historically as dangerous as a population convinced of its own moral certitude, and we must interact with it accordingly. When a society has entered that state of mind, it is incapable of self-regulating behavior. As reformists, we must begin engaging the system as though it were the fifteenth-century Catholic Church, with the full cognizance of the pain that it can visit upon someone it identifies as a heretic. It has access to State power. It has the ability to excommunicate individuals via a wide variety of tactics. It has the ability to engage in rigged prosecutions and trial proceedings. It deploys its own version of inquisitors combating heresy by presenting themselves as journalists. The agents of the system feel very justified in carrying out these judgments and they have no effective check on their power to do so, because they operate with the blessings of the State. Antifa are the modern equivalent of the townsfolk massing for a witch burning. Antagonistic public spectacles in such an atmosphere are suicidal, especially when the participants dress the part.
The interesting thing about a theocratic State is that it is very powerful right up to the instant that it is not. There is generally no singular event that brings it down, only cumulative ones that build toward a cascade. Like a dictatorship, when a theocracy falls, it is because it has already been discredited and public support has eroded well before whatever catalyst ultimately nudges it over. It is the last to know that it has lost power. Our primary objective remains shifting the center of gravity. We must continue discrediting the foundations of the morality from which this system postures and justifies its anti-white actions. A theocratic order loses its last leg once it has no ability left to rule through fear, because after being exposed as a fraud, that Church has already emptied itself of those zealots willing to enforce its diktats. We accomplish this by forcing the system to defend morally indefensible things.
We cut its supply of zealots by eliminating its appeal to people’s natural sense of right and wrong. Ours must be seen as the moral center of gravity. This is not a difficult message to convey, since this system ultimately seeks our replacement and erasure . . . our genocide. We just have to make them state it publicly, over and over. They are operating from an immoral center of gravity, and we must make them demonstrate it repeatedly. The more strident and self-righteous they are, the better. Things like “It’s okay to be White” are flawless examples of how this is done. Make the priests of this order defend their evils. From Tim Wise to Kevin Williamson, to The Forward, to countless Twitter accounts – memeing the very ideas that they openly state into the public consciousness must be a non-stop operation. They want us dead and will tell you as much. Our center of gravity shifts as more white people recognize this.
You see, ours is not the only vessel dangerously listing right now. The State religion and its narrative is losing consensus regarding identity in the West, which is why its ministerial class regards controlling the discourse as so important. They realize just how rapidly public sentiment can pivot, particularly should they be forced to abandon the moral high ground, leaving their priests pounding the podium to vacant pews. They recognize just how intense the distrust and resentment coursing through the public is, and how tenuous their grasp will be should they have to compete fairly in an arena of ideas. They realize they can still lose, which is why there is so much anxiety over how exactly to deal with us. We just have to believe we can win, and like those reformists who came before us, work tirelessly and strategically to achieve it. Sensing that they are vulnerable, the priests are making panicked errors in this climate, and this ultimately favors us. This is the time to press our efforts and tip over their listing ship.
Redistribution of Weight
The nature of warfare is such that each battle is a fluid situation requiring real-time adjustments. Tacticians understand that he who fights the previous war, loses it. 2016 was fun, and we all had a great time entering the public dialogue and moving the Overton window. Being bold and shocking worked, but if we rely exclusively upon transgression, lulz, and trolling, we will limit our successes to that one arena alone, and people will cease to find it interesting. Shock is a tactic, not a long-term strategy. We claimed a beachhead, but there must be a second wave of more conventional reinforcements for /our guys/ to take more ideological territory.
It is a great undertaking, for sure. The greatness of Western Civilization rests not exclusively in its explorations and its application of science and technology. Those are just two manifestations of what actually drives Western culture. The true strength of the culture of the White Man, more than any other group, is that he has always streamed a constant, renewing supply of minds capable of imagining and then actualizing higher concepts. No other race has shown the same degree of willingness to reexamine their institutions and social structures with every generation, forcing them to justify themselves. When those structures fail to do so, the White Man replaces them, whereas other groups never even ask those questions. This, more than anything, is what scares the shit out of the ruling elite, and it is ultimately what lies behind their desire to rid the planet of us. We are of the genetic stock that changes the world. They can only achieve stasis in a world without our disruptive tendencies.
We must continue to achieve victories in the culture wars. Mockery and subversive humor against their hollow religion is a major part of it, but there is more. We will need creative minds who can reach the population and transmit our ideas in works of fiction. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Jungle, and To Kill a Mockingbird are but a few examples of stories featuring interesting characters and plots that impacted society so greatly with their underlying ideas that they spurred reforms. Such books caused the public to reevaluate the consequences of their political views by depicting characters tangibly experiencing the social ills the authors wanted to highlight.
Propagandistic fiction ultimately has more impact upon people than any treatise. These novelists made the pain of the victims they portrayed personal, human, and relatable. People are moved to action by what they feel, not by what some nibba proves with graphs and charts. For heaven’s sake, to take a modern example, how many people currently derive their worldview from Harry Potter? Like it or not, this is the world with which we must interact. We have to reach people on their terms, in forms they can grasp, and with characters they can sympathize with. There is a reason Jesus spoke in parables – it makes complicated concepts relatable by the common man. We have to personify our concepts in stories (and no, I am not talking about Siege).
Ours is a movement that is naturally attractive to those who are both bright and discontented. It is populated by those who recognize that something is fundamentally wrong, and that they have a duty to change it. The White Man’s history shows that, at his most creative and intelligent, he is never satisfied with conditions as they are, which is why he is the agent of change in a world that otherwise tends toward stasis. As I write this, there are statesmen in the mold of George Washington; philosophers in the mold of Aristotle; writers in the mold of Chaucer, Dickens, and Hugo; reformists in the mold of Martin Luther; satirists in the mold of Aristophanes and Swift; strategists in the mold of Napoleon and Alexander . . . and they are in our ranks. We have the ability to unlock minds and put the oppressive, stunting political religion of the twentieth century in the rear-view mirror. This happens when the listing ship is righted by altering its incline, its center of gravity, and its weight. If we all push, together, in the same direction, and at the same time, our fully upright vessel’s direction will be toward the stars and a new Renaissance.
Enjoyed this article?
Be the first to leave a tip in the jar!
Related
-
Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 581: Fourth Meeting of the Counter-Currents Book Club — Greg Johnson’s Against Imperialism
-
The Establishment’s Radicals
-
Nueva Derecha vs. Vieja Derecha, Capítulo 31: Sobre la Violencia
-
Nueva Derecha vs. Vieja Derecha, Capítulo 30: Populismo Prematuro
-
A Conspiratorial Life
-
Nueva Derecha vs. Vieja Derecha, Capítulo 28: Competición por Estatus, Judíos y Convencionalización Racialista
-
Nueva Derecha vs. Vieja Derecha, Capítulo 26: Los Nacionalistas Blancos y la “Política Dominante”
-
South Africa versus Israel: Reaping the Whirlwind of “Anti-Semitism”
6 comments
Goes to the heart of the matter. That’s why we see such a lack of moral reasoning, and instead only emotional outbursts and furious uncompromising demands, in case of SJWs.
It is because their almost-religious moral certainty
Yeah, this theory has been expounded at length, that the religious fanaticism of the puritans has been replaced by a fanaticism for leftist race politics in the post enlightenment world, with the black, the Indian, the whatever replacing Christ in the mental framework. It’s quite analogous to Kevin macdonald’s Theory—not sure if this was original to him—that hyper religious Eastern European Jews had their former religious framework easily replaced with radical politics, such as communism. It’s in the realm of evolutionary psychology, that the brain has literally been selected a certain way—religious people tend to be fecund and productive, hence their populations expand—and the mind looks for something in its environment on which to fix the preadapted mental template.
Great read and suggestions. Thank you.
Interestingly and synchronistically, German publisher Götz Kubitschek https://counter-currents.com/2017/10/unintended-consequences/ lives in Saxony-Anhalt, not far from Martin Luther’s birthplace, Eisleben:
“Kubitschek is married to Ellen Kositza,[12] his second wife, who also wrote for the JF. The couple has seven children[13] and lives in Schnellroda Manor in the village of Steigra (Saxony-Anhalt).[14]” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6tz_Kubitschek#Family
This region was the heartland of the Reformation, the resistance against the Communist occupation of eastern Germany and now is the stronghold of the AfD party and home of the PEGIDA movement, which, in my opinion, paved the way for BREXIT, Trump’s election, the rise of many other populist and nationalist movements and the general awakening of native citizens throughout the West.
These reformist and revo-/evolutionary movements seem to be birthed in the Saxony region, move on to England and then jump the pond to the U.S., as the Reformation did.
The following is a rather deranged article, but it makes the correct connection between Luther and the AfD:
“Protestantism is [] rooted in the political essence of Germany, that till this day Luther is used for populist movements. For example, the rising Alternative for Germany party (AfD) presents posters with Luther’s portrait adjacent to his infamous words: Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise (Hier ste[h]e ich und kann nicht anders), alongside the slogan: “Courage to Truth” (Mut zur Wahrheit):
[…]
There is a video of a speech given by one of the AfD leaders, Bjorn Hocke, and it is prefaced by a Protestant hymn, Wach auf du deutsches Land (Wake up, you German land), written by Johann Walter, a Lutheran poet of the Reformation era. The first verses of the song sing:
Wach auf, wach auf, du deutsches Land (with english subs)
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ADAza1n9Q
Wake up, wake up, You German land!
You have slept enough,
bethink, what God has turn to You,
wherefore he has created You!
Bethink, what God has sent You
and entrust You his utmost pledge,
therefore You should arise!” – https://oblongmedia.net/2017/01/29/the-six-luther-and-german-nationalism/ Archived link: http://archive.is/qKrlw
This is a translated page from an AfD website about a lecture given by Karlheinz Weißmann on Luther:
“Luther was and is more than just a reformer of the Church, but can be a role model today in his sharp analysis of the problems and his defiant resistance to the most powerful men of his time, in his political and religious incorrectness and search for truth. Courage to the truth, this motto of the Alternative for Germany is quite in Luther’s sense! Here we are, we can not help it!” – https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://afd-mittelsachsen.de/v2/index.php/homepage/nachrichtenarchiv/715-luther-prophet-der-deutschen.html&prev=search
Maybe a similar campaign incorporating Lutheran and Protestant themes and imagery can be run here in the U.S., as I am sure it will resonate with many white, Protestant Americans.
I know “Identity Evropa” use a lot Greek and Roman imagery in their campaigns, maybe this would be a way to broaden their repertoire and appeal, especially in northern states, which are still predominately inhabited by white Americans of German, English and Scandinavian descent.
“connection between Luther and the AfD”
Interesting, as Lutherans were allies of the Ottoman Empire (the enemy of my enemy…) and fought on the side of the Turk in many battles. They were also partners in White slavery, and lifted the Catholic restrictions on usury.
On the other hand, the late Renaissance Catholic Church was quite relaxed and broad-minded – just read the actual story of the Galileo trial. Many of our ideas about fair legal procedure originate in the practices of the Papal Inquisition. A typical inquisitor, like St. John of Capistrano, would burn maybe a few dozen people in their entire career. (Capistrano also fought relentlessly against usury, and lead the troops against the Ottomans in the Battle of Belgrade.)
Marching under the banners of Luther is just bad karma.
Thank you for your feedback.
This is not so much about “Marching under the banners of Luther” as it is about understanding and targeting one’s audience properly.
White Catholics have different priorities and attitudes than white Protestants, so one has to tailor one’s message according to each particular audience or continent, I briefly went into this here:
“one needs to look at the most important cultural and ideological difference between North America/the Anglosphere and most of continental Europe, namely that the former is majority/historically Protestant and the latter is majority/historically Catholic.” – https://counter-currents.com/2018/03/what-is-american-nationalism/#comment-1401461
Messaging that is successful in Catholic, continental Europe, might not hit a nerve for North American and northern European Protestants.
I commented in-depth on these differences in the following comments threads, if you are interested in this subject matter:
“Catholics like the European Union more than Protestants do. This is why.
So Catholics have always been very comfortable, even if subconsciously, with the notion of supranational governance.
After the Reformation, Protestants, on the other hand, attempted to carve out areas of religious liberty and caught on to the notion of the nation state.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/12/protestants-dont-like-the-european-union-compared-to-catholics-this-is-why/ ” – http://www.unz.com/jderbyshire/austrians-vote-against-muslim-anschluss-get-called-nazis/#comment-2054280
” Martin Luther, one of the authors of the Protestant Reformation, is referred to as libertarian In the introduction to “Luther and Calvin on Secular Authority.” The term used here is something quite different than the political ideology of individualist libertarianism. The book’s editor, Harro Hopfl, says that libertarian, egalitarian, communal motifs were part of the texture of Luther’s theology.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_libertarianism#History ” – http://www.unz.com/article/libertarianism-the-alt-right-and-antifa/#comment-2055194
The AfD, for example, was originally founded as an anti-EU and anti-Euro party, not as an anti-immigration and anti-Islam party, but, like Luther, became more anti-Muslim after the Immigration Invasion of 2015 initiated by Sultan Erdogan:
“Initially, in his 1518 Explanation of the Ninety-five Theses, Luther had argued against resisting the Turks, whom he presented as a scourge intentionally sent by God to sinning Christians, and that resisting it would have been equivalent to resisting the will of God.
[…]
With the Turkish advance becoming ever more threatening, however, in 1528 Luther modified his stance and wrote On War against the Turk and in 1529 Sermon against the Turk, encouraging the German people and Emperor Charles V to resist the invasion.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_War_Against_the_Turk
Henrik Palmgren and Red Ice have their roots in anti-EU activism as well and then shifted towards more explicit ethno-nationalism later on:
The Hidden Roots of the European Union – Henrik Palmgren – Pt 4
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXAXLOpo5Nk
“This is Henrik Palmgren’s first public presentation on “the Hidden Roots of the European Union” filmed in Bath, UK the 20th of February 2010…”
I think we have to divide Western Civilization into two blocs, the Catholic central and southern European bloc and the Protestant northern European, North American (Anglosphere) bloc and then develop and craft different approaches how to meta-politically influences those two regions and their people.
This isn’t about religious quibbling and if Catholicism is superior to Protestantism, etc. It is about pragmatism and what works for and resonates with each region.
I, personally, have mostly focused on the Protestant regions because that is my ancestry and upbringing and communicating my people’s ideas and ideals comes more natural to me.
This is why Mr. Johnson’s article “What is American Nationalism?” is so important, because it points out these highly significant differences:
“Both forms of White Nationalism communicate the same truths. But American [Protestant] nationalists relate them to ideas that feel authentic to our target audience, while anti-American [Catholic] nationalists link them to ideas that at best strike most Americans as alien and inauthentic and at worse seem downright repugnant.” – https://counter-currents.com/2018/03/what-is-american-nationalism/
P.s.: This is a beautiful rendition of Luther’s hymn “Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort”
“Luther wrote the hymn probably in 1541 when a prayer service was held in Wittenberg against the perceived danger of the Turks[3] when Ferdinand of Austria lost most of Hungary to the Ottoman Empire at Siege of Buda.[4] The second line of the first verse reads “und steur’ des Papsts und Türken Mord” (And control the murder by the Pope and Turks).” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhalt_uns,_Herr,_bei_deinem_Wort
Erhalt uns, HERR, bei Deinem Wort
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKSiO2y1How
Typo: “… how to meta-politically * influence* those two regions and their people.”
Excerpts from the WaPo interview to drive the point home:
“Catholics see Europe as a single cultural whole that ought to be governed in some coordinated way. Protestants, on the other hand, have seen the nation state as a bulwark against Catholic hegemony, and they have been very reluctant to give it up, even as religion has become less important.
[…]
But in the evidence that does exist, you find that Catholics tend to be much more comfortable with the U.N. or the WTO, all other things considered. Some of these attitudes even cross the ocean. American Catholics are much friendlier toward the European Union than Evangelical Protestants are.” – https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/12/protestants-dont-like-the-european-union-compared-to-catholics-this-is-why/
Comments are closed.
If you have Paywall access,
simply login first to see your comment auto-approved.
Note on comments privacy & moderation
Your email is never published nor shared.
Comments are moderated. If you don't see your comment, please be patient. If approved, it will appear here soon. Do not post your comment a second time.
Paywall Access
Lost your password?Edit your comment