JACK BUCKBY: "BOY WONDER" OF THE NEW RIGHT

by George Whale

Jack Buckby is founder of the National Culturists, an organisation dedicated to "making anti-egalitarian and socially conservative politics accessible to younger people". The Culturists' outlook and beliefs are much influenced by the American writer and academic Dr John Kenneth Press, author of the book Culturism, though the basic concepts are much older. Curious to know more about Jack Buckby and the National Culturists, I approached him for an interview, and he kindly agreed.

First of all Jack, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Can I call you Jack, or do you prefer "Boy Wonder of the far right"?

It’s quite a name I’ve been given, isn’t it? I’d be a terrible member of the ‘far right’. Those people hate me. They’re convinced that I’m a – and I quote – ‘Zionist communist government infiltrator set to damage nationalism from within’. The far right are loonies. I have nothing to do with them.

What do you make of the 'far right' label? I saw a recent quote in which you described yourself as a Thatcherite, a Tory traditionalist, something like that.

Left and right mean very little these days. But this ‘far right’ nonsense really does make me laugh. What’s ‘far right’ about believing in the right of a country to self-determination? And in order for it to be true, one would have to consider my economic views, too – which are certainly not far right. The left like to use the term ‘far right’ to simply discredit any argument that goes against what they believe to be right. It’s just as ridiculous as when they call me a fascist.

I wanted to interview you because of your involvement in the 'National Culturists' organisation. I see British Culture as a potential unifying force, something that could bring together the disparate factions imported into Britain by mass immigration. Am I right in saying that you founded the National Culturists a year ago?

I would totally agree with that stance. It must be recognised that culture and race are of course linked, but at the same time two fundamentally different things. Culture is a unifying force. In order for diversity to remain, culturism must be embraced. It is a unifying force within borders. And yes indeed, we’re about to hit our first birthday.

What exactly is 'culturism'?

In short, culturism is the opposite of multiculturalism – though there is a problem with using this definition. When one says “the opposite of multiculturalism”, people automatically assume that we’re somehow suggesting that people should be deported, Spanish restaurants shut down and foreign imports banned. This is untrue. One must recognise that culture spans much further than these basic things. Structural functionalism must be taken into account – the idea that a culture and society is made up of economic infrastructure and institutions as well as social institutions.

So for instance, culturism would involve embracing a traditional majority culture whereby schools remain largely Christian, marriage remains under its traditional definition, architecture isn’t warped around modernist ideals and British/ Western values are embraced in terms of treating women and homosexual people with respect. Multiculturalism flies in the face of all these things, embracing brutal ideologies imported from the Third World and Islamic countries. We must protect what makes the West so great and so fair.

What is the raison d'être of the National Culturists organisation and what are its short- and long-term goals?

The National Culturists exists to fill a void. Today, when students are political, they are left-wing/ liberal. Through my own personal experience, I came across a multitude of students who were sick to the back teeth of Marxist influences in education, yet were aware that should they voice their opinions, their life would be made difficult. The left have such a strong hold over universities that socially conservative students are genuinely afraid for their welfare if they should speak out.

The National Culturists are here to ensure that those students have a voice. It’s only fair that we should be allowed a voice. The NUS tries to ban us, and students try to intimidate us. I’m happy to stand up against these bigots and fools.

Our short-term goal is to bring hope to conservative and culturist students. We want to show them that they do have a voice, and that can be through us. We also intend for our website to become a hub for culturist politics and articles. It’s important that we spread the words culturism and culturist. They have the potential to change public discourse.

We are not racist. We know we’re not. However, we are continually called racist for opposing multiculturalism. Culturism is the word that stops this. We can promote the truth through culturism, which has nothing at all to do with racism.

What's your background? How did you get into this?

I honestly couldn’t tell you how all this happened. I’ve always embraced traditional values, even as a young teenager. I gradually became more political towards the end of high school. I then got interested in reading further into ideological matters, and stumbled across culturism and Dr John Press. Since then, I’ve taken it upon myself to do what I can to help students who, like me, felt smothered by left-wing bias in education. All I want is fairness for students.

Do the National Culturists have connections with similar groups in Europe or the Anglosphere?

We don’t know of any other organisation in the United Kingdom that is making strides to affect public discourse in the manner that we do. Britain’s universities are so badly affected that it’s understandable why people wouldn’t stand up. We’re the first to do it and we’re proud to be doing it. No matter what we get threatened with by the ‘tolerance’ brigade.

Much of the ideology of your movement derives from the work of John K. Press, the American writer you mentioned just now. Does his analysis translate well to the British context?

It does translate pretty well indeed. But what you have to remember is that culturism is relative. It means different things in different countries. In many Eastern countries (which often are culturist), they will be preserving their national identity which often relates to Islam as a political ideology.

What is wrong with multiculturalism? Isn't it working okay, all things considered?

Multiculturalism has quite obviously failed. Though, in saying that, it sounds like I’m suggesting there was room for it to succeed. Multiculturalism can never work. If diversity is real, then culturism is absolutely necessary. Without culturism, we lose our national identity. We lose our rights as a people. We lose a right to self-determination and we lay open our society to colonisation through immigration. The West must be culturist, just like the East largely is. Why is it that the East should be culturist and not attacked for it, yet the West bullied into being multicultural and pretending that it doesn’t have a core culture to protect?

Multiculturalism pretends that conflicting political ideologies, religions and belief sets can exist side by side. That simply isn’t true. In the case of Islam, it simply cannot coexist. The whole idea behind Islam is to dominate – in fact, Islam itself means ‘submission’. It cannot coexist in the West, where we value democracy and fairness.

Many advocates of multiculturalism argue that there is no such thing as British culture. You, clearly, believe that there is. What would you say are its defining features?

Culture includes a lot of things. A lot of people, namely multiculturalists, really belittle the meaning of culture. They seem to think it’s all about food and festivals. That’s not true. Culture includes language, arts, names, traditions, conventions, farming, national dress, museums, cinema, theatre, music, form of government, institutions, educational institutions, politics and much more. British culture relates to all these things, and the traditional majority way of doing these things. To talk about British culture in such a short space would also be to belittle it. I hope to perhaps write a full document in the near future outlining British culture, but I fear that would simply be such a huge document it would be better fitted in a book. As a writer by profession, I’m actually in the early stages of putting together a book which discusses culturist policy implications in modern Britain. I’m hoping to make a good start on it this summer. I intend for this to be an addition to the work that Dr Press did with the book Culturism: A Word, A Value, Our Future – but for a British audience.

How important in all of this is our Judeo-Christian heritage?

Huge! I’m not religious myself. In fact, I would consider myself an atheist. However, I have a huge amount of respect for Christianity. Judeo-Christian values are the backbone of this country and our society. It’s important we respect something that has been so integral in the building of our society, democracy and institutions.

Isn't it the case that Britain has always been a collection of different sub-cultures, albeit with some overlap between them. Isn't it heavy-handed to demand that everybody adapt to one particular cultural template?

No, this is perfectly true. This is the argument the left often come back to. However, to use something like this as an ‘argument’ against culturism is foolish.

It’s possible to pick apart any culture in the world and say that ‘this bit came from here’ and ‘this bit came from there’. But if we pick away at every culture in the world, then what we are essentially saying is that culture doesn’t exist. And we know it does! Culture is made up over decades, even hundreds of years. This is through organic growth and change. It happens over generations. However, in Britain today we are seeing Western values trampled on in an incredibly short period of time.

In just two generations, Britain has been fundamentally transformed into something unrecognisable in many parts of the country. People of the age of 60 have seen this change throughout their lifetime and are left wondering what happened to their home.

Culture may be a product of change, but it is organic change. This is what we must ensure continues in the future. Colonisation, forced integration and mass immigration are neither democratic or fair. These are the reasons why our culture is under such pressure.

I believe in helping to animate a new 'British cultural renaissance' – a 21st century version, if you like, of the Elizabethan renaissance of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Hilliard, etc. Of course this time it wouldn't be limited to art, music and literature but would include architecture, design, digital media and other forms of technological creativity. How might we best create the conditions for such a cultural rebirth?

There is one primary condition that is needed, and that’s open debate. We need to open up public discourse and remove these claims of ‘racism’. We know we’re not racist. Culturism provides us with the chance to change public discourse. Only then will we be able to discuss the merits of culture, and how Britain does indeed have a core and majority culture that needs protecting.

Culturism is the first step. With culturism, we open debate. From there, we can promote British culture and animate the culture renaissance that is needed. The modern British youth are so culturally void it hurts. If we don’t start now, it’ll never happen.

You're currently a student at Liverpool University. What are you studying?

I’m studying politics. It’s pretty tedious. Nothing more than bog standard ‘This is what the Tories are and this is Tony Blair’. Hopefully it’ll get into more interesting ideological issues next year.

Given the pervasive far-left culture of British universities that you referred to earlier, I can't imagine your life there is easy. What has been the reaction of students and professors to your work with the Culturists?

My lecturers seem relatively fair. Though, I do recall one lecture in which well over 100 students were told by a lecturer to join Unite Against Fascism. I was appalled.

The students are just as bad, too. I’m pretty well known throughout the city and it’s unusual if I go a day without someone shouting something unpleasant at me. The liberal left ‘tolerance’ brigade prove themselves to be the bigots they are each and every day.

Could not hard-line Leftists within your university's administration make life difficult for you, pour décourager les autres?

I would talk about this but I can’t. Last time I criticised the University for allowing students to promote anti-Semitism, I was forced to take the material down from our website. Take from that what you will!

From a culturist viewpoint, how do British schools and universities need to change?

The first step is to allow the teaching of culturism. If only one side of the argument is taught (multiculturalism), then that is indoctrination and not education. Currently, our educational establishments are indoctrinating our youth. They continually ignore the existence of culturism. However, Dr John Press has written an informative article on our site which explains what students can do to stop this. We intend on printing this alongside other material as a booklet to inform students. You can find it here.

What are the issues that concern young people right now? Do you sense a yearning for a strong national identity? Or is it unimportant to them?

National identity isn’t an issue for most young people, and of course it should be. Our youth are being told that they do not have a core culture to be proud of. They are also taught to be ashamed of their past. Why is it that modern British people should suffer for crimes of the past? Our youth need to be taught that they do have a core culture to be proud of, and that they should be protecting it – because without British culture, they wouldn’t have the rights they enjoy today.

Would you favour the establishment of British cultural centres and festivals in areas where native British people are a minority, to help them – especially the young – to stay connected with their culture?

I think that would be a fantastic idea! We need to combat the ghettoisation of our inner cities. Promoting British culture would be great for creating awareness, particularly amongst settled immigrants.

Historian Niall Ferguson said, "Most of history is made by young people". I have a sense now of an opportunity to seize the cultural and political initiative from the Marxists and globalisers. Do you think that young Europeans – and especially young Brits – are ready to take on that challenge?

Not yet, no.

You've said that the Right should "use the language of the Left to become more respected”. What do you mean by that?

Young people don’t respond to complicated political and ideological language. They understand terms used by the left, including ‘equality’ and ‘fairness’. I have in the past said that this is “all about spin”. It’s important for me to clear this up – I in no way mean spinning things to suggest that we are deceiving people. That isn’t true. I mean spinning things round so that we use the left’s language.

There’s good reason why I think we should use this language, too – and that’s because the words don’t belong on the left! Equality? Well, we believe in equality of worth for all, which is why culturism is necessary. All peoples and cultures are equally important. To quote Margaret Thatcher, “we believe that everyone has the right to be unequal, but that everybody is equally important”.

Fairness is another example. We believe in free speech and democracy. The left want to destroy it, and they’re doing pretty well with it.

You've said also that you hate the word 'tolerance'. Please explain.

One has to be truly insane to suggest that Britain should be proud to be a ‘tolerant’ nation. Tolerance means putting up with something bad. Why on earth should we be proud of rolling over and putting up with things that are ultimately damaging to a nation state, to an economy and to a people? Tolerance is never good. If there’s something wrong, we should tackle it.

Are you a member of any political party?

No, not any more!

I can't understand why you joined the BNP when so many of your ideas contradict those of the BNP and its leadership. In retrospect, wasn't joining the BNP a big mistake? Will people be willing to disregard it as youthful indiscretion, do you think?

I wouldn’t say a mistake, but instead, it was a part of my political beginnings. I chose the BNP because at the time there was no other alternative for me. The Conservative Party wasn't, and still isn’t, conservative. I couldn’t see any other option and I thought the BNP was the only option I had. Things are different now. I’m now no longer a member of the party, or any party.

There's a photo circulating on the web of you against a Union Flag backdrop. Don't young people see vintage symbolism – national flags, roaring lions, Britannia, the cross pattée and so on – as a little passé? More to the point, don't these things evoke too many associations with unpleasant people like the BNP?

It’s a funny one. The union flag has become a bit of a fashion statement, but at the same time I come across students suggesting that the union flag is offensive and a symbol of oppression and hate. Liberals have truly indoctrinated young people into hating their own nation, whilst happily promoting the right of other people to be proud of their own heritage.

The roaring lions, Britannia and the cross pattée are all things that young people should be proud of. In fact, in the case of the cross pattée, I’ve constantly had people telling me that we are using “Nazi imagery”! How sad is it when our own young people do not recognise a symbol from our own history and culture?

The National Culturists are holding an event in London in June. Can you tell us more about it?

Yes indeed. We are hosting our first ever conference in London. It is a cross-party effort with representatives from a number of political parties and organisations. We are not talking about race – we have no interest in talking about that. We will be talking about British culture, why it needs to be protected and what it consists of.

Can people book online for the event?

As it is our first conference, we currently only have a small venue booked for a maximum of 50 people. We have already filled up that space; however, if people are interested in attending the conference in June then they are welcome to book online and should we get significantly more interest, we will book a larger venue.

Booking will be free, and attending will be free. However, we will kindly ask for a donation at the door as it is being arranged at cost to myself. Donations will go to the National Culturists' war chest, for printing literature etc.

You can contact us about attending the event in central London here.

I believe that fair-minded people will dismiss your fleeting membership of the BNP as an error of impetuous youth. But will they – can they – ever forgive your love of Yoko Ono?

I hope so, haha! I believe that outside of politics we must respect people as people, unless of course they are of the truly worst sides of politics, i.e. the rapist sympathisers, paedophile supporters, Nazis or whatever else. Yoko Ono is certainly a liberal, but her message of peace is admirable. And as weird as some people may find this, I love her music!

Finally, Jack, are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of Britain? What do you think are the best and worst case scenarios?

I couldn’t say. My opinion changes every day. We just have to try our best and see where it goes. The best case scenario is that Britain reaches a point of despair, and the people wake up. The worst case scenario is that Britain is swamped through immigration and cultural ignorance.

Thank you for your time, and I wish you continuing success in your work with the National Culturists.

Thanks a lot for your time! If people would like to learn more about us, they can take a look at www.nationalculturists.org. In particular, Dr John Press’s “Culturism 101” column is a great read. He writes exclusively for us and outlines some of the basic principles behind culturism.

Originally published on the website of Liberty GB.