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| Spot the true alt-righter in this crowd. |
by Andy Nowicki
I recently posted a solo podcast called “AltRight Navel Gazing,” in which I expressed mild consternation and genial reproof over the proclivity of many alt-righters to bask in the newfound notoriety of the movement, as it continues to garner a degree of attention from the mainstream. (“Hey, look, guys, we’re being NOTICED!!! Ohboy ohboy ohboy, tomorrow really does belong to us…,” etc.)
This unseemly tendency to indulge in the promiscuous taking of online ideological-selfies has only been accentuated by the tribal triumphalism engaged in by many in the alt-right ranks surrounding the singularity of the Trump campaign. Though Trump-skeptical myself, I nevertheless understand and share in the general enjoyment that the totalitarian-oriented smelly little orthodoxies of our age are being heartily challenged, even if the man leading the charge is in all likelihood a egocentric opportunist (i.e., a politician).
Still, one should be cautious about entertaining delusions of temporal grandeur, or of relishing the prospect of, for a time, being the supposed “it-group” of a given dispensation. The man who seeks to pursue and propound the truth must instead adopt a “long view” of the situation at hand; after all, the given political landscape is always changing, and the vagaries of any given era ultimately have no impact on that which remains veritas, regardless of who is currently leading in the polls, or which ridiculous novelties are currently being fawned over by our self-appointed gatekeeper-guardians, or what species of scandal is currently occupying the fitful attention of the facile mob.
Still, after “Roosh”-gate, and the fallout therefrom, I thought it might be useful to engage in a bit of a gaze at my own slightly unsightly navel. After all, given that I write for and assist in editing a publication called Alternative Right, it makes sense that I ought to have some sort of perspective on what being “alt-right” actually means.
Long before the alt-right movement coalesced into its current form, I (like many others) was what could be called alt-right-esque. During the bulk of the Bush years, I contributed to Nick Strakon’s seminal outfit The Last Ditch, which shared ties with proto-alt-righter (and devout Catholic) Joe Sobran. In 2010, when I began composing articles for Alternative Right, Takimag, Counter-Currents, and Occidental Observer, I became aware of gaining a younger, more internet-savvy, more “plugged in” sort of readership. It was exciting to reach new people, but increased attention also meant navigating new and unaccustomed degrees of scrutiny.
I’ve never been one to court sympathy or admiration, much less groveling worship, from my interlocutors; I’m quite fine, in fact, with being heavily critiqued, even harshly rebuked, from time to time; such a reaction from readers is in fact a sort of compliment, since it indicates that they find me interesting and worthwhile enough to warrant the expense of their time and energy, even when they wind up using that time and energy to do little more than glare, glower, and growl in my general direction.
Over time, I came to recognize that my own views sometimes brazenly clashed with the “party line,” which caused me to compose with a greater self-consciousness than before. Of course, I have never felt tempted to modify my perspective in order to be better liked; for all of my manifold character flaws, I am generally immune to the impulse to toady, pander, or flatter. But I came to understand that in some cases, I would be taking a hit, so I readied myself for turbulence beforehand. (The most memorable of such cases being (1) the time I dissed the – now largely forgotten – “epic tram lady” of London, and (2) the occasion when I praised the faithful witness and brave martyrdom of Hans and Sophie Scholl.)
I have never been shy to admit the ways in which I might not fit into everyone’s idea of the “alt-right” mold. To wit, I am not a white nationalist (though I apprehend the folly of multiculturalism and strongly oppose the imposition of the “whiteguilt” psy-op upon the native Occidental populace); I don’t see miscegenation as a sin against the Holy Ghost, or as any kind of sin at all (though I do find the race-mixing propaganda of the powers-that-be thoroughly obnoxious, and observe that there is no shame in people’s natural proclivity to prefer their own kind as mates); I am not hostile to Jews qua Jews (though I recognize the reality of Jewish power and the baleful influence of many contemporary Jewish-led movements); finally, I hew to a universalist morality and recognize an essential unity of men of all races being created in the image and likeness of God (while at the same time acknowledging the obvious existence of biologically-based racial differences).
Some within the alt-right-o-sphere have questioned my bona fides, which of course they have every right to do (though one might think that being the target of an SPLC“doxing” campaign two years ago might have lent me just a bit of cred in their eyes). At the same time, some of my friends, acquaintances, and family members have through the years expressed dismay that I would allow myself to become a join forces with such a vile group of “racists.” In response to both assertions, my answer was (and continues to be) that I believe strongly in freedom of speech, and in the dogged pursuit of truth, wherever such pursuit might take a person.
By extension, I am enemies with all persons and groups who would seek to enforce ideological orthodoxy and punish dissent, whether through state-instigated threats of fines or imprisonment for non-party line toe-ers, or via the weasely, passive-aggressive “SJW” method of trying to ruin a dissenter’s life by getting him fired from his job and ostracized from polite society. Concomitantly, I am instinctive allies with anyone who has been bullied in such a manner, regardless of how I may differ from the “anyone” in question, because I hate and despise bullies with every fiber of my being.
Truth usually stakes out among the most despised representatives of any given dispensation. Truth typically takes leave from that which is considered “acceptable,” fleeing instead into the arms of the disreputable fringe. This isn’t to say, of course, that everything “fringy” is true, or that all aspects of the mainstream perspective are false in every aspect. Still, any truth worth its salt is a dangerous truth, a truth that dare not speak its name, except by the boldest and most fearless among us.
At some point in history, dangerous truths no doubt resided with those who would be considered the equivalent of today’s “liberals,” while comfort rested with being “conservative.” Today, however, we are gripped in the totalitarian vise hold of the current ruling class, with their ruthless enforcement of one-way “tolerance.” Under the contemporary Zeitgeist, every lifestyle and ideology at odds with the values of the traditional West must not only be accepted but positively embraced, and “wrongthinkers” who refuse to acquiesce to such a circumstance are commonly tarred as racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic badpersons with no authentic right to life, limb, or livelihood.
Under such appalling conditions, any man of conscience is obliged to stand in solidarity with the elements under assault. Thus, the “alt-right” to me is less about the issues (important though they are), and more about the necessity of standing up against the bullies, perturbing the petty tyrants, and kicking against the pricks. Put a different way, thoughtcrime isn’t just a means to an end; it is, even more importantly, an end in itself.
Andy Nowicki, assistant editor of Alternative Right, is the author of eight books, including Under the Nihil, The Columbine Pilgrim, Considering Suicide, and Beauty and the Least. He occasionally updates his blog when the spirit moves him to do so. Visit his Soundcloud page.
This unseemly tendency to indulge in the promiscuous taking of online ideological-selfies has only been accentuated by the tribal triumphalism engaged in by many in the alt-right ranks surrounding the singularity of the Trump campaign. Though Trump-skeptical myself, I nevertheless understand and share in the general enjoyment that the totalitarian-oriented smelly little orthodoxies of our age are being heartily challenged, even if the man leading the charge is in all likelihood a egocentric opportunist (i.e., a politician).
Still, one should be cautious about entertaining delusions of temporal grandeur, or of relishing the prospect of, for a time, being the supposed “it-group” of a given dispensation. The man who seeks to pursue and propound the truth must instead adopt a “long view” of the situation at hand; after all, the given political landscape is always changing, and the vagaries of any given era ultimately have no impact on that which remains veritas, regardless of who is currently leading in the polls, or which ridiculous novelties are currently being fawned over by our self-appointed gatekeeper-guardians, or what species of scandal is currently occupying the fitful attention of the facile mob.
Still, after “Roosh”-gate, and the fallout therefrom, I thought it might be useful to engage in a bit of a gaze at my own slightly unsightly navel. After all, given that I write for and assist in editing a publication called Alternative Right, it makes sense that I ought to have some sort of perspective on what being “alt-right” actually means.
*************
I’ve never been one to court sympathy or admiration, much less groveling worship, from my interlocutors; I’m quite fine, in fact, with being heavily critiqued, even harshly rebuked, from time to time; such a reaction from readers is in fact a sort of compliment, since it indicates that they find me interesting and worthwhile enough to warrant the expense of their time and energy, even when they wind up using that time and energy to do little more than glare, glower, and growl in my general direction.
Over time, I came to recognize that my own views sometimes brazenly clashed with the “party line,” which caused me to compose with a greater self-consciousness than before. Of course, I have never felt tempted to modify my perspective in order to be better liked; for all of my manifold character flaws, I am generally immune to the impulse to toady, pander, or flatter. But I came to understand that in some cases, I would be taking a hit, so I readied myself for turbulence beforehand. (The most memorable of such cases being (1) the time I dissed the – now largely forgotten – “epic tram lady” of London, and (2) the occasion when I praised the faithful witness and brave martyrdom of Hans and Sophie Scholl.)
I have never been shy to admit the ways in which I might not fit into everyone’s idea of the “alt-right” mold. To wit, I am not a white nationalist (though I apprehend the folly of multiculturalism and strongly oppose the imposition of the “whiteguilt” psy-op upon the native Occidental populace); I don’t see miscegenation as a sin against the Holy Ghost, or as any kind of sin at all (though I do find the race-mixing propaganda of the powers-that-be thoroughly obnoxious, and observe that there is no shame in people’s natural proclivity to prefer their own kind as mates); I am not hostile to Jews qua Jews (though I recognize the reality of Jewish power and the baleful influence of many contemporary Jewish-led movements); finally, I hew to a universalist morality and recognize an essential unity of men of all races being created in the image and likeness of God (while at the same time acknowledging the obvious existence of biologically-based racial differences).
Some within the alt-right-o-sphere have questioned my bona fides, which of course they have every right to do (though one might think that being the target of an SPLC“doxing” campaign two years ago might have lent me just a bit of cred in their eyes). At the same time, some of my friends, acquaintances, and family members have through the years expressed dismay that I would allow myself to become a join forces with such a vile group of “racists.” In response to both assertions, my answer was (and continues to be) that I believe strongly in freedom of speech, and in the dogged pursuit of truth, wherever such pursuit might take a person.
By extension, I am enemies with all persons and groups who would seek to enforce ideological orthodoxy and punish dissent, whether through state-instigated threats of fines or imprisonment for non-party line toe-ers, or via the weasely, passive-aggressive “SJW” method of trying to ruin a dissenter’s life by getting him fired from his job and ostracized from polite society. Concomitantly, I am instinctive allies with anyone who has been bullied in such a manner, regardless of how I may differ from the “anyone” in question, because I hate and despise bullies with every fiber of my being.
*************
At some point in history, dangerous truths no doubt resided with those who would be considered the equivalent of today’s “liberals,” while comfort rested with being “conservative.” Today, however, we are gripped in the totalitarian vise hold of the current ruling class, with their ruthless enforcement of one-way “tolerance.” Under the contemporary Zeitgeist, every lifestyle and ideology at odds with the values of the traditional West must not only be accepted but positively embraced, and “wrongthinkers” who refuse to acquiesce to such a circumstance are commonly tarred as racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic badpersons with no authentic right to life, limb, or livelihood.
Under such appalling conditions, any man of conscience is obliged to stand in solidarity with the elements under assault. Thus, the “alt-right” to me is less about the issues (important though they are), and more about the necessity of standing up against the bullies, perturbing the petty tyrants, and kicking against the pricks. Put a different way, thoughtcrime isn’t just a means to an end; it is, even more importantly, an end in itself.
Andy Nowicki, assistant editor of Alternative Right, is the author of eight books, including Under the Nihil, The Columbine Pilgrim, Considering Suicide, and Beauty and the Least. He occasionally updates his blog when the spirit moves him to do so. Visit his Soundcloud page.
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