For a long time now, dishonest propaganda has told us that white nationalism in America is equivalent to white supremacism in America, and I've therefore been careful to be very precise with my terminology by condemning the one, and accepting, if not even sometimes applauding, the other. But then Elder Ballard gave his talk and condemned any form of "racism, sexism or nationalism". Now, it's clear from context that he's referring to nationalism as supremacism, not as "love of your people" and patriotism. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it's very unlikely that Elder Ballard would condemn, for example, Mormon, who gave us clear examples of his own fervent Nephite nationalism when he agreed to lead their armies against the Lamanites because he loved his people and wanted to preserve them. Or the many prophets and General Authorities of the past who have spoken fondly of love of country and people. Was Elder Ballard calling out Ezra Taft Benson? I don't think so. Or even, for that matter, Elder Koch who spoke only a few minutes later of his love of his country, Brazil, and the fact that passing another Brazilian in the street was a moment that struck him because their shared nationality was something that brought them together in unity.
But, it is my sad experience that few members of the Church will be willing (or in some cases, able) to see beyond the word which has now been moved onto the Bad List™ and won't respond with anything but, "But Elder Ballard!" and head for the fainting couches if I try to talk about context and which definition of the word I'm referring to, etc. For all practical purposes, he has taken the word Nationalism out of the acceptable words I can use to explain my political philosophy. So I'll need to come up with another term that isn't loaded with triggers for the unthinking to describe it, otherwise, I'll fail to convince very many of the merits of my philosophy.
To that point, I'm going to take Vox Day's "16 Points" manifesto and recreate it here. I say recreate rather than "copy and paste" because I am going to modify it slightly. And that's how it's meant to be. Vox didn't create the 16 Points to be an iron-clad manifesto but as a foundation to be built on, because as he himself is wont to say, there is no leader of the alt-right. It's like an open source document that others can use in their own way as they see fit, to better meet their goals—assuming, of course, that the goals are broadly similar. Or, to put it more succinctly, it's OK to tailor it slightly to your intended audience.
And so I ask you to read these 16 Points and tell me, if you think you can, how any of these contradict or conflict with anything you heard at General Conference. (Most of them, of course, have no relevance at all to anything said at General Conference.) I don't think you can in a way that doesn't involve deliberately misrepresenting what either these say or what the General Authorities say, assuming that one or the other must mean something other than what it says. But this is my A/B testing, if you will. I already know how the 16 Points work with other people within Christendom, I'm curious how well it flies in the Church, or if the membership of the Church will have a hard time hearing these points.
Not only have I slightly modified the specific language of the 16 Points, but I've also decided to annotate at least some of the points with some additional commentary. I recognize that without having been somewhat steeped in the schools of thought out of which the 16 Points evolved, that there might be some head-scratching about why something is included or what exactly it's supposed to mean. I've done my best to fill that in too.
Anyhoo, without further ado:
- The Alt Right is of the political right in both the American and the European sense of the term. Socialists are not Alt Right, because they're of the Left. Progressives are not Alt Right, for the same reason. Liberals are not Alt Right. Communists, Marxists, cultural Marxists, and neocons are not Alt Right. National Socialists are not Alt Right. By definition, no ideology that accepts the premise of the Left—as all of those listed do, to some degree or other—can be on the Right.
- The Alt Right is an alternative to the mainstream conservative movement in the USA that is nominally encapsulated by Russel Kirk's 10 Conservative Principles and the intellectual tradition of William Buckley, but in reality has devolved towards progressivism. It is also an alternative to libertarianism.
- The Alt Right is not a defensive attitude and rejects the concept of noble and principled defeat. It is a forward-thinking philosophy of restoring what has been lost. The Alt Right believes in victory through persistence and remaining in harmony with science, reality, cultural tradition, and the lessons of history.
- The Alt Right, as a philosophy rooted in Western Civilization, desires to preserve it and supports its three foundational pillars: Christianity, the European nations, and the Graeco-Roman legacy.
- The Alt Right is openly and avowedly patriotic and believes patriotism, regardless of your nation, to be a virtue. It supports all nations and the right of all nations to exist, homogeneous and unadulterated by foreign invasion and migration.
- The Alt Right is anti-globalist. It opposes all groups who work for globalist ideals or globalist objectives.*
- The Alt Right is anti-equalitarian. It rejects the idea of equality for the same reason it rejects the ideas of unicorns and leprechauns, noting that human equality does not exist in any observable scientific, legal, material, intellectual, sexual, or spiritual form.**
- The Alt Right is scientific. It presumptively accepts the current conclusions of the scientific method, while understanding a) these conclusions are liable to future revision, b) that the "science industry" is susceptible to corruption, and c) that the so-called scientific consensus is not based on the scientific method, but democracy, and is therefore intrinsically unscientific.
- The Alt Right believes that the hierarchy of decision making employed by humans is identity > culture > politics.
- The Alt Right is opposed to the rule or domination of any native ethnic group by another, particularly in the sovereign homelands of the dominated peoples. The Alt Right is opposed to any non-native ethnic group obtaining excessive influence in any society through nepotism, tribalism, or any other means.
- The Alt Right understands that diversity + proximity = war.
- The Alt Right doesn't care what you think of it.***
- The Alt Right rejects international free trade and the free movement of peoples that free trade requires. The benefits of intranational free trade is not evidence for the benefits of international free trade.†
- The Alt Right believes we must secure the existence of white people and a future for white children.‡
- The Alt Right does not believe in the general supremacy of any race, nation, or people. Every race, nation, and people has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, and possesses the sovereign right to dwell unmolested in the native culture it prefers.
- The Alt Right is a philosophy that values peace among the various nations of the world and opposes wars to impose the values of one nation upon another as well as efforts to exterminate individual nations through war, genocide, immigration, or genetic assimilation.††
* Globalism is part of the heresy of Universalism, which is indistinguishable from Trotskyism and is rooted, ultimately, in the same hubris as Babel. One does not reach God through anything on Earth other than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This does not mean that we disavow organizations that are global in scope (for example, the Church)—merely that we do disavow the notion of a One World government or the erosion of national sovereignty, or the imposition of a system of government on any people that is not of their own choice of any kind other than that headed by Christ himself.
** The Parable of the Talents; Matthew 25: "14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
We are not created equal. Again; context. In the Declaration of Independence, it clearly means that we are equal under the law, and in today's world, even that is obviously no longer true. In any other respect, we are not equal. We do, however, have equal claim on the rewards of the Lord if we live righteously and make the most of what we are given. You'll note that the servant who turned two talents into four got exactly the same reward—word for word—as he who started with five, and turned it into ten. But in no wise are we to suppose that they were equal, because we are, after all, capable of doing math, and we all know that four is not equal to five much less ten.
*** What did God tell Joseph Smith after the 116 pages were lost? D&C 3: "7 For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and despise his words— 8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble." Many other examples. We are not to fear Man, we are to fear only God.
† This is a little bit wonkish, and goes against the grain for the Science of Economics, which is largely libertarian in most respects. But it is, actually, economically and empirically sound—you'll just need to read a bit deeper than most to get the arguments for it. Steve Keen's Debunking Economics is a good place to start, but you'll probably also need to read beyond that.
‡ Although this sounds like a straightforward and oddly placed phrase, there's actually a long history behind it. One can readily see, if one cares to pull ones head out of the sand and look, that every people in the world except white people are encouraged to do their thing, whereas we are constantly told that we are the ills of all the world, and that it will be better when we are either bred out or killed off (preferably both—I suspect a lot of men around the world wouldn't mind access to our women without our men being around to get in the way. Take a look at "Great" Britain, Germany, or Sweden, and the child grooming pedophilia scandals involving migrants, the rape and sexual assault scandals, etc.) This particular phrase was actually authored by a white supremacist, but that doesn't mean that it isn't correct. It's worth noting that the rest of that particular manifesto was not carried forward into the 16 Points, precisely because it is wrong.
†† Applies to points 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 16 at least. But especially 11. https://heartiste.org/diversity-proximity-war-the-reference-list/
†† Applies to points 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 16 at least. But especially 11. https://heartiste.org/diversity-proximity-war-the-reference-list/
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