On Christmas day, we started something new and revived something that needs a breath of life. RadixJournal.com is now live, featuring original writing, podcasts, and blogging on culture, society, race, politics, and beyond. Roman Bernard is Managing Editor. Both he and I will contribute frequently, and we will also involve the best writers in our movement. Radix is a project of The National Policy Institute, as well as its publishing division, Washington Summit Publishers.[1]
Editing Takimag from 2008–2010 and founding AlternativeRight.com in 2010 and editing it for its first two years, I have a track record of producing superior material online and maintaining standards. Radix is a culmination of much what I’ve been working on and thinking about for the past five years.[2]
RadixJournal.com will also play a complementary role to the print journal. Many articles that appear first online will be developed and expanded for the journal; in turn, print articles will, after a while, get a second life online.
Radix Journal is, we think, the proper use of print in the 21st century. Paper has given way to the Internet and mobile Web as the primary means of communication; but print still possesses an aura of authority and permanence, and it presents aesthetic opportunities that are not available online. We need to work in this medium, and Radix Journal will be a cultural flagship.
We’ve been delighted with Radix’s first issue, The Great Erasure, as well as the second, Pop Fascism, which is in an advanced stage of preparation. That said, we’ve simply fallen behind on producing volumes—and we know this has really frustrated subscribers. Roman has promised to be a cruel taskmaster in keeping me and the print edition of Radix on schedule. And an extremely valuable person has stepped in to lighten my load in editing and publishing books. And the website will play a vital role as the incubator for new material.
What is the real motivation behind Radix? In many ways, it’s quite simple. Good writing is an end in itself, as is the creation of a culture outside the boundaries of Americanism, liberalism, and the hideous academic establishment. (Building a culture is, of course, a collective project, and Radix will be one voice among many others.)
Secondly, we who support projects like Radix recognize that renewing our our people and culture is not simply about passing or defeating one bill, turning one knob, pulling one lever, or pressing for one single issue. It’s not that “politics” (in this technical sense of the word) does not have a place … it does … but we must be honest with ourselves: defeating the latest bad bill produced in Washington would, in the rosiest possible scenario, delay the destruction of our people and civilization by an hour or two.
Our task is to develop a fundamentally new way of looking at the world, a new way of acting and understanding ourselves, a different and higher value system. This is an enormous task! But the fight is worth fighting, and the struggle will be rewarding.
We hope you’ll join us!
Sincerely,
Richard Spencer
- Radix is also an imprint of Washington Summit Publishers; its titles, which include fiction and non-fiction, explore many of the same themes as the journal. ↩
- When I began AlternativeRight.com in March 2010, I wanted to a make a firm break with the mainstream “conservative movement”—a break that was announced in the site’s very name. Almost four years later, I feel that AltRight’s central goal was achieved. Also, unfortunately, after I ceased editing the webzine in the spring of 2012, the site’s standard of quality was not consistently maintained. Both of these factors led me to conclude that it was time to move one. AltRight remains a fantastic resource, and all of its material will gradually be republished here. ↩
