On the death of Andrew Breitbart three years ago, David Frum remarked,

He waged a culture war minus the “culture,” as a pure struggle between personalities.

Frum’s assessment is equally fitting for the American right-wing that has come in Breitbart’s wake, which he personified and defined, and parts of which still bear his name. “Conservatives” fight a “culture war”—a take-no-prisoners assault on “liberals”—minus the culture, in other words, minus any meaning and consequence.

Brian Williams was a last bastion of “old media”—not just the cable-news programs that are being displaced by the Web and social media but the three-network monolith, presided over by square-jawed, paternalistic “newsmen.” Lacking his predecessors’ authority, and their Midwestern speaking style, Williams existed as a kind of parody of upper-middle-class Whiteness: the highly imitable and dorky voice; the bearing that might read as snobby, but is the mask of an uptight coward; and the 10-foot pole, perennially lodged. . . To call Williams a “liberal” is to falsely assume that he has a soul. Williams is, like so many high-IQ White people, a high-functioning empty shell, an upper-level manager of a declining system.^[1]

You could say that American society is “totalitarian,” in the sense that almost every public event is immediately politicized and “culturalized”—and done so using a repeated Left/Right, Red/Blue, Good Guys/Bad Guys dichotomy. Thus, Brian Williams (or American Sniper or George Zimmerman or whatever) is enveloped, not only in politics, but in unarticulated hopes, dreams, and fears of everyday White people.

How we break through this hegemonic cycle—how we fight a real culture war, and not the endless phony one—remains one of the most important questions for our movement.

1. The average age of an NBC Nightly News viewer is reportedly 53; I thought it would have been much higher. For what it’s worth, the average age of a FOX News viewer is 68, with CNN and MSNBC viewers only barely younger. ↩

Fundraising is certainly not my favorite task. Indeed, I often wish I had a team of elves to do it for me. Every Christmas morning they would leave shiny gold bars under the tree, and we’d all be free of worry.

Alas, growing up means putting aside childish things—and doing the things that are important and necessary. Fundraising is just that. NPI and Radix simply cannot complete our projects—and start new ones—without raising money during Yuletide.

And there are silver linings. For one thing, with this year’s campaign, you get something in return, beginning with books. And giving to something you care about is meaningful and inspiring in itself. It’s a chance to do something, even if it’s in a small way. Moreover, the turn of the year gives us a chance to reflect on what we’ve accomplished and think about where we want to go in the future.

Our movement has a tendency to get caught up in gloom and doom . . . but one unequivocal accomplishment is the blooming of a thousand flowers of what I’ve called the “alt Right.” (Indeed, the expanse that’s taken place in just the five years since I founded AlternativeRight.com has been tremendous.) There is more media revolving around European identity, traditionalism, and the study of human biodiversity than ever before. Much of it is of high quality. And we are able to communicate with each like never before—and able to understand each across the national lines that divided us over the past century.

But as a thousand flowers bloom, there remains a certain emptiness.

Anonymity and privacy—the ability to mask our identities online and read and think what we want—are things we should defend fanatically.

That said, we’re not going to change the world sniping on comment boards, nor will we as a collection of pseudonymous blogs.

We need a real movement. And real movements are lead by those who are willing to risk something, willing to suffer, willing to stand firm when in the right, willing to speak truth to power and face the consequences, and wiling to be happy warriors.

Over the past few months, I’ve received quite a few messages of sympathy and support for my arrest and imprisonment in Budapest this fall, for what can only be described as “thought crimes.”

In truth, I look back quite fondly on my brief stint as a political prisoner.

First off, my suffering was not great. There was the sleep deprivation . . . getting marched around in handcuffs . . . being declared a “national security threat” . . . a prison cuisine that resembled a cross between gravy and cat food (I don’t know what it tasted like, as it inspired me to go on a hunger strike) . . . But at the end of the day, these were the experiences of a thought criminal in the Hungary of Viktor Orbán, not Béla Kun.

Secondly, despite it all, our gathering took place, thanks to the work of Jared Taylor and a small, dedicated group of supporters, who more than compensated for my absence. In other words, we won.

Thirdly, and most important, as our enemies attack us, we become more powerful. Unquestionably, our Budapest event brought more attention to our ideas and ideals than any other event over the past year (probably over the past five years). Much of that attention was negative or hysteric, as would be expected. Some of it was sympathetic or expressive of understanding. In some cases, sympathy was wrapped up in hysteria. Quite a few learned of the existence of a movement for European identity through our perseverance.

If we’re going to have a serious movement—one that challenges the current dispensation in the most radical manner—then some of us are probably going to get arrested.

Our movement excels at analyzing the world. We need institutions that are working to change the world. NPI, Radix, and everything we do will be at the center of that effort.

On behalf of everyone involved with The National Policy Institute, Washington Summit Publishers, and Radix, we wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Conferences are important. First, they are the public faces of our movement, and they mark some of the few times that our ideas are discussed in mainstream sources. Some politicians are so fearful of this prospect that they arrest us for holding conferences.

More important, conferences are for us. They are ways for our movement to meet, network, and build a community. The Internet has been a godsend for every dissident movement around the world . . . but we can’t live on pixels alone.

So, it’s with pleasure that I announce NPI’s first conference for 2015.

On February 27, we will host an evening event in Washington, DC, at The National Press Club—“Beyond Conservatism.”

Beyond Conservatism

Friday // February 27, 2014 // 6-9 PM

The National Press Club

Washington, DC

Confirmed Speakers

Peter Brimelow

Richard Spencer

Jared Taylor

An additional speaker will be announced soon.

Registration—$65

“Early Bird” Registration—$45

Millennial Registration—$25

Registration is now open!

Registration includes a dinner of heavy hors d’oeuvres. A cash bar will be available for the evening.

At the door, tickets will be $65; however, we are offering “Early Bird” tickets at a reduced rate of $45, for as long as they last.

As usual, we’re offering Millennial Registration, in limited number, for attendees who are 30-years-old and younger. These tickets are equivalent to full registration (that is, they include dinner) but are only $25.

The Summit Dinner

Saturday // February 28, 2014 // 7-10 PM

Washington, DC

For 2015 and beyond, we are establishing a special club called The Summit. This is for those who want to take an active role in the future of NPI, Radix, and everything we do. Members of The Summit have pledged at least $1,000 for the upcoming year.

On Saturday, February 28—the day after our event at the Press Club—we will host a private steak dinner. All of the speakers will be there, as well as other activists and writers connected with NPI. The evening will be a chance to relax, enjoy good food and drink, meet new friends, and talk about the future of our movement.

Also, 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Samuel T. Francis, one of NPI’s co-founders. We will celebrate his legacy in a couple of ways this year, including issuing an original, hitherto unknown volume written by Sam (more on that soon). And on the evening of February 28, our speakers and guests will offer their remembrances and appreciations of the great man.

To join The Summit, please donate to our Yuletide giving campaign. You will then be informed about details and registration.

Note that we offer recurring donations, on an annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly basis. So, if you prefer, you could break up a larger donation into more management pieces.

More To Come…

And we have a lot more planned for 2015, though at the moment, we’re not ready to announce details. But we can announce you that we will host a major conference on the east coast in the early fall of 2015, just as we did in 2011 and 2013. And there will be more . . . so stay tuned.

Writing in The Times of Israel, Hila Hershkoviz takes on a prickly question—Are Jews White?

In response to Haaretz article “Jews, white privilege and the fight against racism in America” (by Benjy Cannon 4/12/14) I would like to say loud and clear: Ashkenazi Jews are not white.

Every time I read about a Jew somewhere identifying as a white person, I cringe. As an Israeli Jew, who like most other Israeli Jews, is completely foreign to the concept of Jews being “white” I would like to address this article to my Jewish brothers and sisters in America.

Ashkenazi Jews who identify as “white”, please understand the following:

1.History and identity – As late as 1987 the US legally defined Jews as non-white. To the best of my knowledge, 50 years ago Jews had the same skin color as they do today. I deduce that white is not skin color, it is first and foremost an issue history and identity. The “white people world” is represented by its European (often colonial) history, it’s culture, heroes, it’s Kings, ethos, faith etc. – and Ashkenazi Jews are not part of that world. Their heroes are the Maccabees and not the Vikings or Joan of Arc, their Kings are David King of Israel and Hezekiah King of Judah (both archeologically confirmed historical figures) and not Kings Edward and George.

Secondly, Jews are not a “religion”. While in the Western world identities fall under the categories of religion or race, Middle Eastern people have tribal identities that are based neither the former nor the latter. Jews, similar to Pashtuns (who also often have pale skin and yet would not identify as white people) and other Middle Eastern Tribes, are neither religion nor race but a tribe. Jewish identity since the days of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel had always been a tribal/national peoplehood. While tribal practices and customs (which is often incorrectly referred to as “Judaism”) and a strong biological link between many of the members are certainly present, Israelite identity was never based on either of these. Israelite identity has always been a tribal membership that goes by lineage (being born into the Tribes of Israel) or tribal acceptance (which is incorrectly translated as “conversion”). The identity Ashkenazi Jews have today is identical to that of King David whose great grandmother was a Moabite convert, but was nonetheless a Jew by virtue of being born into the Tribes of Israel by lineage.

You are Jews not because of your “religion” (are you even religious?), but because you were born into a tribe/people called the Nation of Israel. You are not “white people” with a “Jewish religion”, you are Jews – members of a people who origniated in Judea, whether you adhere to the laws of the tribe or not.

Thirdly, Ashkenazi Jews have been the victims of Europeans and Western imperialism for centuries precisely because they were not perceived as part of the “white people world”, beginning with the Roman colonialism of their nation state and ending with 6 million of them being killed precisely because they were non-whites.

2.Culture – Whether it’s the Hebrew calendar, the tefillin they put on at their Bar Mitzvah identical to the ancient second Temple tefillin found in Qumran and across Israel or celebrating the Judean revolt for independence in our historic homeland on Hanukkah – Ashkenazi Jews have kept the entire indigenous culture, customs, traditions, books, and to a high extant language and of their ancestors – Judeans and other Israelites.

3.Biology – Although biology is not the main part of the issue, Ashkenazi Jews are not genetically white either. An extensive number of genetic studies show they originated in the Middle East, that despite European admixture they are genetic brothers of other Jews, Palestinians, Druze and Lebanese Arabs and share a highly significant amount of ancestry with Sephardi Jews to whom they are genetically almost identical. Tests also show Ahskenazi Levites are descendants of Hebrews, and Ashkenazi Cohanim share lineage with Sephardi Cohanim.

Lastly, Ashkenazi Jews, whether the world likes it or not (and apparently it does not), are direct descendants of the Tribes of Israel, as we know from history, culture, science and a little something I like to call reality. Those who wish to deny it for political or theological reasons, should try forming an alliance with holocaust deniers because the two are no different.

Jews are not white. People who try to argue otherwise are not only abrogating history and denying our people’s authentic identity, they are in fact (even if unintentionally) also practicing a form of Western imperialism, as nobody has the right to superimpose an artificial Western identity on a people with an ancient Middle Eastern-tribal identity. Nobody has the right to try and make Jews, or any other Middle Eastern people, feel they “need” to fit into the “neat” Western categories of religion and race. Nobody has the right to force Jews into identifying as white people when they are clearly not. As for Jews who identify as white without being forced to do so – please decolonize your identities and understand that the identity your claim to express is a falsification of who you really are.

Ashkenazi Jews have influenced European culture—and been influenced by European culture (perhaps more than this author would like). There has also been a large amount of intermarriage between Ashkenazi (and Sephardic) Jews and Europeans, resulting in a genetic similarity.

That said, as Hershkoviz writes, Ashkenazi Jews have been in Europe, without quite being of Europe.

Pigmentation really is “just skin deep.” it’s a significant, but by no means definitive element of race. Identity is formed by a combination of race, culture, spirituality, and history. And Ashkenazi Jews have an identity apart from Europeans.

In thinking about this issue, a good place to start is Richard Lynn’s The Chosen People: A Stidy of Jewish Intelligence and Achievement.

Last week, I appeared on “The Stark Truth” podcast to discuss some interesting topics: the need to go beyond Left and Right, why our movement should disassociate itself from “conservatism,” why millennial hispters are better than you think, and why the immigration reform movement never really had a soul.

Hear it all here.

Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration isn’t exactly the “amnesty” that those in the reform movement feared: some five million people who are in the United States illegally won’t be deported, but won’t be granted citizenship either (at least not yet).

So, it’s not quite the “end of America,” for better and for worse. We should expect the current dispensation to slouch along for a few more decades.

Obama’s action does, however, punctuate the end of the immigration-reform movement, the point at which standard restriction has become truly irrelevant. We must be mature enough to recognize this reality.

Immigration reform, as it has been defined, was destined to lose, because, for at least the past five decades, it never held a high status in our imagination and self-understanding.

As Byron Roth has written, the immigration “debate” in the U.S. (if it’s taken place at all) has been between “assimilation” and “multiculturalism,” between those who demand that millions of people of other races and cultures adopt “American values” and those who encourage them to maintain some boundaries and loyalties.

The notion that there is a real American identity—which is derived from Europe and which is inseparable from European peoples—has been unspeakable, worse, unthinkable in the minds of most White Americans.

The fact that immigration reformers have been caught up on legality—“illegal immigrants” or the putative “un-Constitutionality” of Obama’s action—only reveals their inner feelings of illegitimacy.

A people with identity is not particularly concerned with whether or not a migrant filled out all the paperwork correctly or passed some civics exam.

A people with identity does not worry that an influx of foreigners might “change the culture.” Culture, in the deepest sense, is carried by people. Europa will exist so long as conscious, resolute Europeans walk the earth . . . or explore the stars. And Europa can flourish even if half the channels on cable are “en espaniol.”

Obama’s action marks an end and a beginning.

It marks the end of “immigration reform,” a movement that never had a soul.

We await the beginning of a movement of Identity.

From “Facing the Future As a Minority:

In the summer 2011, the Census Bureau reported that the majority of children born in the United States are non-White. Thus, from our perspective, any future immigration-restriction efforts are meaningless. Even if all immigration, legal and illegal, were miraculously halted tomorrow morning, our country’s demographic destiny would merely be delayed by a decade or two. Put another way, we could win the immigration battle and nevertheless lose the country, and lose it completely.

And we shouldn’t focus too much on the “2050” date, when Whites will become a minority, as if once Whites drop to 49 percent, a bell will go after announcing the end of the American Dream. We are at a major crisis point now. And we are well past the point of no return with regards to “patriotic immigration reform.”

Furthermore, this insight into the irrelevance of immigration reform holds for the whole kit-and-caboodle of “conservative” causes.

Read the rest here.