Democracy and Identity
By Mark Weber
Text, slightly edited, of an address given on May 18, 2024, at a conference organized and hosted by James Edwards in Greenville, South Carolina.
https://ihr.org/other/democracy-and-identity
We live in an age of ever more obvious political paralysis, social disorder, and cultural chaos. In recent years, public opinion polls show that trust by Americans in the US Congress, the mass media, and other major social-political institutions has fallen to historically low levels. Surveys also show that most Americans believe that their country is going in the wrong direction, and that life for their children and grand-children will be less secure and prosperous than it has been for them. Americans, and especially younger citizens, are understandably cynical about the slogans and pledges of both major political parties.
For decades now, millions of white Americans have been moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, from town to town, and from state to state – refugees in their own country – in an ever more frantic effort to escape the spreading “third-worldization” of their country, and to live in the kind of society that our grand-parents and great-grand-parents were able to take for granted.
The cultural life of a healthy nation, including its movies and entertainment, reflects and reinforces the heritage, identity and interests of its people. But in today’s America, control of the mass media and cultural life is in the grip of people whose ideology and agenda are hostile to the long-term interests of our people, thereby fueling the continued, inexorable breakdown of our nation.
It’s possible to ignore reality. It’s not possible to ignore forever the consequences of ignoring reality. The crisis of today’s America did not emerge suddenly, but has roots in decisions and policies going back more than half a century. The already enormous gap between the ideals and goals proclaimed for decades by our leaders and in the mainstream media, on the one hand, and the ever more obvious reality that everyone can see around us, on the other, will only widen in the months and years to come. Just as Americans 100 or even 50 years ago would have regarded today’s America with revulsion, so also those who will be here 50 years from now will look back on the America of today with a mixture of bewilderment, pity, and contempt.
An unhealthy society will not and cannot endure. A nation guided by false principles, wishful thinking, and unrealistic notions about society and history cannot and will not survive; it doesn’t deserve to survive. The “United States of America” might stagger and stumble on for several more years, perhaps even a few more decades, but it’s no longer a coherent and purposeful nation.
The more vigorously those in power try to make this a society of what they call “equity,” the more they must inevitably lower standards of competence, ability and merit. The inevitable result: American businesses will be less competitive in global markets, public services will continue to deteriorate, airplane and railroad accidents will become more frequent, and American cities will become steadily more ugly, alien, and unpleasant.
Those in power will respond to the harmful but inevitable consequences of their own policies by ever more stridently blaming them on white Americans and “systemic racism.” In the name of fighting “hate,” “extremism,” “racism” and “antisemitism,” they will push for new laws and measures in an ultimately futile effort to suppress views and voices they don’t like.
It will be ever more difficult for white Americans to be indifferent to or unaffected by all this. They will find themselves increasingly unable to avoid a distasteful dilemma. Those who believe and accept the anti-white messaging promoted in the mainstream media, Hollywood movies, and school classrooms, will be ever more ashamed of their heritage, their race, and themselves. But those who refuse to accept this toxic messaging will reject – at first inwardly and then ever more openly – the entire System and its guiding ideology.
As political, social and cultural conditions continue to worsen, the Establishment’s focus on the supposed evils and dangers of “white racism” will encourage at least a minority of white Americans to see the world and history in racial terms. That in turn will encourage at least some white Americans to think of themselves not merely as individuals, but as men and women of European ancestry and Western heritage. More white Americans will understand and agree with what some of those here this weekend have been saying for years.
We often hear that the big problem in today’s America is that it’s not “democratic” enough. Many Republicans claim that the presidential election of 2020 was “stolen,” which they say shows that the US is no longer really “democratic.” And many Democrats say that the greatest danger to the country’s future comes from Trump MAGA supporters who threaten what is reverentially called “our democracy.”
But the problem here isn’t that the US is not “democratic;” the key point, especially for white Americans, is that this is no longer “our democracy.” Most white Americans still do not fully grasp the reality that this county has become so multi-ethnic and multi-racial that it can no longer be credibly regarded as “our” country, democratic or otherwise.
As history shows, profound changes in attitude and public perception can happen quickly, when the new outlook is in accord with already existing reality. Here are a few instructive episodes from twentieth century Europe:
In 1918 the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” – the UK – was a multi-party “democracy” in which voters in England, Scotland and Ireland elected representatives to the House of Commons in London. Irish nationalists did not accept this, because however “democratic” the UK was, it was not an Irish democracy. The most important Irish identitarian political organization during this period was Sinn Fein, which means “We ourselves.” After two and half years of violent struggle between Irish nationalists and the British government, the “Irish Free State,” forerunner of today’s Irish Republic, was established in 1922.
Another example: After more than 40 years, Soviet troops left Czechoslovakia in 1990-91, and the country became a multi-party democracy. As its name suggests, the people of that country were overwhelmingly either Czech or Slovak. But the identitarian leaders of each of these two closely related ethnic groups were not happy with the hybrid republic, not because it wasn’t “democratic,” but because it was not “ours.” After a breakup known as the “velvet divorce,” the country came to an end in 1992, to be replaced by two republics: Czechia and Slovakia.
A third example: In Yugoslavia, the single-party rule of the Communist League came to an end in 1990, giving way to a multi-party democracy. But that did not prevent the country from falling apart over the next two years, as Croats, Slovenes, and other ethnic groups broke away. In this case as well, the problem was not that multi-ethnic Yugoslavia wasn’t “democratic,” but that most of its citizens did not regard it as “their” country.
In short: Identity is more important than “democracy.”
If there’s anything useful to be learned from the history of the past century, it’s that multi-ethnic and multi-racial societies are inherently unstable and fragile, and that the most orderly, stable and happy countries are homogenous nations made up of people of the same race, ethnicity, culture, heritage, and language. The trajectory of the past century shows that the notion “Diversity is our strength” – a slogan invented by the Zionist “Anti-Defamation League” and proclaimed by President Bill Clinton in a major address – is a demagogic absurdity. American society is failing above all for the same reason that other culturally and ethnically diverse societies have failed in the past.
For many years now, American politicians, the mass media, Hollywood, and the educational establishment, have been encouraging white Americans to think of themselves merely as individuals whose citizenship as Americans is based entirely on a shared devotion to universalist-egalitarian principles.
White Americans grudgingly tolerate “Black Lives Matter” rallies at which black men and women proudly proclaim their African identity, and they condone gatherings where Jews proudly affirm their Jewish identity and support for Israel. Yet European Americans are very uncomfortable or even ashamed to support anything that might be called white identity politics.
It’s no wonder white Americans keep losing: they’re not even playing the same game. Whites are still playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess. Blacks, Jews, Latinos, Muslims, and so forth, have become skilled at the art of identity politics. They understand that serious, high-stakes politics is identity politics. It’s politics that really matters. European Americans haven’t learned that good intentions, ever more “tolerance,” and trying to be “nice” to everyone are not enough. A future for white Americans can be secured only when our people wake up, recognize this reality, and act accordingly.
In coming years, the work of educating our people, of raising awareness, will become ever more important, and will have a steadily greater impact. In this work, the prerequisite for success is to tell the truth. We cannot hope to match our adversaries in scale or intensity of outreach, but we have something working for us that they do not have. We have reality and truth on our side. No matter how much effort is put into presenting falsehood as noble or admirable, it will not endure. Truth and reality matter, especially over the long run.
A useful feature of this great education project, I provocatively suggest, might be our own version of “Critical Race Theory.”
As you know, many white Americans are understandably not happy with “Critical Race Theory,” which promotes a view of history hostile to our heritage. Typically their response has been defensive talk about how much whites have done to abolish slavery, fight racism, and promote equality. Such talk undoubtedly makes some white men and women feel a little better about themselves, but the apologetic attitude underlying it only encourages new and more assertive demands by non-whites.
What’s needed, I suggest, is a new kind of “Critical Race Theory” – an educational program that will describe just how and why white Americans have enabled the takeover and degradation of the great country their forefathers settled, built and controlled, and have permitted the alien takeover of our mainstream media and educational system, the “third-worldization” of our cities, and the malign vilification of the great men of our people and race whom we once honored. To put it another way, we need a diagnostic “Critical Race Theory” that will explain just how and why white Americans have become so timid and craven — so unwilling or unable to defend their own heritage, much less to safeguard our future as a people.
The American national anthem calls this the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” But the truth is that in every country through the ages – and certainly in today’s America – only a small minority is really courageous – that is, willing to risk life and livelihood to fight for much beyond themselves and their families. It takes no courage to drift with the crowd. Weaklings are always quick to cheer those who have fame, money, and power. Cowards are always ready to support a cause that seems victorious. In any society, the portion of the population that has the wit to understand and the heart to care is always a minority.
That’s why I’m glad to be here this weekend, with men and women who think about what’s happening in our country and the world, and, more importantly, who care about our people, our heritage and our future. As the crisis of America and the West deepens, what we do now and in the years ahead will matter more than ever.
For me, the most gratifying and encouraging development of recent years has been the coming of age of a new generation of capable, savvy and articulate young men, and some young women, who “get it,” who’ve “put it all together.” – young people who are not ashamed of who they are, but who instead affirm their – and our – identity and heritage, and whose dedication is anchored in a coherent worldview, and a confident, unblinkered vision of the future. Some of the younger men and women here this weekend who share this concern for our people and posterity will, perhaps, one day be leaders in the struggle for a better, more secure and happier future.
