Motivation

Napoleon Crossing the St. Bernard Pass by Jacques-Louis David, 1800

1,130 words

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This essay is from Michael Polignano’s book Taking Our Own Side, available in a limited, signed and personalized hardcover edition here.

September 6, 2004

A few days ago I had a telephone conversation with a friend and lifelong racial activist, Sam Dickson. We shared opinions on several matters, both personal and movement-related. Near the end of the conversation, however, he confided in me a deep sense of hopelessness and despair. Having spent decades of his life fighting for the “Cause,” he found himself having serious doubts about its ultimate success. All I could say at the time was, “Don’t give up.”

I felt more was needed, however. I myself have gotten depressed while thinking about the future of our country and our race, and I have allowed these feelings to interfere with my productivity. I have also felt an acute sense of guilt for having produced nothing new over the past few months. Hence, this essay.

Generally speaking, one’s effectiveness at any endeavor depends to a large extent on one’s enthusiasm and confidence of success. I have come to believe that enthusiasm and motivation are more important than talent in determining success: I’ve seen plenty of motivated idiots who have achieved fortune and fame, but absolutely no unmotivated geniuses who have done so.

Motivation is literally the force that moves us forward. It is thus the lifeblood of any endeavor. Indeed, it is life itself. And negative thinking, and the depression to which it ultimately leads, are therefore enemies of life. Depression is a kind of living death. That’s why the severely depressed often prefer death to life.

What if Beethoven, upon becoming deaf, became depressed and lost all motivation to complete his Ninth Symphony? What if Galileo had convinced himself that the Church was too great a force to challenge? Think about what the world would be like absent the accomplishments of any great explorer, discoverer, writer, or artist.

Humanity would be poorer without the works of any great individual. Yet in spite of the loss, more great accomplishments would eventually occur, provided future generations have the genetic background they need.

If present trends continue, they will not.

The greatest accomplishment our race could ever make is to ensure that future generations of our people will exist and prosper. Individuals and groups who effectively act with that goal in mind are engaging in the highest and noblest activity possible.

I think many high-quality White Nationalists accept this idea, yet still hold back from fully committing themselves to the movement for one reason or another. I think the greatest unspoken feeling is: “If we were going to win, we would have won already. White Nationalist leaders have been addressing the threat to our race for a long time, but the results have been insignificant, and America continues to decline. I don’t feel I could make any difference, so why should I try?”

I admit to having entertained these thoughts myself. But when I took the time to rationally consider the argument, its flaws became obvious.

First of all, past events do not dictate what will happen in the future. The probability a normal coin will come up “heads” after being flipped is 50:50, even if the coin came up “tails” the past 1,000 flips. The fact that Da Vinci was unsuccessful at creating a flying machine didn’t stop the Wright Brothers from doing so.

The lessons of history are important, but the most important of these lessons is that history is full of surprises, novelties, and new discoveries. And by their very nature, these things cannot be predicted in advance, for if they could be predicted, they would not be new, novel, or surprising. History tells us only that we will be surprised, not what the surprises will be.

Second, even if one’s message is absolutely true and good, it will be ineffective unless certain other conditions are met. One needs the appropriate media for communicating it. One’s audience has to be receptive. And one needs the right spokesmen for the message. And as I see it, the prospects for all three of these conditions are positive.

First, although the establishment has had near total control over public opinion for a long time through the mass media, their grip is weakening. Consider the following. In the past decade: (1) Internet access has become standard in most American households. (2) Digital media such as the CD and the DVD have all but replaced analog media. (3) The computing power needed to capture and manipulate digital photography and digital video has become affordable to the average consumer. (4) File-sharing technologies have emerged that allow for the rapid distribution of large amounts of data to a large number of interested parties. Thus the technical barriers to forming a truly independent media have all but disappeared. All that’s needed now is time, determined effort, and a bit of creativity.

Second, as things go from bad to worse in America, more and more people are becoming receptive to alternative arguments, even if those arguments do not conform to the tenets of Political Correctness. This is particularly true among young people who have grown up exposed to the internet, where any topic they wish to explore is but a Google search away. At the same time, our ability to communicate the truth becomes greater and greater with each passing day. These facts should inspire us to speak out louder and more vigorously than ever before.

Third, since I started this website, I have been contacted by hundreds of people. Many have shared their criticisms of today’s White Nationalist leaders. I have noticed that the strongest objections have come from the people who have the most to offer the movement in terms of leadership and money. They are educated, affluent, talented, individually reputable, and socially prominent people.

When I have urged such people to get publicly involved themselves if they do not like the existing leadership, they tend to answer that they cannot, because they have so much to lose. They are worried about the consequences to their families, their businesses, their personal reputations, and their social status.

My standard answer to this sort of objection is: Having a family is the best reason in the world to fight for a society where White children have a future. Preserving one’s wealth and social status are excellent reasons for fighting as well. If one really does have a good reputation, then why worry about it being sullied by the advocacy of politically incorrect truths? Indeed, if one’s reputation really is good, then won’t it lend luster to unfairly tarnished truths, rather than vice versa?

The first step toward victory is believing that it is possible.