A personal appeal from Jef Costello 
Let Us Be Comrades

1,478 words

^[1]I inherited a bit of money a few years ago, and I have been spending a lot of it on promoting the White Nationalist movement, specifically Counter-Currents. I just promised Greg Johnson $2,000. But there’s a catch: this is a “matching grant.” You folks have to contribute $2,000 before Greg ever sees a red cent from me. Okay, now STOP. I know what you’re thinking: “Oh boy, this has turned into a fund-raising appeal. I’ll skip this . . .” But wait! I have something important to say. So please stick with me for just a minute, because it could very well change your life.

You’re on this website because you agree with me that our people and our culture are facing their worst crisis ever: their possible extinction. You’re here to gather some intellectual ammunition. And once you’ve sucked some information out of today’s offerings on Counter-Currents you’ll move on to AltRight or American Renaissance, or some other site. The internet has been an enormous boon to our cause, in that we’re able to get the word out and to influence people like never before. But here’s the problem: a movement cannot consist entirely of isolated, anonymous individuals glued to their computers collecting “information.”

A movement has to consist of individuals in real personal contact with each other. Now, some of us live in areas where we don’t know a single person who thinks the way that we do. The answer to this, of course, is to cultivate contacts in other areas, and to keep in regular touch – either by email (or online chatting) or, preferably, by phone. These are “relationships of ideas”: long-distance friendships based upon agreement. But while a friendship can begin because of intellectual agreement, it cannot be sustained on that basis alone. If our relationships – long distance or otherwise – are based entirely on agreement, that is simply a recipe for “breaks,” “rifts,” and “schisms.”

When you get right down to it, there are only a small handful of points that we really need to agree on. The major thing, in fact, is just a forthright, unqualified, and unapologetic love for our race and our culture. If that is a given, then we can disagree about many other things – and still be comrades. Years ago when I lived in a different city I had the good fortune to be part of a small, local White Nationalist circle. We would get together for weekly meetings, and even travel together. One of these guys was a bit of a nincompoop: sort of a parasite, cheap, somewhat flakey, insecure, and not the greatest brain of the bunch. “He’s a loser,” somebody said to me. “Yes, but he’s our loser,” I responded. In other words, he was still one of us – still part of the pack. This is comradeship, and it’s based on a kind of affection. It can’t be based just on ideas alone.

And what’s also necessary here is commitment. You know you’re committed when you are willing to be inconvenienced; when you’re willing to make a sacrifice. If you’re not willing to help your best friend move, then you’re not committed to the friendship. Our movement has got to be based upon personal commitment: commitment to others like ourselves in a spirit of true comradeship, and commitment to our cause.

But if all you are willing to do is to read White Nationalist websites, then you’re not really committed to our cause. You’re just like one of those deadbeats that listens to public radio every day and then gives nothing during the pledge drives (and then complains: “Another pledge drive? Jeeez . . .”).

If you’re not willing to make some sort of sacrifice to our cause – if you’re not willing to be inconvenienced just a little bit – then please don’t bemoan the fact that our movement moves at glacial pace. Part of the problem is you. In the immortal words of Pogo, my father’s favorite comic strip, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

We’ve got to make those personal connections, we’ve got to collect comrades. But when we do each will ask the other, “What are you doing?” or “What have you done?” I write, and I can do that because I have a lot of spare time. Others have less time, and writing isn’t for them. We do what we can. Collecting comrades and sharing ideas is a noble endeavor. No matter what, the essential ingredient is commitment and sacrifice – of some kind or other.

Some of us are committed heavily to other things – like family. What they can do is to support those who are working for our cause. And this is where money comes in. You knew I was going to get back to that, right? I give money to Counter-Currents for a very simple reason: it’s the best thing going in the USA. Counter-Currents is the best Right-wing website in English. Its articles – as you’ve noticed – are consistently pitched at a high intellectual level. And the variety is tremendous. Looking at what’s up there right now we have an essay by Greg Johnson on Heidegger, a substantial essay by Francis Parker Yockey, an essay by Evola, a translation by the poet Leo Yankevich, an interview with the poetess Juleigh Howard-Hobson, and much else.

But Counter-Currents is much more than a website. There’s also Counter-Currents Publishing (more about that anon). And the website and the books are the two major weapons in the arsenal of a new intellectual movement: the North American New Right. This movement was started by Greg Johnson and several other comrades (myself included) in reaction against the tired “Old Right” paradigm of badly-printed journals and conferences devoted to IQ, demographics, cranial measurements, crypto-Republicanism, and Christian apologetics.

NANR is founded on the principle that if we are to win, what we need is total intellectual revolution. The Left has produced its own philosophy, anthropology, literature and literary criticism, art and art criticism, sociology, historiography, etc. The Right must do the same. The aim of the NANR is to produce an entirely new culture. Right now, it is a counter-culture. But it lays the groundwork to be much more. And it can be much more, because unlike the Left we have Truth on our side (see my essay “Strength Through Joy ^[2]”).

However, Counter-Currents cannot accomplish its mission without the help of comrades who are willing to make a commitment, and a sacrifice. With the loss of Mike Polignano, Greg Johnson is currently doing the work of two men. And this is his full-time job, folks. He is managing the website, writing for it, handling all book orders, and currently preparing a number of books for publication by such authors as Savitri Devi, Leo Yankevich, Jonathan Bowden, Collin Cleary, Maurice Bardèche, James O’Meara, Andy Nowicki, Julius Evola, Anthony Ludovici, and Derek Hawthorne. And, financially, these are lean times. A great deal of the money from book sales goes back into printing more books. Take a look at the last “Newsletter ^[3]” Greg published and you’ll see what a success the website has become. And the books are making an impact as well.

But, at present, Counter-Currents cannot be sustained without donations. That’s why I’ve promised Greg a matching grant of $2,000. If you enjoy Counter-Currents, if you have learned from it, if you believe in our mission then commit. Be a true comrade. I know my readers expect humor from me, but I can’t be funny about this. I mean what I say. If you believe in our cause and the worth of what we do at Counter-Currents, then you must make some sacrifice. Stop reading me in the middle of the sentence you are reading right now and go to the DONATE ^[4] page. Give what you can. Even a donation of $25 or $50 will be appreciated. Give more if you are able. And once the donations have reached $2,000 I will dutifully fork over my matching grant.

Counter-Currents has been going now for a little over three years. A lot has been accomplished in that time. But each month is a struggle. And the point where we’re able to say “Hallelujah, we are self-sustaining!” has not yet been reached. What is especially vital, at this point, is to involve more and divide the labor. Without comrades willing to shoulder the burden, we cannot grow. But if you cannot edit or write or stuff envelopes for us, at least give us the money that you would have spent on that giant bottle of Jägermeister, or that Blu-ray of The Wicker Man – or that Hugo Boss suit, or that Porsche 911 Cabriolet.

It’s fine to have the right ideas, but actions speak louder than words. So commit, sacrifice – now. And let us be comrades. There is no comradeship without sacrifice.