Counter-Currents
1,206 words
Spanish translation here
On Saturday, April 18, 2015, I spoke in Stockholm, Sweden before an audience of 120 people. Other speakers included Kevin MacDonald, Mark Weber, and Jonas De Geer.
Mark Weber’s talk, “Looking Ahead in an Age of Darkness,” was very hopeful. Although all the political and demographic trends in the white world are negative, there are intellectual and political signs that whites are becoming aware of the problems and gathering the intellectual convictions and moral resolve to change course.
Weber focused in particular on Thilo Sarrazin’s 2010 book Deutschland schafft sich ab [Germany Abolishes Itself] as an example of an establishment figure of the Center-Left with the vision and courage to speak out against the destruction of the West. He also gave a compelling account of the United States’ messianic liberal ideology, arguing that this ideology overlooks the essential relationship between European-style societies and the European race. Although he is fundamentally optimistic, Weber ended by arguing that we should not base our actions on our expectations for the future, whether positive or negative. Instead, he argued that we need to base our actions on duty: the duty to speak the truth and do what is right, regardless of the consequences. You can view his talk here.
Kevin MacDonald’s talk, “The Psychological Mechanism of White Dispossession” (here), is an extended version of the talk that he delivered the week before at the London Forum. Professor MacDonald is best-known for his research on how the organized Jewish community is promoting white dispossession: multiculturalism, non-white immigration, affirmative action, white guilt, and the like. Now he is approaching the problem from the other side, exploring white susceptibility to Jewish manipulation.
The core of MacDonald’s argument is that Northern Europeans have an evolutionary history that selected for individualism, low ethnocentrism, openness to strangers, egalitarianism, consensus-based government, nuclear rather than extended families, high trust social orders, high status for women, a strong concern with individual reputation, univeralism, moral idealism, and a strong penchant for “altruistic punishment,” meaning a tendency to punish dissenters from the social consensus, even at the expense of the overall fitness of the group. MacDonald argues that these traits are more prevalent as one goes north in Europe and genes are more derived from Paleolithic hunter-gatherers than Near Eastern agriculturalists or Indo-European herdsmen and horseman.
This suite of behavioral propensities makes Northern Europeans uniquely vulnerable to penetration and subversion by Jews and other collectivist, tribal peoples who exploit European moral universalism, low ethnocentrism, and trust and openness toward strangers. MacDonald’s conclusion, however, is quite hopeful, for he argues that once we become conscious of these tendencies, we can work to inhibit such reactions and, in effect, immunize ourselves from Jewish influence.
My own contribution to the meeting consisted of my Debate on Christianity with Jonas De Geer (Spanish translation here). See also the Dutch, French, and German translations of my opening statement, “Christianity and European Identity” here.
The Stockholm event also coincided with Logik Forlag’s release of the Swedish translation of my New Right vs. Old Right. (Translations into French and Spanish will appear later this year.) During the breaks and after the program, I signed many copies of the new Swedish translation and the English edition of my book. It was highly gratifying
Most of the audience came from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, but others came from Canada, England, Belgium, and the Netherlands. I was very impressed with the Scandinavian nationalists I met. The average age of the audience was probably in the low 30s. I was impressed with the intelligence, articulateness, and commitment of everyone there.
The people I met were uniformly well-informed on race and the Jewish question; they were skeptical of conservatism and “mainstreaming”; and they saw no contradiction between their own particular ethnic identities and a broader racial-national consciousness.
Compared to American racial nationalist gatherings, the number of cranks at the London Forum was much lower, and in Stockholm I met nobody who would fit that description.
The level of English-fluency in Scandinavia is very high, and it was rather humbling that such a large audience would pay to attend a program of lectures entirely in English.
The event was billed as being sponsored by Logik Forlag and Counter-Currents Publishing, which was very generous, considering that my only contribution was to suggest a couple of speakers. Logik Forlag did all the rest, and the event was impeccably planned and went off without a hitch.
Carl Milles, Flygarmonumentet, Karlaplan, Stockholm, 1931
Central Stockholm is a very beautiful city, with magnificent architecture and monuments. I was most taken with the large number of austere, Nordic Jugendstil-type buildings. We visited a number of museums: the Swedish Army Museum, the Swedish National Museum (with very impressive Viking artifacts), the Royal Armory (which also had an impressive exhibit on Swedish royal funerals and tombs), the Strindberg Museum, Stockholm Cathedral and the German Church on Gamla Stan, and the Viking royal burial mounds and museum at Gamla Uppsala.
My favorite museum, however, was the Vasa Museum, the final resting place of the Vasa, the enormous warship that sank in Stockholm Harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was salvaged almost intact in 1961. As a child, the Vasa captured my imagination, but as an adult, I was not prepared for the impact of walking into the presence of a six storey-tall baroque warship. The crowd included many families with children, and I pitied the parents of 8-year-old boys, who surely had to be dragged bodily from the museum. It was hard enough to tear myself away.
In my five days in Stockholm, I saw very few non-whites, and the ones I saw were primarily gypsy beggars and Middle Easterners working in convenience stores. I know Sweden’s demographic and political trends are alarming, but the caliber of the people I met there gives me far more hope for Scandinavia than the United States.
After Sweden, I went to Vienna for a day (April 20), then on to Budapest. I did not give talks in either city but instead spent many hours meeting with writers, publishers, and activists. In Vienna, I visited the Treasure Chamber of the Holy Roman and Austro-Hungarian Empires and the Hapsburg crypts, and I walked for miles enjoying architecture and monuments. Highlights of the Budapest visit were the Hungarian State Opera House, the Franz Liszt Conservatory, Heroes Square, the Parliament Building, the Chain Bridge across the Danube, and many hours of walking among countless beautiful buildings and monuments. I did not feel pressured to cram every attraction into both visits, because I knew I would be back.
I wish to thank the donor who made this trip possible; the organizers and audiences at the London Forum and Stockholm events; plus my hosts in London, Stockholm, Vienna, and Budapest.
I returned to the US physically exhausted but mentally energized and morally inspired. Frankly, it is good to meet people in the real world who actually understand and appreciate what Counter-Currents is about. Sometimes I feel like I am spitting into the wind. I also learned a great deal that can be applied to our struggle in North America. I am already making plans to return to Europe in September and October for more speaking engagements and networking.
Enjoyed this article?
Be the first to leave a tip in the jar!
19 comments
The event in Stockholm was amazing. I’m hoping your speaking arrangements in September and October are within travel distance.
Thanks. I will keep you informed.
Non-white immigration has certainly done wonders for Sweden. According to the PISA test results (Program for International Student Assessment-tests given to 15 year olds; started in 2000 and given every 3 years), in the year 2000 Swedish 15 year olds scored an average of 510 in math(15th comparatively among nations tested). In 2012 they scored 478 (38th comparatively). In the year 2000 they scored 508 in Science (tied for 12th place). In 2012 they scored 485 (38th on the list), In reading, in 2012 (reading was not part of the 2000 tests), 15 year old Swedes scored 483 (36th place).
Yes, indeed. Multiculturalism certainty has its consequences. Surprise, surprise. Importing masses of Middle-Easterners (with a mean IQ of about 85 according to Richard Lynn’s research) and Sub-Saharan Africans (with a mean IQ of about 70) has had the predictable effects.
And this, of course, says nothing to their effects on crime rates, poverty rates, welfare dependency, the decline of national aesthetics and the disintegration of national identity.
Raymond Cattell defined a nation as being really a racio-cultural experiment. I’d say, from an objective analysis of Sweden’s recent racio-cultural experiments, that Sweden’s Ruling Classes have shown themselves to have high degrees of stupidity, ignorance (often willful ignorance born out of a lack of courage to face politically-incorrect facts), foolishness, and outright malevolence.
The worse news is that the Lilliputians who currently misrule us in so many white nations suffer from the same Zeitgeist. The good news is that we have Truth and Human Nature on our side. We must have the Courage to use them.
“Camp of the Saints”, P.172: “Heaven help the white race the day it refuses to voice its basic truths.” The Truth is our sword and our shield. We must use it.
Truth is on our side? Perhaps. But in many PC-laden White countries, Truth is not a legitimate defense. How do we get around that?
Truth is not a legitimate defense in countries dominated by political correctness, for the latter does not regard any defense as legitimate. (One thinks of the sardonic French proverb, “This animal is very wicked; when you attack it, it defends itself.”) But honesty, lucidity, and courage are prerequisites of an offense that can legitimate itself in struggle.
I like that idea. I have family in Canada.
I’ve been wondering, why did you put such an ugly picture on the cover of your book? A monstrous face like the one on the right doesn’t help to instil much pride in our race.
It isn’t ugly. It is beautiful.
Thank you for this, Greg.
Kevin MacDonald’s talk has made an impact. As you might have seen, it has resulted in a few follow-up essays over at TOO, with lots of comments. Also, Karl-Olov Arnstberg, emeritus prof. of ethnology at Stockholm University, has mentioned the talk favourably on his blog (available only in Swedish). He saw the Youtube video, which now has more than 9000 views, which is a lot considering that it is a one hour talk on a scholarly subject.
https://morklaggning.wordpress.com/2015/04/29/ingens-hund/
Also (although this is not about the talk) a blogger at Return of Kings has written a long review of The Culture of Critique:
http://www.returnofkings.com/62716/the-damaging-effects-of-jewish-intellectualism-and-activism-on-western-culture
These are all encouraging signs that things are moving in the right direction.
There are cranks in Europe too; they just dress and speak better than the ones in America, which makes them seem less crankish. Even Brevik did everything he could to improve his appearance before his act of violence. This is directly related to Greg’s discussion with Hugh McDonald about narcissism and the importance of appearance. I cringe every time I see a “right wing gathering” of neo-nazis and klan types protesting something or other that’s totally irrelevant to our cause. Maybe someone on counter currents should do a fashion/appearance critique of how these black-clad, jeans-wearing, slobs present themselves to let them know how bad their fat rolls are making all of us look. Shame is an important tool when guilt doesn’t suffice. Come to think of it, there was a recent demonstration that portrays the typical American right-wing aesthetic perfectly.
http://www.occidentaldissent.com/2015/05/02/knoxville-confederate-flag-rally/comment-page-1/
” Maybe someone on counter currents should do a fashion/appearance critique of how these black-clad, jeans-wearing, slobs present themselves to let them know how bad their fat rolls are making all of us look. ”
See my “Mad Männerbund?”
https://counter-currents.com/2011/03/mad-mannerbund/
Is Mencken is the best guide to the mentality of Anglosphere whites? Strong disdain for any attempt at serious thought-or even avoidance of cliché -seems to be the essence of it. The cranks come from the ranks of the tiny minority of non-jokesters. After all, you can’t be a crank unless you’re excessively serious.
Well, thanks, Greg, that was a far more heartening report about Sweden than some recent posts on Chateau Heartiste would indicate. (I mention CH since it was your article on blogs you read that sent me there. I saw you comment there once, very effectively, ever considered doing more of that? You might bring in some new readers.)
Thanks, and I appreciate your remarks on my Heartiste comments. I had forgotten I had commented there at all.
Could mention who will translate and distribute his book in Spanish.
Apropos Sweden…
It would have been interesting if someone wrote about the Jewish dominance in Sweden. It deserves a bigger audience.
The Jewish journalist and, the son of the Russian banker Olof Aschberg, Robert Aschberg – he founded the Swedish equivalent to ADL, EXPO. Earlier he did trash TV at TV3 but nowadays he travell around Sweden in his search for dissidents, namely anyone who criticises the present state of Sweden. If that wasn’t enough he collaborates with AFA.
Or Tobias Hübinette (Korean born) – one of the founders of AFA. Today he is somekind of lecturer. Why not mention Jan Scherman, the Bonnier family, the horrible lawyer Leif Silbersky, Wolodrski on Dagens Nyheter, the Jews at Svenska Dagbladet.
I had a great weekend i Stockholm, met many old friends and gained some new ones. I have been an admirer of your work with counter-currents and your writings for quite a while. After being able to meet you, see how you carry yourself and listen to your talk I now hold you in even higher regards. I’m very pleased that you and the other guests seemed to enjoy your time here in the north and that you were able to go for some sightseeing. But Sweden is more than Stockholm, maybe we can have something like this on the west coast in the future.
I also felt very energized and inspired, it was truly an amazing experience overall. Looking forward to the next opportunity for something like this in Europe wherever it may be.
Greg could mention what would be the publishers who released their book in Spanish and French.
That has not been decided yet.
Comments are closed.
If you have Paywall access,
simply login first to see your comment auto-approved.
Note on comments privacy & moderation
Your email is never published nor shared.
Comments are moderated. If you don't see your comment, please be patient. If approved, it will appear here soon. Do not post your comment a second time.
Paywall Access
Lost your password?Edit your comment