The Vandal Brothers’ The American Militant Nationalist Manifesto

959 words

Sacco Vandal and Vanzetti Vandal
The American Militant Nationalist Manifesto
Bath, Ohio: Vandal Brothers, 2015

The American Militant Nationalist Manifesto is an important book. And that is true for several reasons. First and foremost, because the authors say things that need to be said. Second, because the time is right for it, especially in view of the staggering events of this year in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in the United States — for now. And third, because it makes accessible to a general readership some of the ideas of Oswald Spengler and Francis Parker Yockey. And if the authors owe a debt to Yockey and Spengler, it is also true that Yockey and Spengler now owe a debt to the Vandal brothers for making those ideas accessible to that readership. Nevertheless, the book is far from a mere re-hash of Spengler or Yockey, for the authors have also included their own insights and ideas.

The book is written in clear prose to express historical truths and philosophical insights. Indeed, part of the book’s power arises from the combination of its clear and insightful diagnosis of contemporary ills — political, cultural, social, economic, and even sexual — with its clear and readable prose style. Also, these are uniquely American voices. In fact, there is something about the tone of the work that recalls Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Paine.

There is no beating around the bush; the ideas are definite and they are definitely expressed. The ideas and insights are expressed in a forceful literary style that befits the two authors themselves, who are not only twin brothers but also US Marines. Sacco and Vanzetti Vandal are, in fact, their real names, which is fitting indeed, for some of the ideas expressed and treated in this work are truly radical, although the Vandal brothers can hardly be called anarchists. But as they themselves point out, desperate times call for desperate measures. And we do live in desperate times.

The authors place their ideas into the context of Western history, frequently alluding to important figures and events of our collective past — from MacArthur, Truman, Samuel P. Huntington, and some from the Mexican War, to Clausewitz, Robespierre, Lycurgus, and those of the American Revolution. It is clear that they have read their history — and understood it.

One of the reasons that this work is both important and timely is that the year of its publication — 2015 — will go down in American history and in World history not only as one of almost unbelievable change, but also because of the nature of that change and because the changes wrought during the year so perfectly illustrate of the truth of the authors’ ideas, which focus on, among other things, the corruption and decay of the original American Republic — the Republic bequeathed to us by our ancestors — and how the events of this year shine a glaring light on that corruption and decay. The authors see very clearly that the American people have lost control of their government.

It is in discussing the causes of that loss of control that the authors have written what might be the best definitions this reviewer has ever read of “conservatism,” “liberalism,” and “libertarianism.” Those definitions appear in the opening section of the book, which is titled America. It is the first of six major divisions of the work, the others being “Militarism,” “Nationalism,” “Economic Nationalism,” “Democracy,” and “Conclusion.” These definitions alone would make the book worth twice its price, but the Vandal brothers go much further than defining these terms. They explain — satisfactorily — why modern Western man’s abandonment of Nature itself has brought America to the low point at which she finds herself today. They explain how economic prosperity has been deliberately taken away from the middle classes — the backbone of the country — through a combination of errors in political and philosophical thinking. But they also explain that economic prosperity is not a sound or sufficient foundation for culture, and that utopia is simply not an option in this world.

They repeatedly call upon Americans to return to reality by accepting the unalterable fact that human nature is real; that facts of nature and science are real and inescapable; and that continuing to pretend that there are not natural limits on human action is a recipe for disaster; a disaster that must be not only political but which must encompass the entirety of human life.

Since this is a manifesto rather than a call to action, the authors offer a diagnosis of current problems, with less emphasis on what should be done, although there are such suggestions. Among their suggestions are a return to patriarchy; land reform; acceptance of the fact of America’s military power and its use, but not, as the neo-cons would have it, for the benefit of the rest of the world or, as the liberals would have it, for use as a sort of muscular Red Cross, but for the benefit of America and her true people. While calling for an immediate halt to all immigration, both legal and illegal so that the country may have the time needed to absorb the immigrants already here, they also assert that there is, in fact, a real American Nation, and they reject the now-fashionable notion — I won’t call it an idea — of America as nothing more than a “proposition” nation.

Radical ideas, as pointed out already. And the few radical ideas mentioned in this brief review are nothing but the tip of the iceberg. For the other ideas, order the book and read it. I read it in two sittings, but you might do it in one. It makes the reader want to keep turning the pages. Highly recommended.

248 pp., excluding Table of Contents and other front matter. $14.95 from Vandalvoid.com. $22.95 from Amazon.com.