2aguy
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2014
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Richard Spencer is not right wing. He is a white supremacist, but he is a left wing progressive.....
Richard Spencer, Wilsonian Progressive - American Greatness
My real interest was to find out what Spencer really believed, with a view to figuring out where he really belongs on the political spectrum. I asked him whether he sought to conserve the principles of the American Founding. He responded, āIāve been critical of the American founding throughout my career.ā The whole concept of individual rights, he said, was āproblematic.ā
Me: So, all men are created equal. True or false?
Spencer: False, obviously.
Me: The idea that we have a right to life, true or false?
Spencer: I donāt think we have rights to really anything.
I asked Spencer about his advocacy of a concept called the white ethno-state.
Me: What I take you to be saying is that the white ethno-state would have a powerful state at the center of it.
Spencer: No question.
Me: But this notion of limited government . . . As you know, the founders saw the government as the enemy of our rights.
Spencer: No individual has a right outside of a collective community. You have rights, not eternally or given by God, or by nature.
Me: Who gives them to us?
Spencer: Ultimately the state gives those right to you. The state is the source of rights, not the individual.
Me: Would it be fair to say you are not just against illegal immigration but immigration, period?
Spencer: Iām definitely against illegal immigration. Thatās an easy one. Iām against replacement immigration in the sense that Iām against immigration coming in from the Third World that is ultimately going to change the ethnic and cultural constitution of the United States. I wouldnāt say Iām against immigration in itself. I would actually be happy to open the door to white South Africans among many who are truly suffering. I would be happy to take in those refugees.
āA Romanticizationā of Race
I asked Spencer about his favorite presidents. Reagan? āI do not think he was a great president.ā Lincoln: Spencer blamed him for starting āan unnecessary warā instead of negotiating a solution with the slave-owners. Spencer wasnāt too hot on Washington, either. Who, then, were his favorites? āThereās something about Jackson,ā he said, āThereās something about Polk, who took something from Mexico and made it ours.ā I pointed out to him that they were both Democrats.
Finally I asked Spencer about the movie, āBirth of a Nation.ā
Me: Have you seen it?
Spencer: Yes, I have.
Me: What did you think of it?
Spencer: Itās an amazing film, one of the most important films ever made.
Me: Leaving aside its technical merits, the notion that the sex-crazed blacks are taking over the country and the Ku Klux Klan was a redemptive movement of white identity to clean the place upāyou agree with that?
Spencer: It was a romanticization of the first Klan in response to Republican Reconstruction. Itās an idealized vision that paints in really broad strokes.
Me: But itās your music.
Spencer: Sure. It appealed to many, Americans including presidents.
Woodrow Wilsonās Heir
As I interviewed Spencer, I kept saying to myself, obviously this guy is not a conservative, but what is he? Heās not a progressive in the contemporary sense, either. And yet his ideas are so familiar. Only toward the end of the interview did it hit me. Spencerās views are virtually identical to those of the progressive racists of the Woodrow Wilson era. He even dresses the part. Basically, the guy is a relic.
In a purely logical sense, Spencer should be a progressive Democrat. Progressive Democrats invented the ideology he espouses, and even today the Democratic Party is the party of ethnic identity politics. Spencerās problem, however, is that the Democrats mobilize black, Latino and Asian identity politics against that of whites. Since whites are now the all-round bad guy, Spencerās brand of progressivism is no longer welcome at the multicultural picnic.
Thus Spencer, a man without a party, turns to Donald Trump. Now, there is very little on which Spencer and Trump actually agree. Trump is a flag-waving patriot who cherishes the American Founders; Spencer isnāt and doesnāt. Trump believes our rights come from God; Spencer is an atheist. Trump wants to keep illegals out so legal immigrants and other American citizensāwhether white, black or brownācan thrive. Spencer wants more white immigrants, fewer if any black and brown ones. In sum, Trump is generally āconservativeā in his ideology and Spencer is clearly not.
Richard Spencer, Wilsonian Progressive - American Greatness
My real interest was to find out what Spencer really believed, with a view to figuring out where he really belongs on the political spectrum. I asked him whether he sought to conserve the principles of the American Founding. He responded, āIāve been critical of the American founding throughout my career.ā The whole concept of individual rights, he said, was āproblematic.ā
Me: So, all men are created equal. True or false?
Spencer: False, obviously.
Me: The idea that we have a right to life, true or false?
Spencer: I donāt think we have rights to really anything.
I asked Spencer about his advocacy of a concept called the white ethno-state.
Me: What I take you to be saying is that the white ethno-state would have a powerful state at the center of it.
Spencer: No question.
Me: But this notion of limited government . . . As you know, the founders saw the government as the enemy of our rights.
Spencer: No individual has a right outside of a collective community. You have rights, not eternally or given by God, or by nature.
Me: Who gives them to us?
Spencer: Ultimately the state gives those right to you. The state is the source of rights, not the individual.
Me: Would it be fair to say you are not just against illegal immigration but immigration, period?
Spencer: Iām definitely against illegal immigration. Thatās an easy one. Iām against replacement immigration in the sense that Iām against immigration coming in from the Third World that is ultimately going to change the ethnic and cultural constitution of the United States. I wouldnāt say Iām against immigration in itself. I would actually be happy to open the door to white South Africans among many who are truly suffering. I would be happy to take in those refugees.
āA Romanticizationā of Race
I asked Spencer about his favorite presidents. Reagan? āI do not think he was a great president.ā Lincoln: Spencer blamed him for starting āan unnecessary warā instead of negotiating a solution with the slave-owners. Spencer wasnāt too hot on Washington, either. Who, then, were his favorites? āThereās something about Jackson,ā he said, āThereās something about Polk, who took something from Mexico and made it ours.ā I pointed out to him that they were both Democrats.
Finally I asked Spencer about the movie, āBirth of a Nation.ā
Me: Have you seen it?
Spencer: Yes, I have.
Me: What did you think of it?
Spencer: Itās an amazing film, one of the most important films ever made.
Me: Leaving aside its technical merits, the notion that the sex-crazed blacks are taking over the country and the Ku Klux Klan was a redemptive movement of white identity to clean the place upāyou agree with that?
Spencer: It was a romanticization of the first Klan in response to Republican Reconstruction. Itās an idealized vision that paints in really broad strokes.
Me: But itās your music.
Spencer: Sure. It appealed to many, Americans including presidents.
Woodrow Wilsonās Heir
As I interviewed Spencer, I kept saying to myself, obviously this guy is not a conservative, but what is he? Heās not a progressive in the contemporary sense, either. And yet his ideas are so familiar. Only toward the end of the interview did it hit me. Spencerās views are virtually identical to those of the progressive racists of the Woodrow Wilson era. He even dresses the part. Basically, the guy is a relic.
In a purely logical sense, Spencer should be a progressive Democrat. Progressive Democrats invented the ideology he espouses, and even today the Democratic Party is the party of ethnic identity politics. Spencerās problem, however, is that the Democrats mobilize black, Latino and Asian identity politics against that of whites. Since whites are now the all-round bad guy, Spencerās brand of progressivism is no longer welcome at the multicultural picnic.
Thus Spencer, a man without a party, turns to Donald Trump. Now, there is very little on which Spencer and Trump actually agree. Trump is a flag-waving patriot who cherishes the American Founders; Spencer isnāt and doesnāt. Trump believes our rights come from God; Spencer is an atheist. Trump wants to keep illegals out so legal immigrants and other American citizensāwhether white, black or brownācan thrive. Spencer wants more white immigrants, fewer if any black and brown ones. In sum, Trump is generally āconservativeā in his ideology and Spencer is clearly not.