The Narcotic of Minor Celebrity

Last year I started showing up at dissident events and I started to interact with some of the important figures on-line. The main reason was to get to know some of these people a little better. You get a better sense of people when you see them in person and interact with them. Frankly, I figured if I was getting quoted and linked to by people in this thing, I should meet them and get to know them. It turned out that many of these people wanted to meet me.

Now, I am no rock star, so it is not as if people are chasing me down the street looking for a selfie or autograph. Even so, it is flattering to have someone walk up to you and thank you for your efforts. I was approached at a bagel shop recently by someone who recognized my voice and decided to see if I was the man behind the voice. I am not particularly good at handling these encounters. I usually resort to false modesty, as I do not have a lot of experience with it. I also have no great desire to be famous.

Now, there are famous people who are incredibly good at being famous. They enjoy it and they know how to handle it. I once saw a famous guy do selfies for fans, while carrying on a conversation with a friend. My guess is that the truly famous, the people most everyone recognizes, look at celebrity in the same way that most of us look at filling out a time sheet or an expense report. It is just a part of the job. Those fans asking for selfies are just part of the package.

On the other hand, minor celebrities are obsessed with getting noticed. A guy like Milo is a good example. His glib homosexual routine was a good compliment to his writing at Breitbart, but then he got a little famous. The desire to see himself on TV and internet had him doing increasingly nutty things to get attention. Whether you are a fan of Milo or not, he has real talent, but it has come to a sad end for him. His desire for fame exceeded his ability to maintain it.

Milo’s story arc is a familiar one, but the proliferation of social media has brought a new version of this, the e-celeb. Mike Cernovich is probably the best example. He has no real talent for anything, as far as anyone knows, but he is good at getting attention on social media. One of the things you cannot help but notice is how much he obsesses over his follower count and impressions on Twitter. Followers and friends are the coin of the realm, so all of the internet celebrities focus on growing those numbers.

This lust for recognition is certainly at the root of the endless in-fighting we see among the alt-right personalities. An alt-right person gets some traffic to their YouTube channel and before long they are picking fights with everyone, they used to call allies. Because the drama results in more traffic, it becomes a feedback loop. The uptick in traffic releases endorphins in the brain of the e-celeb. It is like crystal meth for these guys as each hit increases their craving for the next hit.

Another side of this is the leaders are picked from the pool of people desperate for attention. Some glib or photogenic person pops up on social media and they attract a crowd. Before long, the other e-celebs are inviting him onto their platforms to get some secondhand traffic. The result is the influential people are being selected for their vanity and lust for celebrity, rather than intelligence or mental stability. That is why more than a few weirdos have turned up as alt-right celebrities.

It is possible that this benefits dissident politics eventually. The dominant media has a filtering mechanism to make sure no one with unclean thoughts ever gets access to their platforms. The result is a dreary sameness. The breathtaking lack of self-awareness scares off more people than it convinces. The people who survive the e-celeb gauntlet and establish themselves as trusted voices could turn out to be much shrewder and savvier as a result of it.

A guy like Nick Fuentes is a good example. He has a creepy maturity to him that has gained him a lot of attention. He is like Bill Mitchell in a child’s body. He is an alt-right version of the movie Big. While he does a fine job on his YouTube shows, he often goes onto social media and posts stupid and childish things. People who talk about their IQ on social media tend to be mentally unstable. On the other hand, Fuentes is a kid so maybe he figures it out and gets better.

That said, it could be that new media and social media have evolved in a way that allows the people in charge to keep challengers out on the fringe. Instead of smart subversives quietly doing what it takes to weasel into the orthodoxy, they are having purse fights with e-celebs and disqualifying themselves in the process. Since your internet activity is now part of your permanent record, all those youthful mistakes will later be used against you as an adult.

In other words, YouTube is a favela for political and cultural dissidents. The people dominating the space will be narcissistic attention whores, willing to do and say anything to get views. The result is they drive out anyone with ability, so outsider politics remains a land of unwanted toys. The narcotic of minor celebrity is not a byproduct of the communications revolution, but a product of design. Either way, the narcotic of minor celebrity is the new opiate of the masses.

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joey junger
joey junger
6 years ago

I think it’s the curse of the VSP (“Very Serious Person”) that would cause someone to regard an alt-right or fringe person as less stable than someone close to the centers of power. That stamp-of-approval/imprimatur from the Cathedral is the only thing that makes Bibi Netanyahu with his charts and curtains seem less crazy than Glenn Beck with his chalkboard. Is a Nick Fuentes or a Richard Spencer (or hell, even a Milo) really anywhere near as crazy as a “moderate” center-right or center-left person invested in the invade the world/invite the world policy? Nancy Pelosi has a look on… Read more »

sirlancelot
sirlancelot
6 years ago

** That’s why more than a few wackos ” have streaked across the alt-right sky ” over the last couple of years **

My favorite line. 🙂

Always dismayed about the dissension amongst the conservative , right wing, alt-right, etc.

The left embraces all their weirdos and makes no apologies. Like the crazy uncle at the family picnic that nobody pays attention to and pretends nothing’s wrong. White’s always fracture along the lines of who’s a gun nut, a religious nut, a racist etc.

Find competent people to represent the right and stop the petty in fighting.

tamaleman
Member
6 years ago

Have you seen Vox Day going nuclear on Jordan Peterson lately? Something very strange about it. What’s your take?

Dave
Dave
Reply to  tamaleman
6 years ago

I’ve seen that as well. Jordan had his time in the spotlight over the past year, but his star is now starting to fade. Vox has latched onto some inconsistencies in Jordan’s worldview and is going absolutely ballistic. Vox is a really odd figure on the dissident right. He is bright, but deeply impressed with himself in a very narcissistic, egotistical way, and never hesitates to scream about his IQ and supposed debating skills. He lives in Italy, despite not being Italian, and never tells anyone why he made this significant move with his family. He hits most of the… Read more »

Kapper
Kapper
Reply to  Dave
6 years ago

I don’t know how many Z Blog readers remember Larry Auster of View From The Right, but Vox Day sure reminds me of Larry. Very relentless when on the attack.

Wilburn Sprayberry
Wilburn Sprayberry
Reply to  Kapper
6 years ago

I corresponded a bit with Auster, years before he took sick and died from a sudden onset cancer. His monograph, “The Path To National Suicide” helped clarify my visceral rage against non-white immigration into more coherent thoughts (though leaving the rage intact). He was a key figure in the 90s, who spoke at the first American Renaissance conference (if I recall correctly), to whom both Derbyshire and Brimelow have paid tribute. He was also insufferably touchy and…relentless (as you say), though that’s also too nice a word.

Oh…wait a sec…you already know that. So….yeah, I remember him! 🙂

Sam
Sam
Reply to  Dave
6 years ago

Eh, I don’t think he’s strange at all. He’s the stereotypical bully, covering up for his insecurities by bragging how he’s tougher/smarter than everyone else, likely rooted in some anxiety issues. He is very intelligent, and you see it when he’s analyzing something outside himself (e.g. literature). But talk about anything that remotely touches on his own status, and he utterly flies off the handle, and you see insecurity and immaturity. He sees Peterson getting all this attention, while his own star, and those of his confreres Cernovich and Milo is kind of flat or dimming, and so he goes… Read more »

Dave
Dave
Reply to  Sam
6 years ago

Agree. There’s quite a bit of projection going on in the way he gets hyper defensive about the slightest criticism and yet relentlessly criticizes everyone and anything on the slightest pretext.
He’s really yearning for some acknowledgement from someone of Peterson’s stature, and surely won’t get it as Jordan has better things to do.
Vox is the embodiment of the gamma male archetype he always refers to when attacking guys who won’t give him the time of day.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  Sam
6 years ago

Eh, Vox is a fervent Christian convert and this colors every single thing he does, knowingly or unknowingly He and the rest of the Deus Volt crowd have no mental map of the West that doesn’t involve Christianity and people like Peterson who are culturally somewhat Christian but promote a gnostic (self understanding) path tend to cause the same freak out the Catholics had with Gnosticism They can’t cope with the fact that while its possible to make the West White again you can’t make the society suddenly religious again and while the devout seem to be well more devout,… Read more »

Eddie
Eddie
Reply to  A.B. Prosper
6 years ago

I’m a little skeptical of how much of a “Christian” he is. Not to question his personal faith, but AFAICT he’s not aligned with any specific denomination or tradition; read hundreds of his posts and never recall him mentioning going to church, or something his pastor/preist said or anything like that. It seems like he’s doing the cafeteria thing where he adopts the parts that appeal to him (e.g. the worldview and moral teachings) and ditches the parts that challenge him (e.g. the call to be part of a community of believers, the idea of putting oneself under any kind… Read more »

Toddy Cat
Toddy Cat
Reply to  Eddie
6 years ago

I’ve gotta say, given what a lot of “Christian Religious Leader” are advocating these days, I can’t really fault Vos for not wanting to be under their authority. Lots of wolves in shepard’s clothing out there right now. Also, Vox is Evangelical, which has a much more diffuse authority structure than Catholicism or Orthodoxy.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  Eddie
6 years ago

Church is optional in Christianity. Matthew 18:20 , Anywhere two or three of you are gathered in my name there shall I be, It would take him and his wife Spacebunny to fill the requirement And as for authority? Which one? The Deus Volt crowd in general sees most of the churches as corrupt or outright Satanic and given my experiences, they aren’t wrong Churchianity is a big problem. Besides if you believe Gallup just over 1/3 of Christians attend church regularly This is not something new through, Americans historically weren’t big in regular Church That said I agree with… Read more »

Reply to  A.B. Prosper
6 years ago

Truth is its no more possible to revive Christendom than the old Roman Religio Civicum Currently, the Left singlehandedly polices academia for orthodoxy and plays a major role in driving tax funding for research. When the Left falls, everything they built falls with them. If the secular Right can’t make convincing arguments against intelligent design, atheism will be dead in three generations. Just as Civil-Rights-loving cuckservatives always forget that Civil Rights were only made possible by the Left, the secular Right always forgets that the academics who were using basic SJW tactics (long before SJWs were even a thing) to… Read more »

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  DissidentRight
6 years ago

You do realize the New Testament could be historically accurate (and FWIW I’m agnostic leaning yes on the question) but the core premises of Christianity simply inaccurate for a passel of reasons Also atheism has doubled in numbers of late Its a silly thing to believe as compared to agnosticism but it is what it is, My guess is folk religions are the way of the future in the West , no orthodoxy, no churches , just traditions and beliefs handed down. There will be loads of them, remains of the New Age, Wicca, Asatru and other Heathenry , vaguely… Read more »

Reply to  A.B. Prosper
6 years ago

You do realize the New Testament could be historically accurate but the core premises of Christianity simply inaccurate for a passel of reasons Not the core premises, no. If the NT is historically accurate, Jesus rose from the dead. There will be loads of them, remains of the New Age, Wicca, Asatru and other Heathenry , vaguely Christian things, Sacral Nature, Spiritualism and afterlife teaching, vague animism you name it, This is not harmful to people in any way. Its the norm before Christianity and its what we’ll revert too. That is what we’re seeing happen right now. The question… Read more »

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  DissidentRight
6 years ago

Back from the dead is meaningless .People come back from clinic death all the time in hospitals. If you want to suggest people from 32 C.E or thereabouts knew more about medicine than we do and even had a snowballs chance in a furnace of knowing whether someone was dead or only mostly dead when we have trouble doing that in 2018, you are being absurd Also myths are full of people and gods coming back to life . The Norse Baldr will eventually and its Coyote’s stock in trade . Its not even that special on a mythical basis.… Read more »

Reply to  A.B. Prosper
6 years ago

However you play, you had better have a plan for a West without Christianity The plan is nationalism for everyone, Christian or not. Politics have nothing in principle to do with Christianity; you don’t need the Bible to tell you that feminism, globalism, and socialism must be destroyed. However, it is worth pointing out that when you change the religion you change the civilization. Roman and Greek civilization came to an end and were replaced by Western Civilization when their religions were replaced with Christianity. Similarly, post-Christian Europe will be post-Western Europe. people come back from clinic death all the… Read more »

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  DissidentRight
6 years ago

I agree with your first point 100% Atheism has been around for thousands of years though and will be for thousands more, Its never been popular outside the people who seem to biologically lack the religious sense before so I tend to agree though people will get more religious As far as Paganism , using the broadest description here, everything that is not Abrahamic or Eastern , eh it predates Christianity by I don’t know 30 millennium or more and will last long after Christianity is taken as seriously as Mithraism Now the current “West” won’t be the same without… Read more »

Tully
Tully
Reply to  Sam
6 years ago

wow, you sure are smart Sam. How you’re able to discern people’s motives without having to do all the drudgery of having to read or listen to any reasons they’ve given is truly impressive. Well done sir!

Sam
Sam
Reply to  Tully
6 years ago

I didn’t claim to know his motives; I described his actions as I saw them, and speculated on the underpinnings. I’ve worked professionally with gifted but insecure kids, and Vox’s rhetoric and behavior reminds me of one of them. YMMV,

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Tully
6 years ago

There are only about 3 -4 motives for all human behavior (maybe only 2 true motives). So it isn’t hard to discern which ones are at play, with Vox or anyone else.

MBlanc46
MBlanc46
Reply to  Sam
6 years ago

VD was going on about epistemology in a very dogmatic way the other day. That’s one of the few things that I have a reasonably good knowledge of, and it was pretty clear that he was in over his head.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  MBlanc46
6 years ago

He’s in over his head as soon as he moves away from talking about comic books.

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  MBlanc46
6 years ago

How do you know that you “have a reasonably good knowledge” of epistemology?

Glenfilthie
Glenfilthie
Member
Reply to  Dave
6 years ago

I’ve read Vox for years. He used to have something to say, and he said it well. But it is becoming increasingly clear that he is not fit to speak for the dissident right or even the alt-right anymore. He’s melting down on Peterson because Peterson is actually one of the last remaining classical liberals – and he can reach and connect with both sides of the political spectrum with some success while Vox cannot. Think of Peterson more accurately as ‘dissident left’. And – Peterson’s doing that right in the very heart of the proggie universe, where Vox is… Read more »

Tully
Tully
Reply to  Glenfilthie
6 years ago

Another mind reader. Amazing how you too know Vox’s motives without actually reading what he says. No wonder he banned you.

Pox Vocally
Pox Vocally
Reply to  Tully
6 years ago

Who cares – Rhetoric!
What are you, stupid?

Glen Filthie
Glen Filthie
Member
Reply to  Tully
6 years ago

As I said, I read him for years, and still do. But – look at what you see for yourself. The entire left wing of the political spectrum thinks he’s an idiot. Half of the Alt and Dissident Right does too. He will expound on how to argue and debate too, and how to use dialectic and rhetoric. Right. When 75% of the people he reaches think he’s an idiot. Jordan Peterson – a liberal – is taken far more seriously by far more people than Vox is. All this is a matter of public record – if I am… Read more »

MBlanc46
MBlanc46
Reply to  Glenfilthie
6 years ago

“Dissident Left”. Good description of Peterson. And Pinker.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  Glenfilthie
6 years ago

You are right about Peterson’s role Peterson is as Vox Day noted is basically for broken people (proggies as you put it) not the rest of us This purple pilling is good work in my book but I hope people don’t stop there. They need the full Red Pill You also reiterated one of Vox’s points namely that Peterson is a Leftist and while this movement won’t shoot right, the Left is a legitimate rhetorical target and as such Peterson is. Vox Day is a bit deeper than you think though. He’s not some Internet schlub but has along and… Read more »

Glen Filthie
Glen Filthie
Member
Reply to  A.B. Prosper
6 years ago

Hmmmmmm. Vox can and does punch right, and he’s done it after critiquing others for doing it. He’s attacked Gab, Z, and others so I don’t feel too bad about agreeing with the majority that thinks the man is an unlikable dolt. One thing we have to learn is that popularity counts. The man has started so many fights with so many good people (like Sarah Hoyt, for example) – that he’s become a liability. If you watch him carefully as I do – you will notice he lies, he doubles down, and he projects. When he gets caught at… Read more »

Frip
Member
Reply to  Glen Filthie
6 years ago

I almost never agree with you, but good post Glen.

Frip
Member
Reply to  Dave
6 years ago

“Jordan had his time in the spotlight over the past year, but his star is now starting to fade.” That implies that he’s simply celebrity. It’s more like he’s reached a current saturation point. He lays it on a bit rich so I hope he’ll keep a lower profile. I hope and think he’ll remain on the scene as a public intellectual. I never put him on a pedestal as he’s a mainstreamer, but realize he’s a general good for society. Vox Day is shooting fish in a barrel because he needs material and attention. Of course Jordan isn’t ideologically… Read more »

Jimmy
Jimmy
Reply to  Frip
6 years ago

Gavin McInnes…seriously?

Altitude Zero
Altitude Zero
Reply to  Frip
6 years ago

Why rate Taylor so low? There wouldn’t even be an Alt-Right without older guys like Taylor and Derbyshire

Frip
Member
Reply to  Altitude Zero
6 years ago

I respect Taylor. I just give him a low leader batting average because he’s a bit stilted. With his old fashioned demeanor I don’t see him attracting the younger vote in an election.

Arch Stanton
Arch Stanton
Reply to  Frip
6 years ago

Gee…whatever happened to “no enemies to the right”?

Drake
Drake
Reply to  Dave
6 years ago

I used to read Vox too. I stopped reading when all I gleaned out his articles was how awesome Vox thinks he is. Right or wrong, he’s drowning in his own narcissism.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Drake
6 years ago

More like marinating.

Reply to  Dave
6 years ago

Strange bird, Vox Day.

Indeed. He is fully independent and has a large network of successful, independent white male Christian supporters. He always tells the truth. He is producing real products for a real market. And, as the Hugo Awards demonstrate, he can throw a significant amount of weight around.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  DissidentRight
6 years ago

hahahaha tell us how his balls taste, while you are at it.

joey junger
joey junger
Reply to  tamaleman
6 years ago

I read some Vox Day articles in the past, and I appreciate his SJW primer, but people who talk about their IQ constantly don’t seem to be putting their IQ to good use. I think almost all mainstream public intellectuals are “midwits,” as I think Vox Day’s coinage has it. Sargon also has that “kind of smart but a douche-bag” vibe.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  joey junger
6 years ago

Comic books, video games, japanese pop, fantasy novels. These are not the pursuits of a high level mind. He reminds me (strongly) Wyle E Coyote.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

I’m keeping my finger off the down vote button, a man is entitled to his opinion Media is one the main weapons the Left uses and this vinegar drinking prude we are above that kind of fun attitude is what go the Right’s ass righteously kicked. No one wants to be around someone who answer to “What kind of fun do you like?” is “I don’t know but not that one.” The age for every man wants to be Joe Friday is long over and good riddance, While 40 is not the new 20, 52 is also not near death… Read more »

james wilson
james wilson
Reply to  joey junger
6 years ago

Make a list of the great thinkers, which time has proven out. None were boastful. Great intelligence and humility are not natural allies, but it is the combination of those qualities that produces insight. That is why insight is so rare.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  james wilson
6 years ago

Nah. That only applies to being a moral person. Virtue signaling ought to be a capital offense, An example, Einstein was a total dog, no sexual loyalty, the morality of a rabbit . He was still brilliant and he wasn’t that humble In most cultures bragging is normal as they say in Texas , it ain’t bragging if you can do it. Assuming accomplished people should behave plainly, dress plainly and never show off a bit is Puritan horse dung and in this barbaric age, it can go. It will go, its strictly an Anglo thing anyway. Now that streak… Read more »

Brigadon
Brigadon
Member
Reply to  tamaleman
6 years ago

He got sick of all the white knighting for a con artist.

I did too.

Jimmy
Jimmy
Reply to  tamaleman
6 years ago

I find vox exhausting too. Anytime I see dissident righters attacking each other I get exasperated at the waste of time and fundamental pettiness. Frankly I don’t care what these guys think of each other or what personal disagreements they may have. I didn’t start reading these blogs as a substitute for gossip mags: I’m here for ideas. Considering Jordan Peterson is not going to listen to race realists anyway and is unprepared to address the elephant in the room I don’t really see much point addressing him myself. He’s going to do his thing, we will do ours…like all… Read more »

AlanBreck
AlanBreck
Reply to  Jimmy
6 years ago

After Anglin, the stupid Gab spat, and this it’s clear he starts them for the clicks.

Short term its effective, long term the ones who aren’t cultists leave.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  AlanBreck
6 years ago

Anglin is a Nazi . While they can be tolerated as they are pro White the are not on our side. They lack message discipline and self control and are legitimate rhetoric targets

Richard Spencer is a fucking globalist who loves the EU who just happens to be pro White .

Pro Tip. letting foreigners into your country is bad been when they are of your race

Democratic Workers and Socialism are not Right Wing at things period.

james wilson
james wilson
Reply to  Jimmy
6 years ago

“He’s going to do his thing, we will do ours” works well for me. I’ve enjoyed and admired Peterson’s efforts very much, but. I saw him appear on a Bill Maher Star Court of five amigos, and lost much of my respect for him. He wants, needs, these metastasized faux intellectual brains to include him. He defends the opposition to Prog inc, as being not entirely stupid.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  tamaleman
6 years ago

My guess is VD doesn’t have a college education, and that is the source of his unbounded insecurity. He is very sure of himself, but i have seen 0 evidence that he is actually above average intelligence. Ok, maybe 105.

And you will never find a comment on his blog, that rises above the level of a 7th grader.

Burner Prime
Burner Prime
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

@Karl, true. Anyone who challenges him on merit gets perma-banned. The rest of the sycophantic meatheads get to stay

Anonymous White Male
Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

VD is a hustler. In both the good and bad definitions of the word. Severian said once that Vox is a troll, first and foremost. I didn’t understand that at the time, but watching him try to pick fights with people makes you realize that he’s in it for the click count and the internet name recognition. Hey, any publicity is good publicity in the age of the 15 minute fame, right? He promotes his brand, which is a source of income for him. If you’re going to live in Venice, you’re going to need mucho shekels. He has his… Read more »

Severian
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

I also said he’s a truly *excellent* troll. I’ve learned a lot about building a personal brand watching him work (my interest in personal brand-building is strictly academic, for the record). As I understand his beef with Jordan Peterson (and my interest in this is just a tick or two above absolute zero), he thinks Peterson is bought-and-paid-for opposition — a kind of YouTube version of David Brooks’s gig at the New York Times. Whether or not that’s true (either his belief or my analysis of his beliefs), beefing with Peterson undoubtedly drives traffic his way… which has to help.… Read more »

Gordo
Gordo
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Cernovitch is a gadfly, albeit entertaining though in an occasionally jarring way.

Anonymous White Male
Anonymous White Male
Reply to  Severian
6 years ago

You also said Vox was fighting “the good fight” and was essentially on our side.

Severian
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

So I did. He’s pro-Western Civ, which means he’s on the side of the angels. It’s quite possible to be both a) on the right side and b) so annoying to your own side that it’s almost not worth it… and he skates right up to that line (and, indeed, seems to enjoy it – he trolls his own followers as often as he does the Left).

Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

But, I find his on-screen arrogance to be in conflict with his on-screen true Christian believer bit.

Leave that for us Christians to judge.

Anonymous White Male
Anonymous White Male
Reply to  DissidentRight
6 years ago

Was that irony? If so, good one. If not, it was just my opinion. I’ll leave it to God to sort it out.

Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

1) Not irony, and 2) fair enough.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  DissidentRight
6 years ago

hahaha I can’t help hearing you say “christians” as “kwistens” with a big ole homo lisp!

Altitude Zero
Altitude Zero
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

I agree that Vox can be irritating at times (well, OK, a lot of times) but he is actually one of the few people in our thing who has actually tried to set up alternative Alt-Right institutions, along with Andrew Torba (PBUH). Castalia House, Infogalactic, whatever it is that he calls his comic-book thing; these are real things that actually have potential, and they wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for Vox. So while I wish that he would tone down the “Wyl E. Coyote – Super Genius!” act a bit, and stop attaching people who are on our side,… Read more »

Thorsted
Thorsted
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

” If you’re going to live in Venice”- Vox doesn’t live in Venice but in Lombardi region according to himself. I think he lives close to Bergamo that is also close to Milan. There is very good flight connection to the rest of the world and fast train connections to the rest of Italy and Europe. The region Venice is in is more closed. They speak another local language -Friulian/venician that can not be understood by Italians. Separatism has been strong in that region for the same reason. My italian family have lived in both regions and my father can… Read more »

Frip
Member
6 years ago

A few points. 1) Z: “Fuentes has a creepy maturity to him that has gained him a lot of attention.” Using the word “creepy” and “attention” was a sharp blow, but deserved. Your comments on him remind me of the lion who bites his annoying cub a bit too hard, just to let him know he’s out of line. And that he’d better get back IN line. Strong signal you put out. I hope he takes heed. 2) Z on Milo: “The desire to see himself on TV and internet had him doing increasingly nutty things to get attention.” Yes.… Read more »

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
6 years ago

re: Milo Our host as usual is spot on.; Thing is like Peterson he’s not .Alt Right but .Alt Lite , turning wheels for Right leaning GBLT types and a voice that allows them to realize that the current Right doesn’t really hate them any more and the society they’d build would be safer for them with the worse case scenario, they get back into the closet with the worst case scenario on the Left being horrible death by ISIS In any case since Milo is you know gay and seems kind of a femme if that term isn’t declasse… Read more »

Altitude Zero
Altitude Zero
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Right, Eisenhower didn’t purge the State Department and Defense Department of homosexuals due to “homophobia,” he knew that gays were, and are, much more likely to be neurotic and have more mental problems (for whatever reason) than are straights. Also, in the context of the 1950’s, they were also much more blackmailable, and the KGB had a long history of doing such things. Milo has a lot of guts, and I wish him well, but he’s obviously not all that tightly wrapped.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Altitude Zero
6 years ago

Also prone to traitorous actions.

Burner Prime
Burner Prime
6 years ago

—” People who talk about their IQ on social media tend to be mentally unstable.”

Theodore are you listening?

FellowDissident
FellowDissident
6 years ago

Vox Day behaves as one may expect given his father’s trajectory and the likely parenting job delivered by such an accomplished yet odd duck. He’s producing tools for the dissident right that can be quite useful. I can learn from VD and I tune in although I do find certain traits annoying, particularly the narcissism. I have speculated whether VD lives there in Italy because Pa VD left behind a hidden fund in Switzerland that requires in person retrieval of funds withdrawals and the US might seize attempted wire transfers. Of course there are other reasons for living in Italy… Read more »

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  FellowDissident
6 years ago

Although I’ve followed Vox for years, I didn’t know about his Dad. For people like me, check out: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Robert_Beale

Dave
Dave
Reply to  LineInTheSand
6 years ago

Very interesting stuff, and clarifies a lot about Vox.
His dad was a very smart developer, engineer and businessman who created several successful, multimillion dollar companies before going completely off the rails and eventually ending up in Federal prison as a “tax protester” who had ordered extra judicial arrests and assassinations with a cadre of fundamentalist followers.
Goes a long way in explaining why Vox doesn’t, or can’t, live in the U.S.

Severian
6 years ago

I just found out from a commenter that our tiny little group blog with 9 readers has been blocked as a “hate site” by US Cyber Command (you, Zman, apparently only a “personal blog”). I’ll keep you posted on whether or not this success goes to my head – you’ve got 65 to the nth power more readers than we do, but only we are US government certified haters.

Severian
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Damn it! I thought I’d one-upped you! I am just insanely jealous with rage and jealousy now. I must now post a whole bunch of anti-Z Man screeds, and sic our nine readers on you!! (Since apparently that’s what we do in Our Thing now). (n.b. ot casual readers: that’s a joke — we’re all huge Z Man fans, and since “a US Cyber Command-certified hater” isn’t the unique credential I thought it was, I’m going back to my old motto: pas d’ennemis a droit.).

A_dude
A_dude
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I actually think this might be Cloudflare. I think it was funded by the NSA and the US Gov like Google and Facebook. Cloudflare is being used to remove anonymity and privacy from the Internet … try using Tor to browse around and remain anonymous … and you’ll find that they have already made much of the internet useless, blocked with Captcas that you cannot get past.. US Gov: if you want to guard your privacy … we will make sure you can do nothing. The internet has a new Evil (not just google) … everyone should hate Cloudflare …… Read more »

Jimmy
Jimmy
Reply to  Severian
6 years ago

I like your blog.

Dutch
Dutch
6 years ago

The clue to the whole thing is how much a person injects himself into the conversation at hand. If the conversation stays on the subject, then the speaker is probably mostly a normal person. When the conversation constantly circles back to being all about the speaker, then the speaker probably has got some real issues in there. Trump suddenly jumps over that line frequently, usually in the middle of an otherwise expository sentence, which is part of what can make him so uncomfortable. Of course, he’s nothing compared to Barack or Hillary, the attention whores of the century. Rush on… Read more »

Jimmy
Jimmy
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I’ve always been of the “show don’t tell” school of demonstrating personal worth and value and wish more people were the same.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
6 years ago

Man is a social animal. We watch the herd for clues. It’s the rare person that can go through life, following their own path.

Mike@Mike.Mike
Mike@Mike.Mike
6 years ago

I’m late to this party, but in support of Z’s observation about minor celebrity, My brother in law makes regular appearances on a long running “reality” TV show. Since he has been appearing on this show he thinks he is the second coming of Michael Jordan. His social media handles go by “thereal’firstnamelastname'” as if he is an A-lister and there are people out there looking to profit from impersonating him. It’s pretty obscene how important the thinks he is while he’s always been kind of a douche, since then he is insufferable.

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Mike@Mike.Mike
6 years ago

Sooner or later comes the moment when his response to a situation or affront will be “don’t you know who I am?” And they won’t know who he is.

Member
6 years ago

Zman, the fringe is slowly becoming the mainstream. Youtube is slowly morphing into what can only be described as a “network channel”. Genres of film and literature that are floundering in the mainstream are thriving on the net, and the work is mostly being done for free by amateurs producing near professional quality work. There is something profound going on, but it’s hard to map out it’s width and breadth.

Member
6 years ago

Since your internet activity is now part of your permanent record, all those youthful mistakes will later be used against you as an adult.

Skin in the game.

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
6 years ago

There are very few people that can be honest with themselves about their limitations. Hence getting way over their skis and ending up as a yard sale. All the guys I worked for in business that got “fuck you money” far preferred a memo or a phone call for anything delicate. Stayed off email conversations that were anything but “just the facts”.

On the other hand if you ever want to monetize your minor celebrity, happy to buy the steak and whiskey dinner of your choice.

Kentucky Headhunter
Kentucky Headhunter
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I always wanted to be the richest guy no one had ever heard of. I could have anything I want and still be able to walk down the street without getting mobbed

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Here’s what fame leads to: http://www.crazydaysandnights.net/

Bill Kristol
Bill Kristol
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

The thing about the lust for fame is what an effeminate trait it is. Milo obviously has his reasons for acting effeminately, but I think that’s the reason several of the alt-right/lite attention seekers come off as being a little… strange. There’s just something off-putting about a man who constantly seeks attention. Cerno creeps me out that way, too. I was never a close follower of Vox’s stuff. The last time I got on Gab I saw he and Space Bunny were in some kind of stupid spat with some other attention whore who had insulted SB’s honor or something… Read more »

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  Bill Kristol
6 years ago

Do you believe that the arguments of Sailer, Cochran, and Derb are sufficient to reverse our course of white dispossession? If not, they cannot be the only people we pay attention to.

Bill Kristol
Bill Kristol
Reply to  LineInTheSand
6 years ago

I’m pretty blackpilled – there isn’t going to be a course reversal. The best we can hope for is damage mitigation.

The writers I mentioned are read by influential people. That will be important as the Brazilification of the U.S. progresses.

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  Bill Kristol
6 years ago

I’m always impressed when I’m out-blackpilled!

MBlanc46
MBlanc46
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Fame attracts the ladies. They like to bask in chaps’ reflected glory.

Whitney
Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I think the desire for fame is the desire for immortality and in a secular culture only the famous are Immortal. The rest of us just die and turn to dust

Drake
Drake
6 years ago

The Ted Baxter link was good for a laugh. More than I can say for any recent sitcom.

Jimmy
Jimmy
6 years ago

My first exposure to this Fuentes fellow…reading his gab for even five minutes was exhausting.

David Wright
Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

When you start your interviews for this site, you should include him. (nudge, nudge)

Joseph
Joseph
6 years ago

Your repetitive use of “this thing” is irritating. It brings to mind the mafia’s name for themselves in Sicilian, “our thing” or Cosa Nostra”. You’ve already explained that you don’t like the terms “alt-right” and “white nationalist”, I believe you settled on “dissident right”, which is almost adequate, and certainly far preferable to “this thing”. To me “dissadent right” is a big tent. It includes everyone from Milo to Spencer, but it’s increasingly held on to by people anxious to maintain some level of mainstream acceptability. Jordan Peterson is the poster child for the dissident right. You write from a… Read more »

FellowDissident
FellowDissident
Reply to  Joseph
6 years ago

Hey Joe, when the tab dissident right is extinguished, as it will be someday, what are we going to call this thing? And yes, our movement is mainstream acceptable just not currently mainstream admissible. Creeps like Milo are useful but are not part of our thing and the freakshow never will be acceptable to us as a part of our thing. I set your big tent afire.

Tom Grauer
6 years ago

Everyone has had enough of VD. It’s time to bring him down by destroying his reputation.

David Wright
Member
Reply to  Tom Grauer
6 years ago

Why, he really is of no consequence. Odd bird, remember his mohawk look byline at World net daily. Even then we were reminded of his Mensa membership.
Doing well on an IQ test as a major accomplishment.

Brigadon
Brigadon
Member
Reply to  Tom Grauer
6 years ago

Oh, the soyboy would rather queue up behind a nevertrumper?

It must really kill you to see your gods develop feet of clay.

You cannot bring him down by destroying his rep. He doesn’t have much of a rep to destroy, outside of his publishing…

And Frankly, his writers are extremely good. Rod Walker, especially, is one of my new favorite writers. What are you going to do, claim he’s diddling kiddies or something?

Not me. Vox is a dick, but he’s still doing a hell of a lot better job than the alternatives.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  Brigadon
6 years ago

I’m wont aim my rhetorical guns Right and you shouldn’t either. Even though Vox Day is abrasive, he’s on our side till the bitter rend which is good enough for me. Vox is also one of the only people in the .Alt Right with any grasp of the need for ideology . His 16 points while not brilliant are at least a coherent set of ideas and that’s more than nearly anyone else has., Despite his personality he’s more of asset for the .Alt Right than .alt Lite Jordan Peterson is. JP is useful but he’s training wheels. Anyway the… Read more »

Diavolobello
Diavolobello
Reply to  A.B. Prosper
6 years ago

Jordan is a gateway drug for normies. We need more of those.

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  Diavolobello
6 years ago

Do you know of anyone who has come to dissident right politics via Jordan? I’m afraid he’s more of a Ben Shapiro-like barrier than a gateway. Although i will always acknowledge the guts it takes for an establishment guy in Canada to refuse to use the designated pronouns for the sexually deranged. He is risking fines and jail, I think.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  Diavolobello
6 years ago

Yes we do .

And LineinTheSand that is a good question,. Its also not a coincidence that Shapiro and Jordan are now bunky buddies in the media

They are trying to save this rotten system, understandable as they are both Nomenklatura , this system has to go and can’t be saved.

Brigadon
Brigadon
Member
Reply to  Diavolobello
6 years ago

Nonsense, you have to be firmly far right and a bit of a masochist to listen to his long-winded, rambling, stammering, and often nearly incoherent diatribes.

No, he’s not a gateway for normies, he’s simply a reinforcer for lefties trying to pretend they are right wing.

Tully
Tully
Reply to  Tom Grauer
6 years ago

im sure Vox is quaking in fear at the very thought of being taken down by a loser like you.