If not in real life, you have encountered these specimens in comment sections. Some are more overt then others. Regardless of the subject being discussed, they create a non-existent link to Islam, immigration and the great replacement theory.
As useful tools (not sharp ones, evidently) of grifters like Trump, Farage, Robinson and the like, they have become obsessed with safeguarding the purity and continuity of the white race, claiming it’s being threatened with extinction. Race doesn’t even have a biological foundation, being a social construct – but let’s leave that aside for a minute.
In these people’s discourse, which originates from their fruitful minds, ancestors of their choice become moral authorities judging the lands they once inhabited, as they presently exist. They become active participants in the discourse surrounding race mixing and immigration, from beyond the grave.
The narrative is passed around by public speakers (who peddle hatred and alarmism for money) and embraced by followers, therefore they may not all be diagnosable per se – yet they speak as if they knew with certainty that ancestors would disapprove of the current state of Europe. They regurgitate a set of values supposedly held by people they have never met and will never meet, projecting any desired attitude and moral mandate onto them. It’s a form of ventriloquism.
Let’s dissect this a bit, shall we?
How far back do we go to find ancestors worthy of being declared moral authorities over modern Europe?
I don’t suppose we’re going back to Homo erectus.
Why not though? What’s the limit? The standard tends to be arbitrary, for reasons unknown. It’s unknown who gets to decide the ideal ancestor, with what authority, and how they justify that selection (not to mention why anyone else should f-ing care about this personal or small group reverence).
Many in the far-right reference proto-European populations like the Celts, Germanic groups, Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. Documentation is very limited – hence imagination happily fills the rest. They are easy to romanticise, mythologise and fictionalise precisely because so few things are known about them. What is known comes from archaeological evidence. Their views on “race” are unknown. One thing is certain: they had no concept of modern nation states, fixed borders, “Western civilisation” and so forth. These concepts appeared much later.
Whether neo-Nazis choose a proto-European group or a medieval one, the question remains – what makes that specific group inherently superior to modern society? They have no answer apart from the imagined ethnic homogeneity (even though migration happened all throughout human history).
When they experience health issues, neo-Nazis visit the same clinics and hospitals as every other “degenerate” – they enjoy the full benefits of being alive in 2026. Anaesthesia, vaccines, medication, operations, dental extractions. They don’t die of sepsis caused by small infections.
Well, to be fair, they are bringing back Measles; there’s an outbreak in Texas, caused by the same antivax types we can observe in Europe. Leprosy is making a return in Florida, though it’s believed to be caused by interacting with armadillos. When a Scientology ship was quarantined in Portugal for a Measles outbreak, it made international news, as the disease had been eradicated. Today, this is sadly common, as more and more people reject the vaccines that have saved generations of children.
My point is that the far-right enjoys the fruits of progress, which was achieved through international cooperation. They wouldn’t realistically turn back time to live thousands of years ago. Culturally, I am certain that these porn-consuming, videogame-obsessed narcissistic individuals who spend most of their time online (!) would not adapt well to a more demanding and less comfortable environment. They are chasing after a fantasy, precisely because they know it cannot be realised and they can remain perpetually angry.
What about the ancestors they did meet, who didn’t/ don’t agree with them?
Parts of Europe fought the Nazis in fairly recent history (the UK for instance); the whole of Europe rejected them eventually.
These types would readily disown their grandparents and parents for being too woke. Their most recent ancestors lived through times of repeated immigration and integration waves, cooperation, multi-ethnic armies, shared hardship and rebuilding after WWII.
A large number of those protesting for Palestinian rights, against the genocide committed by Israel, have been elderly. Are they not the ancestors of this generation of so-called Saxons? Where is the respect for them?
The reality is that modern day white nationalists don’t give an actual toss about the thoughts and feelings of their ancestors; they are creating a self-serving myth around the bones of people who can’t talk back to correct them. Their only goal is to envelop their hatred and desire for violence in some sort of lofty justification, instead of going to therapy.
What if their ancestors were to disapprove of modern day existence from some sort of afterlife?
Hopefully it’s not a shocking question but… who gives a fuck?
If the dead ever express themselves in a provable way, please give me a shout, as I’ve got some questions for a number of people. The dead appear to be very silent, unfortunately.
Nor is there any rule, written or unwritten, that the will of one ancestor or another should be carried out in perpetuity, should it be known to people 50 generations later. In this case, it’s just imagined. Where does this mandate of obedience come from? Again, they would disown their grannies, who helped raise them and wiped their arses, for being left-leaning.
I reckon if one were to teleport from 2000 years ago into the present, encountering people of other skin complexions would be the least shocking environmental change.
Is there a solution for those who want to live in exclusionary communities, mimicking a different century?
Of course. There are a number of cults. Some live without modern technology and even electricity. So please, feel free – if they would have you, that is. You even have the apocalyptic mindset; you’d fit right in. Stop trying to play Procrustes with the rest of society, claiming to be driven by angry ghosts.
The reality is that those who indulge in the ancestor worshipping sport have no desire to deprive themselves of the comfort of modern existence. They cosplay as such on occasion, then return to their anime and order themselves a kebab.
What do we know about present day fascists? What motivates them intrinsically?
It certainly isn’t ghosts.
Political psychology studies profile them as very anxious and unable to cope with the complexities of life in the 21st century. The idealised past they conjure up is an emotional refuge; the imagine a world where hierarchies were never questioned, social roles were fixed and their particular demographic (white men) had control over everyone else. The future appears uncertain to them; they lack the ability to adapt and cooperate. They are, deep down, very insecure people. They perceive danger even in safe environments; they crave simple answers and rigid rules.
One can be tempted to feel sorry for them. I wouldn’t. They are capable of committing or enabling extreme violence. They have set innocent people’s homes on fire. They have set asylum centres on fire. They haven’t managed to murder just yet, but it has come close on many occasions.
The Artistry Of Glorified Bullshit 