The Modernism of Race
I hesitate to write a preface to this article, as it stands on its own. It should also be clear that AltRight has no “party line” and, indeed, is at its best when it acts a forum for ideas to be tested. That said, I am not persuaded by Johnson Miller's conclusion that a scientific understanding of race should have no place—or, at most, a greatly reduced one—within traditionalist circles. I even quibble with a few of his factual assertions. That said, this piece makes an important point, and, furthermore, I recognize that there is a real divide within the non-aligned Right between “traditionalists” and “modernists.” “Archeo-Futurism,” a future-oriented movement within tradition, associated mostly with Guillaume Faye, is a project I support; however, I won't deny that there is a tension, and sometimes antagonism, between its two components. ~Richard Spencer
Human Biological Diversity (HBD), as a concept, is inimical to the radical traditionalism identified as the core orientation of Alternative Right. The use of HBD does stand as a challenge to the egalitarianism of Liberalism and, more generally, of modernity. However, the abstraction, materialism, and quantification upon which HBD is predicated are in fact more characteristic of Liberalism than of anything called traditionalism. We should not give ourselves over to the scientists’ materialist conceptions of man. We need, instead, an organic conception of man that recognizes the transcendent.
It was in the development of eugenics that we gained a clear crystallization of the “nature versus nurture” conflict, as well as the idea of races as statistical populations that is so important for HBD. And it was the Left that gave us eugenics. It was driven by a Progressive desire for an increasingly powerful state that could intervene to manage populations perceived as troublesome in order to promote the improvement of society. Eugenists believed in the perfectibility of man. But, instead of perfecting individuals through education and the creation of free societies, as was the desire of eighteenth-century proponents of the Enlightenment, eugenists sought to rationally manipulate the very materials of inheritance to produce long-term improvements in populations.
Granted, there were great variations in the methods and goals of eugenists, but, most relevant for HBD, was the development of statistical methods to map out human difference. But what concept of the nature of man is embedded in this? To them, man was fundamentally mechanical. He was defined by the material nature of his inheritance. Why did some people and not others commit crimes? Not because they were immoral, enmeshed in sin, or because of any other spiritual or moral quality. They committed crimes because of their biological inheritance. They couldn’t help it. This view of man absolves us of any responsibility, as well as of any free will or spiritual quality. It’s no wonder that eugenics came from the Left and not the Right.
