The Awful Mask of the Alt-Right

In SJWs Always Lie, Vox Day writes that the statement ‘SJWs Always Lie’  is “not dialectically sound (or if you prefer, untrue).” But he asks us to believe it. Through the first third of the book, where he paints picture after picture of the average Joe getting caught up in the machinations of Social Justice Warriors, he reminds us that normal logic will be no help, common sense no guide, and fellow feeling no comfort against enemies who you had previously mistaken for mere colleagues, or even friends.

There is a white collar war being fought in the west. In offices, sports clubs, forums and even military barracks, a fifth column is slowly working to overturn civilisation, and social justice is the best tool they have found yet.

The news is filled with stories of once great institutions brought to their knees by the concerns of social justice: universities that no longer teach, newspapers and television channels that refuse to cover major stories, and police forces too scared to acknowledge the existence of crimes. At the root of these failures is always someone whose world has changed around them until they realise that the surest way of losing their job is to actually try and do it.

The second part of SJWs Always Lie offers a simple set of rules for anyone who finds themselves under attack (document everything, accept that you are probably going to lose, make the rubble bounce before you do…) which is also available in a shortened form as a pdf from Vox Day’s website.

Finally, in the most interesting section of the book, he moves from describing the tactics of the fight to advocating a strategy for winning the war. Personally, this is where things get most uncomfortable. While I can easily imagine myself falling foul of my companies HR department, or being hounded for being discovered holding an incorrect opinion – I have several – I struggle to imagine myself trying to get someone else fired in case they try to do the same to me. In fact, there is a section in the book devoted to the importance of keeping people like me on the margins.

Moderates… generally mean well, but they have a tendency to believe that goodwill, hand-holding, and being open minded will inspire even the most lunatic, hate-filled SJW to see sweet reason.

The thrust of the book is that the unvarnished truth is not worth speaking, because in the battle of ideas it will inevitably be defeated by persuasive lies. The only option for people who love the truth is to adopt a new way of speaking – a rhetoric – which crushes the lies that claim to be social justice, and at least allows a path for people to reach the truth, if they care to.

The rhetoric Vox Day advocates is cruel. It laughs at the mentally fragile, hurts by striking at weaknesses that opponents can’t do anything about, and offers little hope to those who want to live today in peace. Perhaps it is necessary for ensuring stability tomorrow. Reading the book is certainly necessary for anyone who wants to understand how our culture has changed.