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Fantasy author Theodore “Vox Day” Beale has been called many terrible things. A “racist shithead.” A “racist dickhead.” A “human garbage pile.” A “sentient colostomy bag.” “A racist numpty poopgoblin.”
And those are just from me. He’s never complained.
But one thing he doesn’t like being called is a Nazi. He doesn’t like it so hard that when fantasy author Foz Meadows referred to him as a “neo-Nazi” in an essay on politics and fiction posted on the website of fantasy magazine Black Gate last week, Beale threw a fit, demanding that the site “remove this false, malicious, and materially damaging libel.”
Beale has been happy enough to associate himself with the alt-right, but insists he’s no Nazi, nuh-uh, no way:
I am neither a neo-Nazi nor a National Socialist, I have never been a neo-Nazi or a National Socialist, I do not belong to, or subscribe to the tenets of, the German National Socialist Workers Party or any subsequent facsimile, and I do not appreciate the libelous attempts of Ms Meadows, to publicly and falsely assert that I am “an actual neo-Nazi”.
Black Gate subsequently removed all but the first two paragraphs of Meadows’ essay; Amazing Stories picked it up, and it can now be found in its entirety on that site. (See here for more details on all this.)
Meadows has refused to retract her characterization of him. And so the lovely Mr. Beale called upon his fans to dig up personal information on her:
Beale has since deleted his request for “a complete report” on Meadows from his blog post, but you can still see it in this archived version of the post.
Meadows has reiterated her point:
– & further, that this definition isn't contingent for its validity on his agreement with me. It's not an insult, but a rational judgement.
— Foz Meadows (@fozmeadows) December 12, 2016
She also highlighted some of the terrible things Beale’s fans have said about her:
And in response, here's a rundown of some of what his commenters have said about me, with his sanction, in his space: pic.twitter.com/FTUv03rhHU
— Foz Meadows (@fozmeadows) December 12, 2016
As it turns out, the “someone else” she refers to — the person she linked to in her Black Gate essay — is me. The post in question is one in which, among other things, I try (and fail) to make sense of Beale’s puzzling declaration, in one of his blog posts from several months back, that “National Socialism” is a “semiotically useful form of German nationalism” yet also “suicidally stupid.”
Meadows sees this as evidence that Beale is indeed a neo-Nazi; Beale, for his part, declares that my post, “actually proves the precise opposite.”
Er, I don’t actually think that it does. What I think it “proves,” insofar as it proves anything, is that Beale likes to skate really close to the Nazi label without ever embracing it, always careful to put a bit of daylight between him and the “semiotically useful” but “suicidally stupid” National Socialists.
Does that make him definitively not a neo-Nazi?
I suppose that depends on one’s definition of the term. Some dictionaries define neo-Nazi pretty narrowly. According to Merriam-Webster.com, for example, the term means “a member of a group espousing the programs and policies of Hitler’s Nazis.” By that standard, I don’t think Beale could be classified as a neo-Nazi; there are, after all, some distinctions between the racist nationalism Beale espouses and the “programs and policies of Hitler’s Nazis.”
Dictionary.com has a somewhat broader definition, declaring a neo-Nazi to be “a person who belongs to a political organization whose beliefs are inspired by or reminiscent of Nazism.” Oxforddictionaries.com offers two definitions, one a fairly narrow one, the other quite a bit more expansive: “a person of extreme racist or nationalist views.”
By these definitions, Beale arguably could be classified as a neo-Nazi. He has embraced the alt-right, a group (if not a literal political organization) that is very definitely “inspired by or reminiscent of Nazism.” Richard Spencer, who came up with the term alt-right, was very clearly “inspired by” Nazism when he ended his now infamous speech of a couple of weeks ago with “hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory.”
And certainly Beale has “extreme racist or nationalist views.” Beale describes himself as a nationalist, and his racism is well-known. In one recent blog post, for example, Beale declared
that a black population in excess of an as-yet-undetermined percentage of the overall population renders the continuation of Western civilization impossible.
He’s also been known to rail against the alleged evils of miscegenation (also known by racists like Beale as “mudsharking” or “coal-burning”). In one blog post several months back, he mocked a white woman allegedly murdered by her black boyfriend, declaring “burn de coal, pay de toll.”
So, yeah, I’d call that extreme racism.
Nonetheless, despite his racism and other bigotries, despite his embrace of the Nazi-inspired alt-right, I’ve always stopped short of calling Beale a Nazi. Personally, I prefer to limit that term to those who have literal shrines to Hitler set up in their living room. I’m going to stick with calling him a “sentient colostomy bag.”
But if Beale thinks that someone calling him a “neo-Nazi” is guilty of “false, malicious, and materially damaging libel,” I think he’s going to have to take that up with the Oxford English Dictionary.
Then there’s this old chestnut.
In general I think people should be identified how they want to be identified, but taking on all of Nazi ideology and omitting only the superficial trappings and the literal swastika makes a person a fucking Nazi regardless of how they would prefer to be called.
What is this obsession with blue hair? I’ve never met a leftist with blue hair…an occasional teenager, and even that usually doesn’t last that long before they move on to something else. That used to be the preferred stereotypes for little old ladies, because some of their hair treatments gave their hair a blue tint, but leftists? I just don’t get it.
@Iknklast: I know three people, all very liberal, who regularly dye their hair blue. All three are in their thirties or forties. It depends on where you live, I guess.
Though I thought blue hair was supposed to be a feminist thing, not a “leftist” thing. Not that it matters anyway, because they’re all highly feminist too.
re: blue hair
Maybe it’s because it’s considered unnatural and superficially rebellious? Also maybe kinda expensive?
I mean, I would like blue hair, but that would require much bleaching.
Might as well slap on the ol’ swastika, Teddy-boy. Nobody believes you’re anything BUT a Nazi. The only reason you’re afraid to own it is because deep down, you know EXACTLY how repulsive, repugnant and stinky it would make you in the world’s eyes to be loud and proud about it. By hiding behind the “alt-right” PC label, you get to pretend you’re not what you totally, unequivocally ARE. Nobody is fooled. Now get your jackboots on and stop that fucking whining, you whiny Nazi poop baby.
PS: And yeah, telling your whiny Nazi poop baby followers to brigade and harass Foz Meadows is totally NOT neo-Gestapo behavior, either!
No way is this nice Mister Day a Nazi!
He called Nazis “suicidally stupid.” That’s a literal quote!
Mister Day certainly wouldn’t describe himself as suicidally stupid.
Checkmate, people who are left of Adolf Hitler (an actual Nazi)!
Yeah, I went there.
Just in time for Vox’s new novel. Sometimes I wonder if this is all some bizarre publicity stunt, cynically mining a small but devoted fan base of Neo-Nazis because otherwise nobody would care about his books. Awful as his War in Heaven books were, they didn’t come off as particularly hateful.
A while back he wrote a short story about the EU overthrowing national governments, being stymied by Switzerland as the US comes in to help. The story keeps comparing the EU to the Nazis and describes them as “Eurofascists,” so he has some self-awareness not to cheer fascism. This story has a decent premise, that communications officers are invaluable to war efforts, but Vox naturally ruins everything about it by making the narrator a woman who celebrates that the US Armed Forces bar women from combat roles because when the Armed Forces integrated women they just ran screaming from the battlefield; non-combat roles like communications are just more natural for women!
The reason I would not rush to label a white supremacist like Beale a “neo-Nazi” is simply that virulent racism has a long history that predates Nazism- including in this country. Certainly his hateful rhetoric against African Americans has a long American history.
I would say that Spencer, on the other hand, is a neo-Nazi- however ironic he claims that stance to be. Using Nazi expressions and symbols is a giveway. To the extent that Beale is allied to all that, you could say he is a neo-Nazi sympathizer.
@Bina
No, no, no, although he does find National Socialism to be “semiotically useful,” Vox Day would never be a Nazi.
Vox’s politics are complex.
And unlike the Nazis, Vox has no desire to be semiotically useful to undeserving leftists. He wishes to leave SJWs guessing.
And when they stop guessing and label him, he becomes enraged.
Why can’t leftists follow instructions?!
It’s the current version of the pearl clutching over the long haired hippy men of the 60s. Not all progressives dye their hair shades that don’t naturally grow on human heads, but a majority of the people that do that are progressive or in a subculture where right wingers aren’t present. Experimenting with hair colors is also something a lot of young women do and they of course despise (but also fetishize) young women. I’m also seeing increasing numbers of young black women dye their hair blue, purple or pink in recent years. So that adds an extra layer of hate for the right.
Women are supposed to dye their hair blonde because that’s what conventional beauty standards dictate. Red can also be acceptable. Blue hair makes misogynistic white nationalist boners sad. It’s a signal the woman with the blue hair cares more about her own preferences than the preferences of Vox Day’s boner. We can’t have that now, can we?
I haven’t dyed my hair with Manic Panic since I was a teenager. My current employer does not care what we do with our hair so maybe I’ll do it just to spite these wank stains. I wouldn’t do blue because my skin is more in the warm tones but I’ve done purple before and liked it. So maybe that.
@Rabukurafuto
So this is the opinion of novelist Vox Day?
Okay.
Does Vox Day, I wonder, think there’s any role in communications for men?
Men such as himself?
My Otter has blue and green hair. Sometimes pink. We use Provana Vivids (which I can highly recommend!). And yes, she’s a total feminazi. Stereotype confirmed.
@WWTH
Light and pastel colors have been pretty popular, specifically with silver/grey hair, which lot’s of people hate. Lavender or baby pink might be a nice color for you. Or both. Rainbow hair is also popular.
And as for why blue specifically, Zoe Quinn had blue hair when #FuckingIdiots started and they’re still angry about her.
Come to think of it, I wonder what the blue-hair-haters would make of the fact that two of the three blue-hair-havers in my social circle are men. Possibly that they’re gay? But they’d be wrong if so.
Oh, for crying out loud, VD! Miscegenation is not a problem! Seriously. The worst possible scenario is that humanity ends up with a nice, uniform tan!
Also: Neo-Nazi? Eh, so long as you don’t try to wiggle out of being called a fucking racist loser, I’m happy to refrain from Sieg Heil-ing you.
(But you ARE a fucking Neo-Nazi, and nothing you can say will ever convince me otherwise.)
OT, but did anyone else see this article:
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/11/23/503146770/npr-finds-the-head-of-a-covert-fake-news-operation-in-the-suburbs
I’m really far from convinced that there’s any reason to take the word of someone who does fake news for a living at face value, but this quote gave me a moment of joy, anyway:
@Kat:
So he tells himself, every night, before wanking himself to sleep, no doubt. “I am a complicated man! I am! I AM!” Snurk…
Also, “semiotically useful” has got to be the most stupidly meaningless phrase ever to exit that largely-empty head of his. How are Nazis “useful” to one if one can’t even admit that one IS one and really, REALLY likes the way they goose-step?
Personally, I’ve never dyed my hair blue… Because I prefer green. *thumbs up* Hmm, I might see if I can get ahold of that Pravana stuff, I’ve always wanted to try a dark green to fuck-yes-neon green gradient.
@SFHC
Oops! Right, Pravana. Not Provana. :p
For us it was super frustrating to find Pravana Vivids. We called every hair salon in the city and none of them use that brand. None of them were interested in buying Pravana dyes even if they were guaranteed a returning customer. The real Kafkaesque part is that the national distributor of Pravana is located right here in our town, and they have a wholesale store about 20 minutes from where we live, but they only serve businesses and not private citizens.
We went to that store, looked at the giant wall of all the lovely dyes, but we weren’t allowed to buy them. Only the hair salons can buy the dyes, but they never have and probably never will. So, even though there is a store that sells Pravana Vivids right fucking here, we’re forced to order them off Amazon and pay for international shipping. Isn’t capitalism great though?
They’re just not good at it. I see plenty of fake shit go by on my friends list. Today for instance, someone cites a Syrian spokesperson DEMOLISH the mainstream media by, in a response to “what evidence do you have to say we’re lying [about civilian deaths and atrocities and support for Assad]” … asserting louder that they’re lying.
Another common one: all the homeopathy and naturopathy and antivax bullshit.
It would be something that stupid and petty.
Well, obviously Vox would be fighting on the front lines if there was a war. Oh, if only there was a war going on, he would totally be gunning down the brown hordes and get endless promotions! But for the meantime, he’ll sit back and tell his fans to dox women that don’t think he’s amazing.
Anyway, it’s a definite theme running through a lot of his books, that women can’t fight, and at best will be humiliated if they try. So glad that essays like the one Foz Meadows wrote put him in his place. A damn fine piece of writing on fantasy. One of my favorite essays on the subject now. David, thanks so much for bringing it to my attention.
It’s really cute how these fighters for freeze peach whine and cry and demand censure when 3rd parties refer to them with big, nasty words. It’s almost as if they don’t actually care for free speech at all!
Sigh.
Here’s some good news, to distract from things being generally terrible: A rapist associated with pick-up culture actually gets punished, for once.