Mencken 2018 Diary

Guest Post by The Zman

Last year was my first time at the Mencken Club event, which is held every year here in Lagos. I knew about it for years, as John Derbyshire has been a regular there since the beginning and he has written about it every year. Not being an intellectual or an academic, I just assumed it was not for me. A few years ago, a famous person in dissident politics suggested I give these events a try, as I might enjoy it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I attended Mencken and AmRen last year, as well as some other lesser known events.

The Mencken Club conference is organized like an academic conference and it is populated with smart people, many of whom are intellectuals and academics. There are plenty of normal people there as well. Academics and intellectuals like to socialize as much as normal people, so even if you don’t play in that space, you can still enjoy fraternizing with these folks over drinks. The social element is what makes these things worthwhile. That’s why our enemies try so hard to shut them down…

This year the event went off without incident and it was a good crowd. Mencken is a smaller event than American Renaissance, mostly because it unabashedly appeals to an academically oriented crowd. Paul Gottfried, the man responsible for it, has written a dozen or so books on politics and political theory. The speakers are all big brained people, who read and write about big brained topics. It’s also an older crowd. I scanned the room and maybe a dozen people were younger than me and I’m no spring chicken.

Last year, I noted that there was a strange nostalgia in the room. It was what I imagined it was like when Confederate soldiers got together after the war, to reminisce about their experiences and the what might have been. There was a lot of talk about old lost battles and old lost friends. There was some of that this year, as it is just part of the deal with an older crowd. There was also a new embrace of the new fight and the new battlefield on which it will be fought. I heard a lot of alt-right-ish stuff from people this year…

It occurred to me that one reason the sober side of the Dissident right is becoming more radicalized is the fact the Left is now otherizing them. When CNN demanded the White House hurl Darren Beattie into the void, it was a Fort Sumter moment for a lot of the paleocons and their fellow travelers. They could live with being purged by the Buckley Conservatives, because they could still live and work in the above ground intellectual economy. The Left is now demanding that end and I think that was a wake up call…

I met a famous legal scholar on Saturday. I’ll not name her, just to be safe, but she is a dedicated reader! In fact, she told me she recommended one of my podcasts to her students, which was quite flattering. It is another benefit, at least for me, of attending these events. To be around members of our intellectual elite is quite humbling and a good reminder that I can always get better. There were people in that room, like the legal scholar, who have forgotten more about these topics than most of us will ever know…

I got to sit next to the great John Derbyshire at lunch. I don’t have to worry about naming him as he has not only been hurled into the void, he is now the pit master. He gave a talk on how the future was most likely going to resemble Brave New World and most people would be happy with it. This rankled more than a few people in the room. A woman from Tennessee stood up during the Q&A and said something to the effect that her people would fight to the last man to prevent such a future. I love mountain culture.

I think John’s talk rankled, because he was mostly right. Look around and you see the signs of the looming World State. People are never vexed by a distopia they know is a fantasy, but they do get upset about a distopia that is possible. I pointed out to John, however, that his vision has one flaw. Utopia always implies genocide, as no perfect world can include the full range of humanity. Marxist relished this truth, but our rulers, like libertarians, lack the guts to face this reality. Therefore, they will lack the will to impose it…

On Friday, I met someone who is in government. He heard I was at the event and came to meet me. I can’t say any more about him, but let’s just say he works for a famous politician. We had arranged to meet in advance, so his name would not be associated with the event. This is not the first time this has happened. I get e-mails form “our people” who work in the system, trying to undermine the enemy from within. I jokingly call it the secret handshake society, but that’s the way it is and it is what I find most encouraging.

You see, people in power don’t waste time and resources hunting down the harmless or harassing the easily frightened. They target the people, groups and ideas they see as threat to them. That has the strange effect of making heresy more appealing to the sorts of people who oppose the prevailing order. The Left’s paranoia is not unjustified, but it is probably our greatest asset. Their lashing out at heretics is making heresy cool. It is the new counter culture and that alone draws support to our banner…

Finally, I sat at Paul Gottried’s table at dinner on Friday. I have had very little interaction with him to that point, so it was a great treat to finally get to spend quality time with him. He is a wonderful person and exactly what one would expect a college professor to be like, in that he is willing to indulge those striving to learn, but willing to correct in order to facilitate the process. He’s also got a great sense of humor too. Like everyone at the conference, I am grateful that he has created a place for subversives to meet and socialize….