Sean Gabb – 2014 Jonathan Bowden Oratory Prize Nominee

5 thoughts on “Sean Gabb – 2014 Jonathan Bowden Oratory Prize Nominee”

1. Simon Lote

   29th March 2014 at 11:16 am - Edit

   Its a pleasant surprise to see Sean Gabb speaking at such a heretical group. Let alone getting some recognition for it. Since I came to my nationalist position through the libertarian movement, Sean’s writing and oratory was a useful intellectual bridge for me, as he seems to have one foot in the nationalist/traditionalist camp and one foot in the libertarian camp. Since I’ve been following him for a long time I’ve certainly noticed his increasing boldness in engaging with nationalist camp but I never thought he would end up as one of their keynote speakers.

2. AAA

   30th March 2014 at 4:09 pm - Edit

   At around 22 minutes Sean discusses the proposal of the taxman having the ability to raid our bank accounts. It has come to pass: https://www.theaccountancy.co.uk/hmrc-now-have-the-power-to-take-money-from-your-bank-account-2689.html
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   You don’t ‘owe’ the taxman so your money is safe? Really? The System can’t raid your bank account? They did so in Cyprus with “bail in” measures that are now being considered elsewhere: https://dollarvigilante.com/blog/2013/11/04/plans-in-place-for-a-us-bank-bail-in.html
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   All of us should have nothing in our bank account other than an overdraft. Don’t oil the machine; don’t feed the parasite. Withdraw your funds now.

3. BritishActivism

   30th March 2014 at 6:04 pm - Edit

   Sean Gabb is going to be quite a controversial choice for some. I don’t believe for a moment that Sean can be linked to nationalism of our variety, but I have always given him some credit for giving the British National Party and other “heretics” a fair crack of the whip in the past (in the name of libertarianism). In fact, it was an article defending the British National Party that first sent me in his direction.
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   He seems to be well read enough to be able to construct articles and speeches that tackle different philosophers and themes, he knows some inconvenient history (for the opposition, that is) that shows up the “liberati” for the ignoramuses that they are – and is one of the few libertarians who appear to be against immigration of the sort we have seen happen to this country.
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   There are some contentious issues Sean has come out with which run counter to nationalist ideals (to say the least), but that is because he is rooted firmly in libertarianism, an ideal of the sort that deviates from we hold to be, shall we say, morally conservative positions – or positions deemed in the ‘interests of the people’ as a whole rather than championing the rights of the individual to partake in whatever he or she pleases, no matter the detriment for the whole.
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   I will admit I have many libertarian leanings when it comes to free speech and keeping the ‘liberal fascists’ and governments out of meddling with the minutiae of our lives.
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   There are many ways in which libertarianism can overlap with some aspects of our fight as nationalists, but I do recognise that there is a chasm there between the two things and that, I suppose, we are pick-and-choosey about it and generally place it in the confines of our own struggles (and what would work with our own ideal of a homogeneous society).
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   This is something that most Libertarians, in my opinion, refuse to see – that their idealist concepts rely on things like ‘shared values’, on ‘mutual agreements’ as libertarians, on perceived individualism and rights being all that matters, as though people from anywhere can be part of this society as long as they abide by the rules.
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   As such, they often seem to ignore racial identities, group dynamics, the importance of homogeneity for such systems to work on a mutual basis. This is especially so in American circles.
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   Whilst these differences still place us in different camps, Sean has been bold enough to bridge some gaps and I think he understands the gravity of the situation we now face.
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   He appears at many different kinds of groups, so I would not particularly class him as one of our own – but he can (and does) cover some of the more ‘traditional Britain’ type ground and the kind of ‘free thinking’ values our nation used to enjoy.
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   Some Libertarian strands are even echoing some of the strategies and positions put forward here at Western Spring. Although not quite the same, they have similar themes around them in places.
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   For example, take this interview last year with Marco-De-Wit, the founder of the Finnish Libertarian League: https://the-libertarian.co.uk/interview-marco-de-wit/. It is a bit of a wade through at the start, but themes of biology, of regrouping, setting apart, boosting numbers and consolidating, strategic entry-ism and takeover are there to be found in the interview.
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   I have just listened to the above speech by Sean Gabb, it was interesting to hear the intentions of moving away from some of the traditional things (like writing tomes on historical figures and instead using technology to our advantage). That we have to push forward our ideals and paint the canvass that people would want to buy into, instead of reacting to what is being done.
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   The commentary about there possibly being less actual surveillance (and it instead being a sense of omnipresence) was an interesting one which I would have to reflect upon, and not something I would have expected to hear from a libertarian.
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   On that, it was quite a positive talk, as was the concept of the ruling hegemony living and acting in fear and in shame of them not realising their ideals. Maybe we need to take more advantage of that and expose their failures more often, to heap on the pressure and cause a ‘confidence crisis’.
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   I am not sure it is one of Mr Gabb’s best speeches – but I notice it was delivered without notes, something which always impresses me.
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   If I was to be dogmatic about the principles of nationalism, I cannot say I would agree with the some of the routes Mr Gabb suggests may be on the table (such as not allowing the state to engineer a state of conflict amongst community groups, via finding ways to live harmoniously) and so on, but I realise he is not necessarily advocating that, it is more that he has no answers as to what to do about it all otherwise and is therefore offering up different scenarios.
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   I am not sure I would vote for Sean Gabb for the Jonathan Bowden Oratory prize when based solely upon this particular video, but as I said earlier, I do find Sean to be quite a calm and rational man who manages to treat nationalists with an even and fair hand, which is a rarity these days – and his excursions into various ‘fringe’ (or is that “naughty”?) territories are indeed interesting.
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   1. Max Musson

      30th March 2014 at 6:37 pm - Edit

      Thanks for your comments BA. This is not the first time that your comments have been almost sufficient to constitute an article in their own right. If you want to write an article for publication, or if anyone else reading this thinks they can write, then simply email the article to me, [email protected] and I will consider it for publication.

4. HIGHLAND

   8th May 2014 at 9:10 pm - Edit

   A very brilliant talk 🙂

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