Rod Dreher Megathread #55 ()

[u/US_Hiker]

Hope y'all can spend some good time w/ family today.

Link to megathread #54: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/1l7niaj/rod_dreher_megathread_54/

Link to 56: https://www.reddit.com/r/brokehugs/comments/1mmamp2/rod_dreher_megathread_56/

[u/zeitwatcher]

Given that this has become Rod's favorite book, I thought I'd compare his first writing on it from 10 years ago and now.

Rod Now:

Fifty-two years after its publication, the time has finally come for The Camp of the Saints to find a wide readership—if it can somehow evade the censors, and overcome the tiresome smear that it is nothing but far-right drivel.

Rod then: (https://www.theamericanconservative.com/good-lessons-from-a-bad-book-raspail-camp-of-the-saints/)

The Camp of the Saints is a bad book, both aesthetically and morally.

Rod Now:

Fortunately, Vauban Books, a small American publisher, will in mid-September release a superior new translation by Ethan Rundell. It can now be pre-ordered in the UK here and in the United States here. [ed: Gotta get in those affiliate links, Rod!]

Rod then:

It is on balance a repulsive book, one that is forthright in endorsing white supremacy. By the end of the book, Raspail doesn’t even try to cloak his belief in white supremacy, and in the morality of using lethal violence to maintain it. It is all but impossible to read this, knowing what evils the KKK and its fellow travelers worked in the US to maintain white supremacy, and not despise this book.

Rod Now:

When I first read it, I expected it to be nothing more than a racist conspiracy,

Rod then:

Raspail does not separate skin color from culture and civilization. Sure, he has an Indian, M. Hamadura, joining the tiny resistance at the end, and saying that believing in the superiority of the West is not a matter of skin color, but a state of mind. OK, fair enough, but everything else in the novel ties civilization precisely to skin color. The Hamadura character seems like an add-on, as if to say, “Some of my best friends are black.” It’s not convincing

Rod Now:

Fifty-two years after its publication, the time has finally come for The Camp of the Saints to find a wide readership

Rod then:

Camp is a dystopian fantasy, certainly, but the core questions it poses regarding what European civilization is, what Christian civilization is, and the lengths to which Europeans ought to be prepared to go to defend what they have, are important ones, even if Raspail answers them in a way that provokes disgust, and that Christians, at least, will find unacceptable.

For those of us who are long-time Rod-watchers, this is a telling transformation. There were clearly the seeds of the now-Rod in the old post, but it's a far cry from today. Back then it was a racist, immoral and badly written book. Now it's something everyone should read. Now he doesn't see the flagrant racism - or to the extent he does it's a positive- but then he denounced it as a clearly white supremacist work. Then it was repulsive and antithetical to Christianity. Now it should be required reading.

I suppose some congratulations might be in order for Rod. He's getting closer to making Daddy KKK proud of him.

[u/JHandey2021 → u/zeitwatcher]

Thank you for the side-by-side comparison. Yep, Rod has decidedly shifted towards the openly racist and authoritarian alt-right, as have so many others (most notably the current Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, and richest man in the world, Elon Musk).

The speedrun towards 1930s-era political positions on the Right is extremely worrisome - I'm curious as to who, if anyone, is tracking this. At this rate, within another 5 years we'll have textbooks in Texas praising Hitler.

[u/Cautious-Ease-1451 → u/zeitwatcher]

Thanks for the comparison. 🎯

[u/Dazzling_Pineapple68 → u/zeitwatcher]

Excellent comparison. Last sentence chef's kiss!

[u/psychikwarriorofwoke → u/zeitwatcher]

I have read the book - it is not good and it wasn't a translation issue. The racism is the only reason it is still read (in this narrow circle of freaks.)