The Scandza Forum: Normalizing Nationalism

I recently traveled to Stockholm to attend the 2018 Scandza Forum. Until last year, I thought Sweden had the dubious honor of being Europe’s “canary in the coalmine” due to its immigrant problems and advanced political correctness. However, with the recent bans of Martin Sellner, Lauren Southern, and Brittany Pettibone from my not-so-“United” Kingdom, I must concede that Sweden has some serious competition.

The Scandza Forum theme this year — “Normalizing Nationalism” — intrigued me since many similar events focus on the external problems that give rise to Nationalism/Identitarianism, often to the detriment of movement introspection. As the host noted in his address, the prospect of normalizing nationalism is no mean feat when over 80 percent of voters elect for “more of the same” in terms of a multicultural future.

The speakers at the 2018 Scandza Forum — F. Roger Devlin, Marcus Follin, Greg Johnson, Jared Taylor, Millennial Woes, and others — could be considered Identitarian nobility. The airfare and admission fee were small prices to pay to see this lineup.

Marcus Follin addressing the Scandza Forum. (Photo credit: Scandza Forum/Rasmus Björnberg)

There were around 200 people in attendance; the average age was under thirty. I sat next to a gentleman with the handshake of a blacksmith and a Nordic voice that could cause the surfaces of puddles to tremor. It was the first event of this kind he’d attended, but he was clearly reassured when a sea of hands rose in response to the question, “Who is here for the first time?”

(Photo credit: Scandza Forum/Rasmus Björnberg)

Greg Johnson and Jared Taylor both spoke of “hate” — the emotion the legacy media would have us believe is synonymous with nationalism. There is a temptation to see nationalism through the lens of conflict. Movements of this nature do indeed have many enemies — some at the gates and some among us — but our response does not have to be exclusively retaliatory. Even boxing is described as a “sweet science,” and nuance is a tool that is becoming more relevant as Identitarianism makes its way from image boards to the real world.

Jared Taylor. (Photo credit: Scandza Forum/Rasmus Björnberg)

The battlefields today are the internet, the wider media, and schools. We have the best ideas. We know this but, unfortunately, so does the establishment. So the task ahead of us is to provide novel means of spreading our message to the increasingly receptive public. The newly popular “Internet Bloodsports” do not take place in Roman amphitheaters or caged octagons, but on the internet as pure contests of ideas.

One theme at the conference was that aspirations of elitism can be detrimental. Millennial Woes advised us to not “let perfect to be the enemy of good.” This is sound advice. While hierarchy is important, and it’s good to have events where most attendees are clearly “high quality” people, a movement comprised exclusively of intellectuals cannot survive. While I would not travel across Europe to hear inarticulate people deliver speeches, our message of self-determination is intended also for such people.

The event concluded with a secret guest and his friend providing musical accompaniment to a reading of Beowulf. I found it a potent reminder of what we are fighting for.

Attending Scandza reaffirmed my belief that more and more of our people are becoming aware of what is wrong with our societies, and realizing that nationalism is the solution. At the event’s conclusion, I would have liked the audience to have been issued this challenge: Next year, bring along at least one friend who you have been able to “red-pill” over the course of the year. If each attendee does this, the main challenge facing Scandza 2019 will be securing a venue that will hold the ever burgeoning numbers.