The Good, the Normie, and the Useless

Kaiser’s recent article, “The Difficulty in Keeping Dissidents Engaged” and the others he links to are important reads and especially for how to understand friends and family who may be maturing past the normie stage of accepting the civic myths and origin stories that are created and strenuously reinforced to maintain social cohesion. 

There are two profiles that I think are worth addressing as to why the lifespan of a dissident is so short for most and why a minority who remain outside the mainstream become useless. Those that do keep their wits and remain effective are also a minority and Kaiser explains well the profile necessary to be in this third smaller group.

Normie Dissident

When normal people (people who behave, vote, work, have families, go to church, consume non toxic levels of mainstream pop culture), begin questioning the status quo and then entertain rejecting the establishment, the motivation is not to tear down and revolt. It is a reaction born out of a sense of betrayal and injustice by an authority they want to believe in and with an urgency to “do something” to quickly restore order and normalcy. This is entirely different from what drives leftists with true revolutionary mindsets and a true dissident.

These are people who fundamentally believe that restoring the system is possible and desirable. Accepting the total depravity of the State and its fraudulent history is not possible because their identity is too intertwined with being a loyal citizen. Like teens who try on different attitudes and looks, the normie dissident may sample and larp in edgy ways for a while, but truly abandoning the powerful lure of security they believed they enjoyed when “things were right” in exchange for the vilified and uncertain future of the dissident is not a commitment they can make. The idea is terrifying for them. 

This is where the clever grifters find their audience. They repeat the colorful and sensational from true dissident voices but never advocate their solutions or support the obvious conclusions. Some are clearly and intentionally placed to steer people back to the middle. Others are sincere in believing that a middle and compromised solution actually exists. Either way, these become outlets and relieve the pressure and anger they are feeling. The normie dissident will mobilize under the just flexing enough safety of a Come and Take ‘Em banner but will never finish reading the Evola, Spengler or Ernst Jünger books he bought during his initial rejection stage. 

The strategic solution to capture the Normie Dissident, and one that Kaiser mentions, is that an attractive and compelling alternative needs to exist. It needs to be a movement that is welcoming and not bizarre. It needs to offer a path that seems plausible and achievable. It needs to offer a new identity that is not embarrassing to adopt and advocate for. As mentioned in many articles here on Identity Dixie, the South, and to lesser degrees, other regions of the United States, have the fundamentals to make the case.  

The Useless Dissident

The motivations for the person who shape-shifts and spirals downward after leaving the mainstream I believe shares important similarities to the leftist who embraces the idea of permanent revolution. At their core, these people are deeply insecure and don’t believe they are capable of competing and achieving in normie society, either economically or socially.

Like the leftist, they find their identity in being on the fringe with little to lose and with the ability to point their finger at The Establishment as the reason for their failure. The irony of this type of person is that if the position they advocate for becomes popular, they will reject it and move to the safety of a newly created fringe to avoid having to do the hard work of building the new order they once supported. 

It’s a weak analogy, but it reminds me of the type of kids I remember in high school who, in order to be as different as possible because they were intimidated about fitting into an accepted social niche, moved from Top 40, to metal, to industrial punk, to Goth and Emo, to finally discovering their parent’s Bob Dylan and Joan Baez records.   

These people are not to be trusted and should be ignored. They have no serious plans beyond burning it down and fantasizing about being a warlord with a harem. 

The Dissident Core

It’s not an accident that the true dissidents are surprisingly normal and stable people. They can (and should) identify with the Normie Dissident because we too simply want stability and normalcy for our families.

The secret I believe to understanding what it takes to be a dissident is in the word used many times here and that is, Identity. A true Identity is not political or ideological. It is rooted in the permanent things like family, faith, cherished customs, and place. The most articulate, effective, and committed among us can check all these boxes. It is why Southern identity is so integral to a movement that has the chance of picking up the pieces when the oppressive and injustice system inevitably collapses. The truth is, being a dissident is the easiest and most natural state for someone who loves and understands who they are.