Max Nordau was an early Zionist proponent in Europe. What is disturbing though is that like many other early Zionists, he was also a proto-fascist. Of course nationalism in general and in particular ethnic nationalism is typically associated with fascism more than most nationalists would like to admit. In fact, one definition of fascism is that it is simply ultranationalism.
Nordau wrote in the early 1900’s, and at this time, he wrote a book called Degeneration. A lot of people dislike this book because they think it is fascist, and possibly it is.
However, it is still probably a good book with interesting parallels to our modern predicament. In fact, Nordau and especially his book are eerily prescient of the Alternative Right and also of our society itself today. What Nordau was complaining about was exactly the sort of society that the Cultural Left has created, which is of course the very thing that the Alt Left is the backlash against.
I am also thinking of Oswald Spengler’s seminal book, The Decline of the West, which ought to be put on your must read list. Spengler’s modern day avatar, the pseudonymous “Spengler” who wrote for Asia Times, also comes to mind. I also think of James Kuntsler, who you folks really need to read if you are interested in this sort of thing. It appears that Max Nordau was born too soon. This book looks like an interesting read.
I found this short review of the book on the Net. I do not necessarily agree with this review. In particular, there is a type of anti-Semitism here which I find disturbing and unpalatable. But it is interesting how much Nordau’s book resembles the Alt Right of today. That is what I am getting at here; I am not promoting either Nordau’s or this reviewer’s views.
Early Zionist Max Nordau’s Degeneration is an important and insightful book yet not for reasons most would assume. Nordau describes “degenerate” artists as antisocial individuals that lack the normal social traits of his race. The degenerate will dress absurdly just to get a rise out of his kinfolk and lacks the self-control to conduct his behavior in a normal healthy way.
Funny thing is all of this was stated by one of the co-founders (with Modern day Zionist founder Theodor Herzl) of the World Zionist Organization, a movement set out to return the Jews to the mythical heroism of King David’s Kingdom. Back during Nordau’s day, only a small minority of Jews were Zionists. As the brilliant Otto Weininger once stated of Zionism, it “is the negation of Judaism, because it seeks to ennoble what cannot be ennobled. Whereas Judaism stands for the world dispersion of Jews, Zionism strives for their ingathering.” It seems Nordau was doing nothing more but projecting his own newfound cultural degeneracy onto brilliant Europeans minds such as Tolstoy, Wagner, and Nietzsche.
If one were to utilize Nordau’s theories for the modern day, it is apparent that all modern-day institutions now advocate and legally enforce degeneration on their victimized citizenry. This cultural degeneracy virtually engulfs every aspect of American society: Gender, Race, Sex, Literacy, The Arts, Film, Education, Philosophy, etc. etc.
First World countries now flood their nations with uneducated, unassimilable, and hostile (especially towards the indigenous populations) third world aliens, which academia and the internationalist “Western” media describes as “progress” (despite all evidence towards the contrary). By Nordau’s standards, multiculturalism would be at the pinnacle of cultural degeneracy, a sign of a very sick, confused, and distorted racial collective.
Funny, how the same people that promote Zionism (NeoCONS for example), also endorse the bulldozing of all National borders (except for Israel of course, those borders are expanding) and organic cultures. We live in a world where “Whites” now feebly imitate other races, and it’s considered the height of American culture. Whether it is some white trash wigger like Eminem (Western music is known for it’s complex melodies – RAP has no melody at all) or a world class whore like Lady Gaga (who is weird for weird’s sake), the traits of cultural degeneration are more than obvious.
The claims that Nordau makes against Nietzsche and Wagner are minor compared to what passes off as “art” nowadays. Degeneration is a book that truly puts things in perspective, showing how a certain secular Zionist movement is consciously subverting every aspect of Western culture to its own advantage.
If a degenerate is a racially deracinated individual, that would make Karl Marx (if one were to consider him a German) the biggest degenerate of all. Of course, Marx as no doubt conscious of the fact that he was promoting the destruction of all aristocracies, nations, cultures, and Western civilization with his fundamentally anti-Western theories (a legacy in which Freud, Boas, and Einstein would continue).
After all, Karl Marx (like Lenin) was a failed bourgeois who mostly lived off the generosity of others which included Engels, so if you can’t join them, you might as well destroy them. Of course, Max Nordau makes no mention of Marx in all of Degeneration. Innovating atheist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is routinely criticized as a top degenerate.
We now live in a world of complete intellectual abstraction and anti-kultur/anti-organic internationalism. Degeneration was written at a time when the world had yet to be “globalized,” and most Europeans/Americans actually felt proud of their nationality (and back then, they could). Their nations were still producing great art movements, philosophers, writers, and other cultural producers. Now we live in a world of intentionally stupid (and soulless) media/Hollywood, junk/fast food, hyper-consumerism, pseudo-individualism, and other related societal ills that are propagated by an international plutocracy willing to do anything for an extra buck.
When read and put in context with the changing times (both past and present), Degeneration makes for an enlightening read.