A vox on both your houses

Not Vox Day 

“SJWs Always Lie” is an eclectic book by Vox Day, dealing with the recent cyber-conflicts between radical-liberal activists (the “SJWs”) and their opponents (who are usually right-wing libertarians). The author's sympathies are obvious from the title. The book could have needed better editing and feels “in house”. Readers new to these controversies may want to read Will Shetterly's “How to make a Social Justice Warrior” and Scott Cameron's “Understanding Gamergate” first, to get a better overview of the subject (both these books oppose the “SJWs”, but are less extreme than Vox Day's opus).

Despite frequent denials, denials that are probably ironic anyway, Vox Day is a White supremacist. Herr Day's great grandfather supposedly rode with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, but Vox himself is more likely to ride with Davy Crockett or the Klan! The man also stints as a science fiction writer, musician and game developer. His books are published by an obscure Finnish press, Castalia House, which calls for a “Campbellian revolution in science fiction”. John Campbell (who died in 1971) was a prominent SF writer and editor, often accused of White supremacist views. According to Wiki, the actual founder of Castalia House is none other than Vox Day himself…

It's safe to assume that Vox is the most hated man in American (north of the river) science fiction, being expelled from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 2013 after publishing a racist attack on a Black writer (the posting is actually included in this book). Vox led the so-called Rabid Puppies during the 2015 Hugo Awards, which was marked by conflicts between radical-liberals and several right-wing factions. (The Hugo Awards are the “Academy Awards” of the science fiction fandom.) In his book, Vox admits that the purpose of the Rabid Puppies (who nominated mostly illiberal books for the awards) was to sabotage and destroy the Hugos from within.

I can't say I like this creature from the dark side of the force. Still, I can't say I like the “SJWs” either (they are very different from, and much less serious than, the pre-SJW leftists I'm used to), so part of me just want to sit back, grab a bag of popcorns and enjoy the show. I mean, if the “SJWs” can't squash this Campbellian counter-revolutionary, how dangerous can they be to the *real* establishment? To be honest, I had conflicts with “SJWs” (then known as “PC lefties”) when Pancho Villa was still in diapers…

As already noted, “SJWs Always Lie” is a somewhat disjointed work. I also suspect that it's part ironic, part deliberately manipulative – the last chapter, in which Vox admits that he is “talking rhetoric to rhetoric-speakers”, suggests as much. What the author really is doing, behind the intellectual smokescreens about “rhetoric” and “pseudo-dialectic”, is talking bunk to emotionally-driven Twitter slacktivists of the SJW-ish persuasion, with the goal of confusing and scattering them. This explains Vox Day's constant references to his (supposed) Hispanic and Native American (i.e. American Indian) ethnic background, followed by the shock of reading his White supremacist attack on N K Jemisin. Perhaps it also explains why Vox models his own tactics on those supposedly used by the SJWs he is berating, including emotional blackmail, lies, purges and authoritarian forms of organization. Ironically (his irony), he then accuses the rad-libs of “projecting”!

The author describes (but also conflates) several different kinds of “Social Justice Warriors”. There's the liberal careerist type, who works for a tyrannical HR department and attempts to enforce diversity and multiculturalism. Another type is the “nice little lady in tennis shoes” who makes herself indispensable in your local community, only to cast her mask and show her SJW fangs at a later point (purging you Beria-style in the process). The third and most common type is the emotionally unstable left-wing hater on the web, who claims to be Otherkin, uses Xir as a preferred pronoun and thinks Gamergate is a terrorist organization.

As for anti-“SJW” tactics, Vox emphasizes that one should never, ever apologize to an “SJW”, since they use apologies as proof of the supposed offense, and therefore step up their attacks even more *after* the apology have been offered. Counter-attacking in full force is another tip, and still another is to cultivate allies, no matter who they may be (one of Vox Day's allies is Roosh V, the pickup artist, or as Vox describes him, “a pagan playboy”). The author also believes that one shouldn't rely on “moderates” (presumably pre-SJW liberals), since these are either inefficient or will eventually gravitate towards the enemy camp. Concerning organization, Vox both calls for an authoritarian form (presumably modeled on fascist groups) and for leaderless resistance (modeled on Gamergate). The latter is particularly effective in the chaotic world of the Internet, where everyone can act under any designation – something Vox wants to use to his advantage. In a concluding chapter, the author discusses the difference between rhetoric, dialectic and pseudo-dialectic, and reaches the conclusion that since “SJWs” are emotion-driven, only rhetoric will work on them, either to turn them, or (as is more likely) make their heads explode.

“SJWs Always Lie” probably *will* make your head explode, if you haven't been immunized by too much exposure to alt-right media. If you want to indulge your curiosity about the recent culture wars on the web, happen to be interested in SF/Fantasy fandom, or actually want some tips on how to fight New York values, you probably have to read this budding classic anyway…

Just don't tell me I didn't warn you.