What does it mean to be a National Socialist?
Certainly, we can say that someone who is in general agreement with the National Socialist worldview, as he or she understands it, is a National Socialist in a formal sense of the term. There are also those who appreciate the NS period in European history, although they may not have a comprehensive ideological understanding of National Socialism. They may be described as being sympathetic to National Socialism, even if their theoretical knowledge of the NS worldview is incomplete.
But to be a true National Socialist in a profound sense means living an NS lifestyle, not just to agree with NS ideas in an abstract manner, or to admire historical National Socialism from a distance.
Hermann Göring once noted that one does not become a National Socialist simply as a matter of intellectual endorsement, but rather that one is born a National Socialist. The NS philosopher Savitri Devi further expanded on this idea:
One does not become a National Socialist. One only discovers, sooner or later, that one has always been one—that, by nature, one could not possibly be anything else. For this is not a mere political label; not an ‘opinion’ that one can accept or dismiss according to circumstances, but a faith, involving one’s whole being, physical and psychological, mental and spiritual: ‘not a new election cry, but a new conception of the world’—a way of life—as our Führer himself has said.
It follows that if being a National Socialist is more than just a political belief, it should condition the way one lives one’s life—that is, that there is a characteristic NS lifestyle. Colin Jordan wrote than a person, “acts as a National Socialist, if he is really and entirely one.”
The first thing that we should point out is that a National Socialist has a positive, “can-do” state of mind. He focuses on the solution to a problem, rather than on the problem itself or on the roadblocks that stand in the way to solving the problem. As Adolf Hitler wrote, “Obstacles exist to be broken, not to be surrendered to.” Lincoln Rockwell said that “Life is struggle,” and that the secret to having a happy and successful life was, “to enjoy the struggle.” This is the fundamental NS attitude towards life in general.
We welcome struggle, not as a necessary evil, but as a great gift and opportunity that allows us to strengthen ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually. Again quoting Hitler: “Mankind has grown great in eternal struggle, and only in eternal peace will it perish.” Fritz Kuhn, leader of the German-American Bund in the 1930s, said, “We must welcome every fight!”
Embracing the struggle-ethic to the fullest has two corollaries. The first of these is that the National Socialist enthusiastically leads an active life. Idle complaint is not National Socialist, nor is sitting around and watching television or fiddling with electronic gadgets hour after hour, day after day. Rather, a National Socialist gets out and engages in the real world. This may take the form of participating in a public activity to build the Movement, or it may simply be going for a hike in the forest. Citing an old Aryan adage, the Führer noted that, “he who rests—rusts” (Wer raset, der rostet).
Do you take the escalator or the stairs? Said Mussolini, “The fascist distains the easy life.” The Duce was not a National Socialist, but in this instance his words are consistent with an NS lifestyle.
The second corollary to embracing an active life is that one accepts a heroic, courageous attitude towards existence and death. A National Socialist knows that there are dangers and hardships in the world, that there is pain, and that someday we all die. Rather than becoming depressed by such a realization, or retreating from the world in a cowardly manner, the National Socialist greets life with joyous fortitude. He steels himself mentally, physically and spiritually against the hardships that he may encounter, with absolute determination to fight through them with manly defiance. The National Socialist resolves to die with a cry of triumph on his lips, not to pass away cowering and whimpering like a beaten dog.
Every National Socialist accepts the SS saying, “Know the laws of life and live accordingly,” as his or her personal motto.
Consequently, exercise, healthy eating, and nourishing the spirit are key features of an NS lifestyle. Just as laziness is un-National Socialist, so is a diet that consists of processed food, nutritionless (or even harmful) snacks, all washed down with some form of alcohol or a sugar-laden soft drink.
Instead, a National Socialist lifestyle includes plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, with as little meat as possible, along with plenty of water and sunshine. He nourishes his soul with Aryan music and art.
Likewise, the National Socialist shuns polluting himself with the degenerate byproducts of an un-Aryan popular culture. These include films that insult the history of the White race, that promote race-mixing, that degrade women or that glorify crime, as well as so-called “music” that offends the Aryan spirit. Likewise, the National Socialist does not contaminate his body and weaken his spirit with drugs and intoxicants.
A while back someone posting on Stormfront claimed that his favorite music was “National Socialist rap.” Let us get this straight once and for all: there is no “National Socialist rap,” nor is there “NS hip-hop” or “Aryan jazz.” We do not insist that 14-year-old Aryan girls forego silly love songs and listen only to Luftwaffe assault marches or German opera—only that Aryans of both sexes and all ages nourish their spirits with musical forms that are produced by, and consistent with, their racial souls.
In so far as possible, the National Socialist lifestyle is family oriented. Just as he views his race as a gigantic extension of his family, so he views his family as his race in miniature. The National Socialist man treats the women and children of his race with respect, dignity and affection. His fundamental attitude towards them is protective and supportive, not hostile and aggressive.
Sadly, many teenage National Socialists living in a non-NS household alienate themselves from their families by attempting to convert their parents to the Hitlerian worldview over Sunday dinner. Tensions between National Socialists and non-National Socialists within a given family are inevitable, but it is the duty of the National Socialist not to let these tensions rend the family apart. Save your efforts at spreading the Good Word to those outside your family. Explain your beliefs if asked, but do not push them on family members.
National Socialists spend as much time outdoors as they can. They garden, go for walks in the woods, and generally enjoy the splendor of living Nature. They feel that they themselves are a part of the natural world, not that it is a foreign environment they visit on rare occasion.
The National Socialist lifestyle includes the love of animals, and kindness towards them. Nothing is so foreign to the Aryan spirit than the sadistic slaughter of animals for food practiced by the Semitic peoples.
A true National Socialist interacts with the non-Aryans he encounters in his daily life in a courteous manner, to the degree that they treat him the same. Whatever hostility that we may feel towards other peoples is not personal, and it should not be taken out on random non-Whites whom we may encounter. The depiction of National Socialists as being rude, mean or insulting to ordinary non-Whites, who have done nothing offensive, is right out of the Jewish playbook. Despite what our enemies may say about us, the National Socialist is not a mindless thug.
It is not always easy to live an NS lifestyle in today’s world. Certainly, it is easier in all-White rural areas than it is in the soulless racial cesspools which our cities have become.
In the first decades of the 20th century, Adolf Hitler found himself in a situation similar to that which we encounter today while living in Vienna. Still a teenager or a young man, he was confronted with degeneracy on all sides. His friend August Kubizek reports how the young Hitler dealt with it:
In the midst of that corrupt city, my friend surrounded himself with a wall of unshakeable principles which enabled him to build up an inner freedom, in spite of the dangers around him. He was afraid of infection, as he often said. Now I understand that he meant, not only venereal infection, but a more general infection, namely, the danger of being caught up in the prevailing conditions and finally being dragged down into a vortex of corruption. It is not surprising that no one understood him, that they took him for an eccentric, and that those few who came in contact with him called him presumptuous and arrogant.
But he went his way, untouched by what went on around him…
Sound familiar?
Ultimately, a National Socialist must live a National Socialist lifestyle. To do otherwise would mean being false to whom he or she is. So even when it is difficult—indeed, even dangerous—he lives his outer life in accordance with his inner being. Yet whatever the cost, he has the great recompense of living his on his own terms. Even in the midst of racial decay and social decline, he lives in the New Order.
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About the author: Martin Kerr is the Chief of Staff of the NEW ORDER, the North American affiliate of the World Union of National Socialists.