Amren article:

The 15th American Renaissance conference was a bursting-at-the-seams success, with a record attendance limited only by fire-code limits on the number of people permitted in the ball room at Montgomery Bell State Park. Demand was so great that we had to close registration a full month before the conference began, and regretfully turn away what would have probably been another 150 attendees. Our record attendance figure of 300 could easily have been 450.

The conference also saw the most aggressive disruption efforts so far by masked, black-clad “antifa,” who gathered to shout insults, take invasive photographs, and harass anyone who left the building. An altercation resulted in a two arrests—again, a first for an AmRen conference.

Inside, the conference proceeded with the smooth efficiency typical of our meetings. The first speaker, Helmuth Nyborg, professor emeritus of the University of Aarhus, gave a riveting talk entitled “What Made Europe Great and What Could Destroy It.” He began by pointing out the clear relationship between distance from the equator and both brain size and intelligence. At or close to the equator, the average IQ is 69, whereas at a latitude of 54 degrees the average is 98. Prof. Nyborg observed that races could be logically be classified as “eco-types,” since their traits reflect the ecological niches in which they evolved.

Prof. Nyborg also noted that unlike the north/south gradient in IQ there is no East/West gradient, virtually proving that it is the challenges of a cold climate that have forced northern peoples to evolve higher intelligence and a greater capacity for cooperation. He pointed out that Arabs have lower-than-expected IQs relative to the latitudes in which they evolved, probably due to the dysgenic effects of frequent cousin marriages.

Two forces could destroy Western Civilization. One is a social system that taxes the competent to subsidize the proliferation of the incompetent. As Prof. Nyborg noted, “The welfare-state debases what created high civilization in the first place. This is the first time in history that the less fit are reproducing more than the more fit.”

At the same time, lower-IQ non-Europeans are pouring into the continent, bringing with them alien practices and religions. Prof. Nyborg concluded with a warning: Unless Europeans are able to reverse these two trends, “the result could be the undoing of the Enlightenment. We may be on the precipice of a new Dark Age.”

Prolific author and star of “Radio Derb,” John Derbyshire, presented a broad, insightful history of the tension between race realism and race denialism. Earlier generations were much wiser than ours. What Mr. Derbyshire called the “long 19th century”—the period from 1776 to 1914—was one of unsystematized but also undeceived observation of human differences, and an instinctive grasp of the power of heredity. It also saw the gradual acceptance of evolution as the cause of group differences. After the First World War, advances in genetics, psychometrics, and sociobiology led to an increasingly scientific understanding of the three main traits that distinguish both individuals and groups: Behavior, Intelligence, and Personality, or what Mr. Derbyshire calls BIP. It is now unquestionable that all aspects of BIP are significantly influenced by genes.

Unfortunately, there has been a catastrophic retreat from both science and common sense. Ours is an era of what Mr. Derbyshire calls “race denialism,” in which “all observed group differences are said to be superficial, and all statistical differences are said to be caused by historical and social circumstance.” Because deniers still hold power, race realists are waging guerilla war for the truth. One tactic is to uncover and publicize “hate facts,” or “things that are demonstrably true but that we are not supposed to talk about.”

It would be comforting to think that science will prevail, but Mr. Derbyshire warned that “scientific thinking is very unnatural.” Most people never get beyond emotion, or even belief in magic, and are adept at ignoring anything that undercuts their beliefs. Mr. Derbyshire noted that the West has already moved on to “sex denialism.” “If you can deny sex differences,” he asked, “what human trait can you not deny?” Denialists are like the White Queen in Through the Looking Glass: “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Martin Lichtmesz of the German New Right painted a comprehensive picture of rising nationalist movements in Austria and Germany. He noted that, just as in the United States, Europe is so divided that some say it is in a state of “pre-Civil War.” Indeed, some leftists welcome civil war, in the hope that globalists will crush nationalists and establish a “Republic of Europe.”

It is in opposition to this nightmare vision that nationalist, patriotic movements have arisen in the German-speaking world: PEGIDA, Alternative fur Deutchland, the Austrian Freedom Party, etc. All such groups speak in the name of “the people” or “the folk” because the people have been betrayed by their rulers. PEGIDA’s slogan was nothing less than “We are the people.” This terrifies the elites because, as Mr. Lightmesz noted, “there is nothing they hate more than the concept of folk, the idea of a people united.” Angela Merkel has tried to defuse this idea by claiming that, in Germany, “ ‘the people’ is everyone who lives in this country.”

Some of these movements have been started by people with little political or organizational experience, and have collapsed. However, nationalists are learning from their mistakes, and Identitarians have emerged as the best-led and best-organized patriotic movements. They have specialized in highly photogenic “pranks” such as hanging giant, patriotic banners from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin or occupying mosques. Their moving video, “A Declaration of War,” became a YouTube sensation and has inspired activists around the world.

Mr. Lichtmesz concluded with a ringing declaration of the need for all Europeans to set aside the petty nationalisms of the past and to unite in defense of their common civilization.

Jared Taylor’s talk was called, “Has the White Man Turned the Corner?” He began by saying that during his first 25 years of white advocacy, there was so little progress he sometimes felt he was just leaving a record. As the great Frenchman Guillaume Faye said 17 years ago, “There are some things that must be said so that future generations will know that at least some of us were aware, and that our generation was not entirely composed of cowards and fools.”

“Things are different now,” said Mr. Taylor, “We have a real, fighting chance.” He compared the conflict between globalism and identitarianism to the grinding together of tectonic plates. “And you know happens when plates collide: earthquakes.”

“Egalitarianism is in crisis,” Mr. Taylor said, and in a crisis, foolish people do what they have always done—only more desperately. He gave many examples of increasingly outrageous egalitarian measures, noting that more and more white Americans mock their absurdity. He contrasted this with the energy and creativity of the movement represented by the people at the conference.

Mr. Taylor said he takes inspiration from Eastern European regimes, where heads of state and elected leaders “are just one step short of saying explicitly that Europe must remain white.” He noted that there have been disappointing election results in Western Europe, but added that “this means only that it will be a long fight.” He ended on a martial note: “We are in a battle for our lives. We are all soldiers in this titanic battle. And we will win!”

Peter Brimelow, founder and editor of VDARE.com spoke on “The Trump Report Card—So Far.” “Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump,” he noted, “he gets a full ‘A’ simply for not being Hillary Clinton.” President Clinton “would have gone full Merkel:” open borders, refugees en masse, more executive amnesties, and new horrors on the Supreme Court. Instead of Neil Gorsuch, we would have had another Sonia Sotomayor, and if the Court can find same-sex marriage in the Constitution, it can find anything. A President Clinton would surely have pushed for hate-speech laws and draconian gun control.

Mr. Brimelow made no excuses for Donald Trump’s shortcomings, however. He noted how erratic and egotistical he is, but pointed out that unlike a prime minister in a parliamentary system, he has limited power. “Trump is like electing King Kong,” he said. “You pull back the curtain and there he is—roaring.”

Mr. Brimelow predicted that “there’s a huge showdown coming.” Mr. Trump not only managed a hostile takeover of the GOP, but is now locked in a contest for power with “the entire state, the literal government.” Impeachment—successful or not—could be the climax of this battle. Mr. Brimelow speculated that “Trump didn’t overturn DACA because he knows the courts will do it for him”—a practical if somewhat cowardly approach. “I do think he will build the wall” he added, “though the wall is mostly symbolic. What I care about is enforcement.”

Mr. Brimelow noted that “in September, Trump gets to set the number of refugees we will take in. He should set it to zero—except for white South Africans.” Of his many applause lines, this was the most popular.

In his after-dinner speech, author Julian Langness gave a deeply insightful analysis of how the dynamics of generational change will overthrow the globalist order. He noted that his generation—millennials—were “raised with a sort of nothingness: No loyalty to family, nation, God . . . nothing. We were taught indifference, if not shame towards our ancestors.”

For millennials, the challenge is to reject nothingness. To shake off the blinders is “to exchange porn for procreation, student debt for meme warfare, video games for the shooting range, and Vicodin for the red pill.” The real counterculture, he noted, is now on the Right. The Left is stuck in the futile conformity of “social justice,” while we are bursting with energy and creativity. “If the ideology uniting all these people were anything other than what it is [racial identity], this new counterculture would be on the front page of every major newspaper,” he said.

Mr. Langness predicted that as baby boomers die off, there will be a political vacuum, and “millennials will take the reins of power by default.” The meme warfare his generation has perfected is opening the eyes of countless disillusioned young whites who will use their power to further explicitly racial goals. Nevertheless, Mr. Langness does not envisage an electoral solution; with “turbulence on the horizon” we must be ready for anything. “Shopping mall multiculturalism pushes our racial tensions beneath the surface,” he said, but at any time “it could bust forth—as it did overnight after Hurricane Katrina.” Mr. Langness received a standing ovation.

Sunday morning began with several “reports from the field” by prominent figures in the movement. Nathan Damigo spoke about his youth organization, Identity Evropa, which from modest beginnings only a little over a year ago has rapidly grown to more than 700 members. It has attracted national attention for its activism on college campuses and elsewhere.

Richard Spencer spoke about his new website, AltRight.com, and his plans to publish several major subversive books in the coming months. He also described the alliances he has been building with other movement groups, and announced a National Policy Institute conference to be held this fall.

Daniel Friberg spoke about the increasingly indispensable alt-right publishing house, Arktos Media, and displayed a graph showing dramatic annual increases in sales. His publishing house has been the first to translate many vital European thinkers into English.

Finally, Simon Roche spoke eloquently of the dire situation in South Africa and how his organization, Suidlanders, is preparing for the real possibility of civil war. “We are not leaving the land that has been our home since April 6, 1652,” he said to enthusiastic applause.

As he has at every American Renaissance conference, Sam Dickson gave the final speech. First, he asked for a show of hands of those above and below the age of 35, and noted with satisfaction that more than half of the audience appeared to be under 35.

Mr. Dickson spoke of what will come after the collapse of the current egalitarian order. Quoting the Bible, he said we see only “through a glass darkly” because we can never know history’s next turn—but history can be our guide. He gave examples of historical turning points, including the genocide of the Armenians as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Christian Armenians had lived patiently under Islamic rule, tolerating small injustices and moderate oppression. This assured survival until the First World War upset the equilibrium, and racial/religious tensions exploded into massacre.

White Americans are like the Armenians of a century ago. We have long tolerated crime and held our tongues in the face of hostile media and politicians. But as the whites in South Africa discovered, a sudden escalation of racial animus can threaten a people’s survival. The 2016 election gave us a hint of this. Violence against Trump supporters, calls for violence against Trump himself, and the blasé media response to this are signs of dangers ahead.

“There will be a collapse at some point,” Mr. Dickson said. It could come from military overreach, financial ruin, race war, or any combination of these. He added that the collapse “does not have to be a bloody affair; it does not have to be dramatic.” He expressed the hope that it will be like the peaceful partition of the USSR rather than the American Civil War. He concluded by noting that with a future certain to be both uncertain and turbulent, we must be prepared for anything, but must keep our eyes fixed on the goal of securing a homeland for our people.

The new post-Trump climate of leftist desperation was clearly on display this year. An estimated 150 demonstrators and opponents turned up at the park, including a dozen masked antifa looking for a fight. The others included members of the local NAACP and a Chattanooga preacher who claimed that “What’s going on in there [the AmRen conference] is a sin.” Demonstrators gave talks and had a picnic.

In one unfortunate incident, a conference-goer got into a tangle with several thugs who beat him, threw him into the lake near the conference site, and appear to have tried to hold him under water. He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and returned to the conference the next day with a spectacular shiner—and a charge of disorderly conduct. We ask readers and supporters to click here to contribute to a fund to pay for medical and legal expenses. At least one of his attackers was also arrested and charged.

Aside from this incident, the conference was an unalloyed and inspiring success. The hall was electric with excitement, optimism, and anticipation. We look forward to an even greater success next year.