Deprogramming from Leftism for Anglo Canadians

Part Four: Ethno-Traditional Nationalism, Immigration and "Whiteness"

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Before I get into todays post I just want to make sure readers are aware of my new project: The Western Polemic. It’s a Substack newsletter all about “Defending, exploring and preserving the uniqueness of Western culture.” There are currently three essays on the Western Polemic freely available for all good readers. One of them is the first in a series on the history of Western education written by Historian Scott Miller and I. Please do subscribe! —James

Plato, Aristotle and other ancient philosophers and mathematicians depicted in Raphael’s School of Athens, fresco, 1509-1511 (Stanza della Segnatura, Papal Palace, Vatican)

Deprogramming from Leftism for Anglo Canadians

Part Four: Ethno-Traditional Nationalism, Immigration and "Whiteness"

“The progressive storyline for white majorities is a morality tale celebrating their demise…much of today’s populist reaction stems directly or indirectly from this trope.”¹ - Eric Kaufmann, Whiteshift (2019)

By

James Pew

Introduction & Recap

In the first essay of this series, I discussed macro people groups, and stated that “all people are ethnic.” Also discussed briefly was the pattern of peace and prosperity found in the macro white people group, and the double standard that sees cultural heritage of whites, erased, revised, or disrespected, while the cultural heritage of non-whites is celebrated as “diversity.”

Critical social justice was described as an ideology which considers whites “responsible for creating and upholding power structures that continue to oppress non-white people.” Also discussed was Anglo Canadians: the ethnic archetype of Canada. And last but not least, I declared, “It’s not clear if the white people are ok. So I’m going to write about them (us), regardless of who attributes ill-intent, misunderstands, or thinks I’m racist.”

In the second essay I established “that the center of gravity in terms of ancestral heritage for Anglo Canada is British heritage.” Also touched on was an important chapter from Eric Kaufmann’s Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities, called “From WASP to White.” What is described is the historical assimilation (absorption) of Catholics and Jews into the WASP ethnic core of America. And barely mentioned, was the “ethnogenesis and cultural development of Anglo Canadians” (a concept I will expand on in a future essay).

Also discussed is anti-white racism, a phenomenon practically inexorable with Western multiculturalism. The second half of the second essay offers a sketch of some examples which highlight a few “of the specific ways antiwhiteism (anti-white racism) is being encoded into the social fabrics of Western liberal democracies with multicultural aspirations.”

The third installment discusses the phenomenon of “decentering whiteness,” seen in the practice of race-reversed casting where black actors play the roles of historical white figures, like when the BBC cast a black guy as Sir Isaac Newton.

Today’s essay, Part Four, examines some of the ideas found in Kaufmann’s great book Whiteshift. Throughout this volume’s 540 pages, which I have literally torn apart, I have extensively underlined, made copious notes scratched with pencil into spiral notebooks, expanded on and digitized the spiral notebook notes and re-filed them in folders on my computer (then backed them up to Google docs of course!). I also downloaded an audiobook version that I listened to repeatedly while engaged in boring life stuff, like driving and cooking. For a season, I utterly immersed myself in Kaufmann’s ideas concerning the future of white majorities.

My obsession expanded as well to some of Kaufmann’s earlier works, like The Rise and Fall of Anglo America, and Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?. However, at least for today’s essay, the discussion will be primarily focused on Whiteshift.

This exhilarating enthusiasm over Kaufmann’s work began shortly before Amazon delivered my copy of Whiteshift sometime in early 2021. The book itself was published in 2019. What I find extraordinary, is that back then it was impossible to speak critically of immigration, multiculturalism, or diversity, without being ostracized from polite society.

Look at how fast things have changed. In 2024, criticism of illegal and mass immigration is ubiquitous and intense. Some of it is extreme. It is everywhere. Even moderates on the liberal-left are calling for deportation of illegal immigrants and for reduction in legal immigration levels, along with reductions in the granting of student and temporary foreign worker visas.

We still have a long way to go in order for Canada, and the Western world, to move back to the common sense and moral compass associated with the liberal center. However, the progress made towards this end, the apparent majority rejection of the leftist social vision (wokeism), has been remarkable. In 2019, when immigration criticism was thoroughly taboo, Kaufmann knew that the anxieties this caused would result in the increase of rightwing populist movements all over the Western world. This is exactly what happened. What still is happening! The populist current, made it possible to discuss immigration. Most political leaders have by now got the message. It’s a new day. There will be mass deportations of illegals, as well as reductions in the amount of overall immigration. More people are now re-thinking the benefits of multiculturalism, while even more are questioning the importance of so much diversity.

The term Whiteshift has two connotations. The first refers to the declining white share of the population of white majority countries. And the second involves “a process by which white majorities absorb an admixture of different peoples through intermarriage, but remain oriented around existing myths of descent, symbols and traditions.” In other words, yes it is true that white population share is decreasing, and is projected to decrease even more. However, “if history is our guide, things are likely to turn out quite differently”² than the anticipated white replacement. Whiteness is unlikely to go anywhere. It is far more likely that white majorities will absorb non-white immigrants and “remain oriented around existing myths of descent, symbols and traditions.”³

Much of the content of Kaufmann’s book is what I consider to be the next phase in the conversation around restricting immigration. Kaufmann’s ideas were ahead of their time. Because so many important concepts relevant to the new permission to openly express a desire for secure borders are found in the book, I feel compelled to re-examine it.

Anglo Canadian Ethno-Traditional Nationalism and Immigration: The Progressive Problematizing of Whiteness Runs Parallel with the Exaltation of Enlightenment Values by Millions of Immigrants.

Note 1: I refer to the founding ethno-traditions of Canada extensively in this essay series. This references the culture transplanted to the New World by European settlers, and not the Indigenous people who lived in the area that is now known as Canada prior to European contact. This is in no way meant to erase the Indigenous from the story of Canada. It is simply meant to highlight that the ethno-traditional culture of the majority population has its roots in the Enlightenment values brought to the Americas by European settlers.

Note 2: Ethno-Traditional Nationalism (ETN) is a term coined by Canadian political scientist Eric Kaufmann. In contradistinction, Ethnic Nationalism – countries like Saudi Arabia, China and Germany – involves prerequisites for membership based on ethnic elements like ancestry or religion. However a nation like Canada - where ethno-traditional nationalism can safely exist (and does to some extent albeit with blurred lines separating what is ethnic identity and what is national identity) – no such requirements concerning citizenship apply. Conformance to the genetic or ethno-cultural features of the majority population is not mandatory. And assimilation into the ethno-traditions of Canada is always a matter of one’s free choice of how much, or how little, to do so (multivocalism). This is essential.

While Canada is often described as an example of civic nationalism, this essay series argues (inspired by Kaufmann’s multivariate analysis of demographic data related to Western democracies) that ethno-traditional nationalism should be encouraged in Canada for the sake of national unity. And because, ETN is more in line with the psychological needs, felt by many people to connect with their home territory’s founding ancestors (even when ethnicity is not shared). This urge to connect to the prototypical character of the ethnic archetype of a nation drives patriotism and the voluntary integration of immigrants.

Ethno-Traditional Nationalism, Immigration and Whiteness

Some of the compelling ideas put forward in Whiteshift include: ethno-traditional nationalism (how it enhances civic nationalism); ethnicity & identity (how, according to individual survey data, ethnic demographics are more important to most people than economics); concerning societal cohesion, how the need many people have to identify with the ethnic archetype or core ethnic congruent with the places they live outweighs the need to celebrate diversity; concerning a fundamental psychological difference between cosmopolitans (Liberals) and Traditionalists (Conservatives) — how the needs of both groups must be respected in order for a harmonious civil society to continue; so-called whiteness (how, as a positive attribute, it is tied to Canadian heritage); negative whiteness (how it is weaponized and used as a racist term designed to attack white ethno-traditions).

In my view, ethno-traditions are necessary to bind Canadian society, and prevent leftist identity politics — concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion — from leading us into dangerous Balkanization. Some readers may think that I am just advocating for an identity politics that shifts the focus of consideration to the majority. Some may even see it as an inverted woke form of white identity politics. However, I reject these notions.

The ultimate Canadian compromise

Ethno-traditional nationalism (with multivocalism) is a framework that satisfies the psychological needs of both cosmopolitans and traditionalists. Under this framework, the cosmopolitan will live exactly the same as if in a civic nationalism, he won’t even notice the traditionalists engaged in the ethno-cultural stuff. Everyone will be free to do their thing, and no one, including Anglo Canadians, will be prevented partially, fully, privately, or publicly, from embracing or celebrating the Anglo Canadian way.

“Many people desire roots, value tradition and wish to maintain continuity with ancestors who have occupied a historic territory”⁴ – Eric Kaufmann

While this may be true, many people do not. In fact, many people desire quite the opposite and go so far as to demonstrate a hostility towards the culture of their country of residence/citizenship, while simultaneously exalting the cultures of others. This is a more extreme form of cosmopolitanism, a common condition associated with leftism. In Whiteshift, Kaufmann makes a useful psychological distinction between Left-wing types, who are much more cosmopolitan by nature, and Right-wing types whose conservatism leads them to value the ethno-traditionalism, which maintains “continuity with ancestors who have occupied a historic territory.”

Most people understand that the far Left are illiberal and woke. They are the radical progressives, the cosmopolitans with a tendency to celebrate foreign cultures, while deviantizing the internal one. They are at least partially responsible for the rise in reactionary Western right-wing populism (which for the record, I fully support).

This is by no means an indictment of the entire Left. Left moderates who don’t hate their country are fine, and should not be associated with the pejorative aspect of the terms woke or leftism. Left moderates, who are indeed philosophically liberal, do not seem like they are from the same planet as woke progressives who embody a bizarre blend of histrionics, cluster-B traits, a hyper-personified victim-centric grievance complex, and who view their home society as irredeemable flawed.

The woke, being xenophilic and globally minded, welcome change and wish for open borders, but they are hostile to tradition and to those who wish for controlled and gradual immigration. They are not sensitive to the increasing insecurities of traditionalists or the ethnic majority. Unless referring to indigenous peoples, they do not recognize the validity of those who feel connected to the customs of their homeland. They view assimilation as antithetical to diversity. In Canada, when a visible minority advocates for traditional Canadian values, it is seen by the woke as white adjacency.

Woke leftists ignore human nature. Their ideas about whiteness and diversity are at odds with the inherent impulses of many people — like the natural inclination that leads many to voluntarily identify with the core ethnic of the places they live (including the places they immigrate to). It is no rarity when immigrants take up the ethno-traditions of their new homeland and consider the majority ethnicity they've found themselves “adjacent” to an important stabilizing factor for social cohesion. While it has been historically common for immigrants arriving in Canada to do just that, today, new arrivals are fed a progressive narrative with the opposite message – according to the woke ones, Canadian ethno-traditional culture is to be ashamed of. This is a prevalent notion in leftist activist circles, illustrated by the use of the term whiteness, which is always used in the negative to attack the white majority. In spite of this, the ethno-traditional culture at the founding and early development of Canada continues to represent the most palpable linkage to the present day majority people group.

Even though I view the attack on whiteness as being about much more than race, it is important to recognize that it is indeed overtly racist to refer negatively to white or non-white people as having whiteness or being white adjacent. What should be meant by whiteness is everything associated with the white macro people group, which in a nutshell, is everything associated with enlightenment values. This means, in truth, that whiteness is a positive attribute. However, the woke use it exclusively as a negative one.

The development of the Western tradition unfolded in the convergence of the Greco-Roman and the Judeo-Christian. It cannot be denied that this tradition was overseen by countless dead white men, and that after them, a different batch of dead white men transplanted it to the New World (from which sprung our Canada!).

These historical truisms have no effect on one’s ability to become Canadian today. And when one does, Anglo Canadian ethno-traditions are optional and voluntary. Take them up, only if you want to. By contrast, if a Canadian emigrated to China, and came to exalt Chinese ethnic nationalism, they will never become Chinese. As is the case with many countries. Canada just happens to be one that is truly inclusive. People immigrating to Canada, people of any race, can become Canadian citizens and reap all the benefits that Canadians are blessed with. Therefore, many immigrants, especially coming from places that lack the democratic freedoms that Canada has, choose to voluntarily assimilate into the founding majority ethno-traditions. And thank God many of them do because the historical record on diversity is bloody, regardless of what progressive theories might lead one to believe.

Without a unifying ethno-culture offering tradition and continuity tied to a distinct national identity, Canada could very well descend further into a modern-day Apartheid-like state. As we see, for example, with the separate nations approach (parallelism) in Canadian Indigenous politics.

It is worth mentioning that the vast majority of my critique of immigration is directed at illegal immigrants and those who reject our values around things like human rights and public decency, and who do not wish to integrate into Canadian society, but instead live in separate ethnic enclaves from where they work to implement foreign ethno-cultural features that are incommensurate with Canadian society.

I support a limited and sensible amount of assimilatory immigration but feel we should be highly selective of who we accept into the country. All immigrants should express a desire to live like Canadians. Diversity occurs naturally with all immigration, however, it is conformity that is lacking. Not total conformity, but a degree of it so that unity is possible.

A Short List of Four Important Points to Provide Additional Colour & Clarity

1. “…universalist, creedal conceptions of nationhood are necessary for unity, but cannot provide deep identity in everyday life.” The civic nationalism of Canada falls short of providing a meaningful connection to its ethnic archetype. The answer to this is ethno-traditional nationhood, “which values the ethnic majority as an important component of the nation alongside other groups.”⁵

2. Ethnicity refers to groups of people with shared ethno-cultural features like language, race, and religion. A given ethnic people group may have all or even just one of these common elements. Ethnic groups often, although not always, are associated with a nation. In the case of Canada, immigrants can be absorbed into the Anglo ethno-traditional core even though they may not be white, Christian, or speak English. These traits are by no means prerequisite for either being a Canadian citizen or for taking up Anglo Canadian ethno-traditions. They are simply prototypical traits that make one appear more or less culturally Canadian. A non-white immigrant may be physically unable to become a living genetic descendent of Canada’s ethnic archetype, but no such barriers exist for him concerning enculturation into any other aspect of Anglo Canadian ethno-traditions.

   This is an important point since white racial features are inexorably linked to Canada’s historic national identity, and that will always be the case even if most Canadians become mixed race. However, in Western countries, white skin colour is not a requirement for citizenship, it is only a single element of the core ethnic. In the future, after much mixing and shifting of demographics, the term whiteness is likely to evolve and have less to do with skin colour. Instead, possibly, it will have more to do with the attitudes of people who take up the traditions and values associated with the white ethnic archetypes of Western nations. “Until the mixed group emerges as a viable majority which identifies, and comes to be identified, as white, Western societies will experience considerable cultural turbulence.”⁶ The use of the terms white and black to describe people, is not likely to go away, whether we want it to or not.

3. The ancestors of Canada’s majority population were white Europeans. It is understood, historically, and within the framework of ethno-traditional nationalism, that the white majority is descended from early European settlers, and that Canada is the ancestral land for this majority population. To maintain Anglo Canadian ethno-traditional Nationalism, citizens must demand slower immigration “in order to permit enough to voluntarily assimilate into the ethnic majority.”

4. The progressive mission to eradicate whiteness as fast as possible, to usher in an age of diversity, amounts to an all out attempt to obliterate everything related to Canada’s core ethno-traditions, which are inseparable from enlightenment features. In other words, the attack on whiteness, and on Anglo Canadian ethnicity, is an attack on enlightenment rationality, reason and objective truth.

Race is a fairly insignificant factor when compared to other ethnic qualities, but not discussing it as a valid ethnic characteristic is weird and not in the service of truth. If we get over this reluctance to discuss race, we may find that ethno-traditional nationalism is a workable framework. A program of diversity that problematizes and antagonizes white people is not sustainable. Depending on ones vantage point, things may seem reasonably stable at the moment, in spite of the acute rise in anti-Western and antisemitic Hamastinian protestors. However, the big demographic picture shows us that we are experiencing a somewhat inevitable demographic shift. And as white majorities lose their majority share of the population, they become less willing to laugh along with their denigration. No sleeping bear should ever be poked like this.

All the more reason we should talk about this stuff, and not sweep it under the proverbial carpet to fester, like we usually do. The next essay will also focuses on Eric Kaufmann’s Whiteshift.

Here is Part 5 of Deprogramming From Leftism For Anglo Canadians.

Bibliography

Kaufmann, Eric. 2019. Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities. New York: Abrams Press

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read Frances Widdowson and the Fight for Academic Freedom

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1. Kaufmann 2019. 1.

2. Kaufmann 2019. 1.

3. Kaufmann 2019. 1.

4. Kaufmann 2019. 1.

5. Kaufmann 2019. 10.

6. Kaufmann 2019. 9.