THE LEAGUE OF THE SOUTH:
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
“A brave people may, for a time, be overpowered by brute force, and be neither dishonored nor destroyed. Its life is not in the outward organization of its institutions. It may be stripped of these and clothe itself in some diverse garb, in which it may resume its growth. But if the spirit of independence and honor be lost among the people, this is the death of the common weal: a death on which there waits no resurrection. Dread, then, this degradation of spirit as worse than defeat, than subjugation, than poverty, than hardship, than prison, than death.”—Rev. Robert Lewis Dabney, 1869
Sometimes we look back in order to look forward. Rev. Robert Lewis Dabney’s observation above calls to us across time to maintain the spirit of independence and honor that is the lifeblood of the Southern people.
The League of the South, like Rev. Dabney is his day, looks to the future. While we do honor our ancestors and their noble struggles for liberty and independence, we understand that we cannot live in the past. What we seek to create in an independent South is not the world of the 18th or 19th century. Though many of the principles held by our Southern ancestors are timeless and can be profitably applied in our own day, we must not fall into the trap of trying to resurrect an exact replica of the society in which they lived, worked, and worshipped. Providence sets a man in this own time and place, and to question God’s wisdom in doing so is both futile and fruitless. Our ancestors had their time upon this earth and fought the good fight. We ought to remember them and draw inspiration from their example. But at the same time, we must understand that our duty is to the present and future. We cannot change the past. We can, however, by doing our duty, effect good things during the time allotted to us on this earth.
The League, because it is oriented to the present and future, is not a “heritage” organization. While we revere and respect our Southern inheritance and the tangible symbols that represent it, we place our primary emphasis on the fight for Southern independence for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. In our opinion, fighting heritage battles is akin to putting out innumerable brushfires started by the South’s enemies. Heritage fighters rush from one crisis to another, always reacting to the actions of their opponents. Even when they win one of these heritage battles, all they have done is preserve the status quo. They have not actually advanced anything. Their limited resources are dearly spent on playing defense. This will not bring them the victory they seek.
We believe that the root cause of our problems stems from our thralldom to a hostile American Empire. The solution is to avoid fighting on the enemy’s turf (e.g. the courts, legislative chambers, etc.) and according to his rules (e.g. the “law” as interpreted by his judges); rather, it is to break free and rule ourselves, within our own blood and soil, kith and kin nation, according to our own particular standards as historic Southerners. Independence would thus solve myriad problems that will continue to plague us until we are a free people.
It is the League’s job to convince the Southern people that their future can be brighter and more prosperous in an independent South than it is under the current regime. Our new Southern nation would better reflect their naturally conservative and Christian moral and ethical world view. To reach our people, we must go where they are. We must stay close to those we wish to influence. This means that we cannot rely alone on a presence in cyberspace, as useful as that can be. It means that we have to engage them with our message where they live, work, play, and worship. It means taking our message to Main Street in every Southern town, hamlet, village, and crossroad. It means showing them that we stand in the historic Southern mainstream and that the current regime and its minions and their ideologies are both alien and extreme when viewed in the proper context of our history. And we shall. Starting in August 2013, The League will begin staging a series of public events designed to show the Southern people that we are there to uphold their interests.
How can we accomplish this seemingly daunting task of establishing a free Southern nation? First, by telling the truth to our people, a people who unfortunately now believe lies.
The League of the South and the Southern Nationalist movement have several resources at hand for spreading the truth: 1) The Free Magnolia, our quarterly tabloid; 2) our website, www.dixienet.org; 3) the growing Southern Nationalist Network, www.southernnationalist.com; the fine blog by Hunter Wallace, Occidental Dissent, www.occidentaldissent.com; 5) the Southern National Congress, www.southernnationalcongress.org; and 6) our growing number of State and local chapters, which can be accessed online at dixienet.org/rights/statechapters.php.
Second, by training leaders and activists who will help us sharpen our focus of Southern Nationalism and will then take our message to the streets. We learn by doing.
Third, we must position the League in such a way that it speaks for the common Southerner. There is no one else out there willing to give voice to the concerns of the majority of our people. They are ignored except when the two major political parties come down South every four years to pander for their votes. As soon as the election is over, they are forgotten and become non-persons in the eyes of the regime, Democrat or Republican. Again, we must become their voice, and in doing so we must leave no shot taken at the South unanswered.
Fourth, we must actually begin to live out our cultural inheritance as Southerners in our respective communities. Dead cultures reside in museums. Living cultures thrive in the homes, churches, and workplaces of the people. They manifest themselves in music, dance, food, dress, manners, morals, and customs. Once we can persuade our fellow Southerners to abandon the bankrupt anti-culture of modern Babylon and to re-embrace their own healthy cultural traditions, then we shall be close to our goal of independence. Once people reject the culture of the Empire, the Empire’s days will be numbered.
And fifth, we must translate our Southern cultural renaissance into organized political strength. Initially, we should bombard our State government officials with demands and protests through every possible medium. Let them know there is a vibrant Southern Nationalist movement that is not going away. A loud minority can get things done!
Our governments, at all levels, should be a reflection of our culture. It doubtless will reflect Southerners’ inherent distrust of democracy and egalitarianism, the twin poison of the last century. It will emphasize our belief in a system of ordered liberty with the proper gradations of authority.
In the current New South, which is the bastard child of the American empire, a leftist, anti-Christian “culture of death” pervades the land and is reflected in an immoral and aggressive government that imperils life, liberty, and property around the world. Once our Southern culture, based on its ancient Christian and European roots, is again regnant, the government of our new Southern nation will mirror that culture. The result, God willing, will be a civil magistrate that promotes good and punishes evil and adheres to the wholesome idea of “the consent of the governed.” In short, once our culture is restored, politics will take care of itself.
Good government, responsive to the interest of the people, will replace bad government that seeks only to enrich and enlarge itself at the expense of those it is bound to serve. The Statesman will replace the politician.
To accomplish this ambitious agenda, we must work diligently and steadily on the local level. As our local organizations grow in numbers, strength, and influence, it will in turn bolster our State chapters. When each State chapter becomes a cultural, social, economic, and political force within its borders, then we can begin electing officials who have the same goals and objectives as the League. Once we are able to control the State legislatures, the county or parish governments, and perhaps even a few governors mansions, Southern independence will be within our grasp.
But our dream of political independence for Dixie will not happen until we lay a solid foundation on which to build our new house, as it were. We in the League of the South are building a new Southern nation one brick at the time. Let us be faithful in our daily work in the sure hope that Providence will finally answer the prayer of General Robert E. Lee when he asked that the South be given a name and place among the nations of the earth.
Michael Hill
