Building the Vanguard
by Colin Jordan (1981)
The first requirement of the true elitist is the will power to turn his back on the tempting but futile distractions of ordinary politics, and the second is to purge his mind of all attachment to the existing state and system and society, abstracting himself to the utmost from the grip of this alien world so as to be in total rebellion against its decadence, becoming a fragment of the future.
The latter demands devotion to an advanced degree of self-education in at least all of the basic knowledge of a mentally-equipped elitist, including an insight into the historical context of our struggle; an appreciation of all the major facets of the correlated and universally-prevalent degeneration (the cultural and social and biological and spiritual no less than the plainly political), necessary for that wholeness of view essential for the fullness of combat of the complete belligerent; and an adequate knowledge of relevant law, police procedure, methods of hostile infiltration and provocation and corruption and intimidation, and security precautions against this.
After – and only after – this comes that specialisation in any of the great variety of skills legitimately useful to the true elitist in building the elite now, or acting now against the System to hasten its breakdown, or preparing for action in that eventual situation. In all of this not only has the elitist the task of training to become as far as possible a self-contained unit of the revolution, but, as one becomes joined to others in a gradually evolving corporate structure, that structure has to become more and more the state of the future, developing in advance within the declining body politic of the present. Here we are essentially concerned with the study and application of positive arts and sciences, not in the desultory dabblings of dilettantes, and this involves work galore for those concerned.
Training thus professionally for the struggle, the political soldier of the vanguard needs to articulate a credo whereby each day becomes dedicated to life; on a higher plane. In this, struggle is to be accepted as the assertion of self in the purpose of life, loyalty and courage and strength in struggle as the supreme virtues; the folk – the community of the race – as greater than self, and the highest end; good and evil as precisely what benefits or harms the folk, and nothing else; and race and our beliefs in support of our Race, seen in its entirety, as transcending the geography of countries and the structures of states, there lying our highest allegiance and with, in consequence, every fighter for our Race and our beliefs anywhere in the world being our comrade.
In the beginning you may be alone in all this, an isolated revolutionary agent in enemy-occupied territory. If so, understand at once that this is no cause for lament and despondency, and no excuse for inhibition and inaction, but the very test of initiation as to your suitability because the true elitist is precisely the one capable of operating on his own, if needs be, not the dependent weakling who needs some pre-existing organisation to take him by the hand and arrange things for him. Thus the initial isolation of a person or a couple of persons is highly salutary, and those who because of this lapse back into the life of the ordinary political herd are exactly those who are incapable and unsuitable for the exacting role of the elite.
Therefore cast out any feelings of helplessness by uncovering the power which lies within you, the power to make yourself a most effective weapon!
Be confident in the superiority of quality against quantity, whereby the trained and experienced elitist can have an effect far beyond that of the little people on which conventional politics rely! Be assured that numbers are more than anything else an illusion, whenever regardless of quality, being weakness masquerading as strength! Realise that the greatest force in the world is the power of the will residing in the excellence of the few!
Believe this: a tiny minority which is good enough – dedicated enough, knowledgeable enough, trained enough, organised enough – can move mountains, and can topple the vulnerable edifice of the complicated modem state!
But of course, having said that, it has also to be stressed that we need as many as there are of the right people, and so the task of each and every elitist, along with self-development, is to contact and recruit and coordinate our kind.
This is essentially a matter of the most careful personal approach, only seeking out those who have already proven themselves suitable, recruiting by invitation, and never in the indiscriminate manner of mass organisations by advertising or canvassing at large. Thus never seek to bring in somebody who is truly a stranger, recommending himself only by his claims of inclination.
It is here, paradoxically, that existing organisations will be useful to us by bringing people together and exhibiting their worth so that we can conveniently watch and select. In doing so, however, constant vigilance is necessary to avoid for the sake of this access to recruits becoming involved in conventional activities at the cost of our proper pursuits.
In recruitment and operation there can be no room for illogical and wasteful divisions detrimental to an endeavour seeking to draw massive additional strength from that intensity or unity which results from a profound harmony of minds.
Just as there is no place for the barriers of nationality, so, too, is there no room for any exclusion or relegation of women as inferior, this contrary to a recognition of the equal, joint and complementary worth of both sexes, despite some differing capabilities.
Similarly, there is no room for friction between the generations when you are best to be judged as old as you are young in heart, and as young as you are useful; and no place for class cleavage where the only demarcation which really matters is between us and the rest.
In organisation it is imperative to proceed on the basis of small local cells of six or so, this dispersal offering the highest prospect of security, while providing a suitable size of operational unit; and with the maximum autonomy consistent with unified purpose and concerted action.
[This article is excerpted from Gothic Ripples, number 7 (November 1981). It also features in National Socialism: Vanguard of the Future (Selected Writings of Colin Jordan), Nordland Forlag, Aalborg, 1993. pp. 105-108]
