Friday, August 25, 2017

A fandom divided will not stand



                                                                                                       Fox Crimson   08/25/17


We live in very trying times.

There has been a tremendous schism occurring within the furry community, and for that matter, the greater breadth of postmodern Western society as a whole.

Although in the furry community much of the current debacle can be seen conducting itself in various chat servers and social media platforms, there are consequences to  expressing our socio-political views online as they can be prone to boiling over when we encounter those who hold differing views while attending “furmeets” and conventions where many furries congregate. Messaging clients such as Discord and Telegram have become barometers that indicate the value of our social capital, determined largely by how others perceive our most controversial opinions and who we coordinate and organize our social circles with. What we now find ourselves engaged in is quite literally a war of information, spurred onward by our innate human sense of tribalism and the need for validation from our peers. In this day and age, there are no longer any communities of any real significance that exist in a bubble of isolation or in a sphere of their own influence as they have all become politically embroiled in the growing upheaval that has come to define the pressing challenges of our time. The Berkley riots, Charlottesville, Phoenix, the ongoing protests at Trump tower and elsewhere have all demonstrated that the ideological divide in this country is as divergent as the Grand Canyon is wide.  At the height of 2017 we have yet again reached another turning point in our great American journey.

I speak first and foremost as an American but also as a member of the ‘furry community’. I’m an Admin and chief networking officer for the Furry Raiders and an original proponent of the tent movement known as the AltFurry.  I’ve spent close to 20 years in this fandom, having made in it, the most genuine friends of all races, creeds and orientations. Let there be no doubt about it: These are my people.

Altfurry is heavily criticized from many different angles.  Some are vaguely dismissive toward us a ‘shitposters’ and ‘trolls’; others simply cast us in a purely negative light as a ‘hate group’. Though there is definitely an element of self-mocking absurdity to it all, upon closer inspection, there is a far more substantive factor involved should one come to truly understand what the motivating force behind Altfurry is, and the underlying, core ideology that it’s locus of gravity is predicated upon. Chiefly being: Exposing the rhetoric, hatred and hypocrisy within the furry community that is so commonly directed toward people who hold centrist, conservative and libertarian values. After nearly a year on since its emergence, ‘Altfurry’ has proven not only does it have staying power,  but that it has also come to represent a growing movement which has been slowly and steadily gaining traction within the furry community. Some opponents might try and label any sincere rallying cry we make for self-determination on our behalf to be cringey …but we simply don’t care. It’ll last as long as it needs to.  As one might expect, there is variable overlap with other groups (Notably Furry raiders) that some, but not all, might identify with. As far as the extreme liberal leftist crowd in the furry community is concerned, (Let’s call them “Leftistfurs” for the sake of brevity) this distinction is a mere triviality that does not matter one iota. When it comes to throwing us in the proverbial Gulag, we are all equally detestable and we are all guilty by association. It’s safe to say that there is a large portion of the furry community that simply does not care (or is otherwise oblivious to) the dangerous extremist elements infesting this community; but it’s also fairly evident and pretty accurate to say that the good majority of people who identify as furry are decidedly liberal and, at the very least, sympathize with the tenants of modern progressivism, socialism and yes, even in some cases, communism.

Having exhausted all their options in framing the narrative in their favor and after encountering heavy resistance in the culture war (E.G: Gamergaters, Alt-Furry, Alt-Brony, the rise of Trump supporters), they have as a last resort, been compelled to label anyone and everyone supporting moderately right-wing views as Nazi’s, racists, or any combination thereof to suit their agenda. Even centrists of both liberal and conservative persuasions are not immune to their harassment and are indiscriminately attacked by these people. One does not even have to be an Altfurry or a Furry Raider to be targeted for wrongthink. In the furry community, this is accomplished through online intimidation of dissenters as well as indoctrination of newer members because if you do not tow the line for the establishment left, you are effectively ostracized from involvement in certain social groups and you are then marginalized with an unwarranted stigma forever hanging over your head. Blacklists and censorship are the order of the day, methods which are practiced by high profile individuals in the fandom who are keen to use these subversive authoritarian tactics without discretion. They often have large followings and use this to their advantage to shun those who do not support left-wing party views into compliance. In the most extreme cases, this even includes those who do not blindly accept communist ideology.

 That conditions have come to this, that an oppressive purity test is being routinely performed en-masse by the liberal left within the fandom to enforce exclusion of those beholden to right-wing counterpoints and conservative thought, indicates that a very large swath of the furry community has become little more than a resounding echo chamber that is entirely out of touch with traditional American values and is in actuality, steadily losing ground outside its confines, which, I should make very clear, are self-imposed. 

Yes, I get it. We are a counter culture. The Furry Fandom has been growing steadily since the first furry convention formed in 1989, but as a consequence it has also become a much more diverse community since its inception that now includes people with many different political views all coming together to share the same general space. Furthermore, labeling those you disagree with as Nazi’s is not merely slander; it is egregiously anti-Semitic toward members of the furry raiders and alt-furry who are of Jewish background, myself included. This can rightfully be extended to those who have Slavic, Polish, French and British background as well. They were all victims of the Nazi regime, oh, I mean actual Nazis. I find it especially concerning when dyed in the wool Nazi’s and racists begin coming out of the woodwork and are then painted out to be a natural consequence of the conservative right gaining political power and a logical extension of Trump’s America; but let’s keep pretending that a couple hundred knob-heads wielding Tiki-torches represents the resurgence of fascism in modern America. Let’s be honest with ourselves for once. They have always been there. They lurk in the shadows because they are weak and cowardly and the recent controversy has only emboldened them.

There are far many more Communists in this fandom than Nazis.

The primary dilemma of our modern era has always been class warfare due to monetary inequality. Communists mistakenly believe that this discrepancy can by resolved by a workers revolution just like Russia had in 1917! The fact is, Communism is a deeply flawed ideology which failed miserably and spectacularly many times over the course of the 20th century, well into the present day. Communism is a far more insidious threat owing largely to its hollow promises for social equality and subtle platitudes about elevating the working man and erasing the troublesome problem of bourgeois class distinctions! When communism is put into practice in this regard, it is much like a cold, blank steel slate in which all individuality and uniqueness in the world gets reduced to a darker shade of gray to force “equality” upon all social strata. They employ a sinister but effective method of reactionary conditioning known as the Hegelian dialectic, a tactic of mass social manipulation in which a thesis and antithesis are juxtaposed against one another to help further a political agenda. Allow me to explain: A conflict is manufactured in advance only to be intentionally ‘resolved’ by perpetuating a cycle of even more conflict. The philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel had an enormous influence on Karl Marx and in effect, the communist manifesto itself. The dialectic begins with formulating an Agenda: We already know beforehand that the long term nature of the agenda that these leftists wish to instill in America involves consolidating their power under a socialist regime. A good example of this tactic being put into use today would be the current conflict occurring between the so called “Alt left” and “Alt right”. The opposition would have you believe that the ‘Alt-left’ , composed of AntiFa, BLM, and other aggregate leftist organizations are the thesis; patriotic Americans fighting nobly for freedom and the emancipation of your civil liberties by instigating protests (read: terror events that turn into riots) against the antithesis, so called “Nazis”, coercively re-associating a toxic label with the intent to encompass the entirety of the right wing American political constituency to help achieve a synthesis: a paradigm shift of political power which is ultimately designed to undermine the current administration by shaking the foundations of our society to the core. In order to help usher in this synthesis, that being a socialist state (SOCJUS), adherents of cultural Marxism have taken to openly attacking white, hetero-normativity with fanatical zeal and reckless abandon. Trump supporters are the core demographic in reference here; the hard-working, taxpaying backbone of Middle America.

Espousing support for cultural Marxism in the pedagogical manner of the Frankfurt school will usually obtain you a free pass under the current leftist media complex. There are many reasons for this, one being that communism is not as explicit in its doctrine in exploiting division along the lines of racial bias in a society for the impending establishment of an ethno-state. However, they have no qualms about using this matter of contention to frame their political adversaries in a negative light. Racism is a long standing issue whose roots run deep in America, but instead, modern socialists will seek to exploit this old wound. When Communism is put into practice it is generally more concerned toward the end goal of instigating class-warfare by undermining private ownership of assets and personal property, eventually seizing a state run monopoly over the means of production. Free enterprise and private ownership are among the core American principles that have always made this nation great. However, the most powerful communist regimes were far, far more oppressive during their establishment and height of power than any other type of bureaucratic regime in human history, bar none; responsible for killing dozens upon dozens of Millions more people than any fascist regime by method by of mass purges. This was conducted by many communist regimes by implementing forced starvation, death by exile, hangings, and firing squads. Over 100 million people were killed in both the USSR and the People’s Republic of China for resisting the authority of the totalitarian state. The Tibetan people, of whom I hold a very deep and personal spiritual solidarity with during my time living there, are also victims of decades of communist oppression. This is something I’ve witnessed first-hand and it resonates with me to this very day.

That there are still Americans in 2017 who do not find the Hammer and Sickle to be as oppressive a symbol as the Nazi Swastika displays to me the utter stupidity, the most base and ignorant level of derangement imaginable in our society that I balk at the notion that they breathe the same air as I do. These are the exact types of individuals in Western society that Joseph Stalin would have called “Useful idiots.” That there are still people who cling to the notion that Communism isn’t as lethal to the human condition as Nazism is something I find exceptionally abhorrent and a notable failure in our public educational system for not properly conveying the innumerable atrocities committed by communists over the course of modern history. The irony in all this mess? I support *both* of these groups freedom to take to the streets, protest, and wave the symbols of their filthy trash ideologies above their heads while personally maintaining support for neither one. Let them finish each other off and be done with it.  I find it more comforting that they protest openly in broad daylight so that we know just who these people are; but remember, there is only one faction in this debacle that goes out of their way to hide their identities by wearing black ninja masks while the other side very often chooses not to.

The dishonest media.

Look, there are still many people who have yet to realize the penultimate goal of the establishment mainstream media is to keep the general public distracted and divided against itself. They accomplish this by taking advantage of our delicate human emotions. They feed like vultures off of our limited attention spans and propensity to disagree with one another when it comes to how we cope with our most controversial moral and political issues that are subjective to our own interpretation and moral compass…or lack thereof. By focusing on the statistically miniscule lunatic fringe of various “alt-right” groups like White supremacists, National vanguard, ANP, KKK, etc; the mainstream media shifts the narrative and lends credence to the overwhelming violence perpetuated by criminal thugs like BLM and Antifa, effectively handing them the false pretense of a moral high ground.
Why do they do this? It’s very simple, really: By dissolving the identity of the new conservative ‘right’ and aligning everyone right of center with National Socialism (A leftist ideology) the Fake News Media manufactures a false dichotomy that panders explicitly to its base and exonerates the authoritarian left because they are predominately owned and operated by these very same authoritarian leftists. These are liberal Plutocrats and Democratic Party coastal elites who seek to divide and conquer western society by proxy using the alt-left like pawns as their militant wing and using CNN, MSNBC and many other news media outlets as their propaganda arm. They’ll condone the violent actions of these groups while simultaneously keeping them at arm’s length should they get too far out of control so that they can claim plausible deniability when their affinity for them is put under too much scrutiny. The media is more than happy to constantly call out the Alt-right as ‘white supremacists’…but you’ll almost never, ever hear them reference Alt-left groups like AntiFa and others in league with them, as communists and communists sympathizers…instead they are called ‘peace activists’. 

When your political opposition is being pushed to the extremes and labeled as Nazis you can easily garner kneejerk reactions from an otherwise docile and largely uneducated viewing audience into accepting your distorted vision of reality because the opponents presented to you on the screen are literally Nazis and that fact should be enough to never be questioned. Charlottesville in particular was one such fiasco: A false-flag operation that was a setup from the very start to be intentionally put under a microscope for the media so that they could hone in on some of the most degenerate members of our society (on many sides) who showed up to wreak havoc. The Confederate memorial being taken down was the bait and the Alt-left and Alt-right protestors were the test subjects. As a result of this social experiment 19 people were injured and several people died as collateral. This event has been used as justification by various media sources, CEO’s, website owners and social media companies to further undermine the rights and liberties of American citizenry and ramp up censorship of right-leaning groups in chat rooms and servers, thereby putting a muzzle on opinions which have been bold enough challenge the establishment media. Does that mean that ‘Alt-rock’ is now a genre of music listened to by Neo-Nazi’s?  Give me a break.

The hysteria has reached a fever pitch.

Let’s remove the many veils of irony for a moment. If we are to objectively examine this issue we must also be candid in how we address its root causes. Personally, I would not ever be in favor of bringing politics into the furry fandom by way of overtly broadcasting my affiliation in a convention space or a furmeet. This means waving political banners around, wearing party paraphernalia, spreading political pamphlets to con-goers, holding political panels at cons or going out of my way to begin shaming those people, publically or personally, because they voted for a candidate that I did not support. Even though it is well within my right to do so, I simply do not care to introduce such things in a convention space. The furry social scene was always better when politics were not at the forefront.  I think most of us will agree that the essence of being a furry means limitless expression and being true to yourself; however for some of these backward thinking people, being a furry and simply expressing a political opinion openly on a social media platform otherwise constitutes“bringing politics into the fandom”, most especially if it is not of the acceptable liberal persuasion.
It is for these reasons that I can say with renewed confidence that the new right is intrinsically more progressive and in league with upholding our individual freedoms rooted in a love for peace, liberty and humanism than many liberal leftists have ever been capable of. It is so unfortunate that the term ‘progressive’ has come to be associated with modern liberalism since I’ve found that the meaning behind this word is a genuine value which is much more widely cherished by the American right and the vast majority of Trump supporters, since they are the ones most likely to embrace it. The new-right upholds our #2A rights to bear arms, stability of a homogenous society without forced replacement from dangerous refugees, stable families, unparalleled economic freedom, balancing the trade deficit with global superpowers like China so that we grow our economy and claim our manifest destiny to remain world leaders rather than world followers. It is in this way that we can better our lives and flourish as a nation. This is what putting America first means and this is best accomplished by the precepts underlined by free enterprise and capitalism. There has also been a push for renewed acceptance of the LGBTQ community by a new generation of Republicans and right-leaning groups disavowing the religious zealotry of the far right which once defined the initiative of the old party and its warmongering Neocon leaders of days past. The ‘Alt-Right’ was shaping up to be a movement for young conservatives, galvanized from 4chan’s /pol/ board, Reddit, and many other communities, coming together to Make America Great Again while celebrating their heritage and sharing Pepe Memes before it was hijacked by white nationalists in the wake of the 2016 election. The designator ‘Alt-right’ has become tarnished ever since.

The very presence of Altfurry is a firm repudiation to the spread of subversive activist groups like AntiFa, radical 3rd wave intersectional feminists and Black lives matter which have in recent years gained a firm foothold in this fandom. These groups have since come under the umbrella term ‘Alt-Left’, thanks in large part to president Trump’s more recent press comments in calling them out by name and condemning them after the Charlottesville riot. These are radical groups that, at their core, eschew tolerance and free expression while promoting anarchy in their twisted agenda of spreading anti-American rhetoric. 

The collectivist group-think on public display by Leftistfurs is not unlike a hive-mind. Behaving like moronic, selfish children which have clustered together into a loosely knit gathering of cliques with a sort of herd mentality, they are unable to think critically or form thoughts independent of the host consensus, else they be deemed improper and politically incorrect; partially out of fear of exclusion perhaps, but also out of a severe lack of foresight and inability to challenge the status quo from some of their less intelligent stratum lest they should come under scrutiny from their peers. They are cry-bullies and insecure cowards with a perpetual victim complex who often flaunt their LGBTQ and/or racial minority status as proverbial shield in a futile attempt to deflect from their lack of moral integrity and myriad shortcomings.  Perhaps the greatest consequence of their hypocrisy is that these people have been quite faithfully emulating the divisive tactics used by the ‘burned furs’ nearly 20 years ago. By their audacious claims that right leaning furries and others like the Altfurry and furryraiders are not true furries, they only serve to prove us all right and shelter themselves in an allegorical Plato’s cave of their own design. They see form where there are only shadows, and literal Nazi’s were there are only ghosts of the past, ignoring the visceral substance of the greater outside world and its assortment of conflicting opinions, counterpoints and alternative ideas that would expose their hypocrisy for what it is, should it blind them instead.

Altfurry, acts not only as a social calling card, but mobilizes a force to hold them accountable to their own violent rhetoric as well. There is a noticeable pattern that begins to emerge when dealing with individuals beholden to such views. Whether on their Furaffinity pages or twitter accounts, they are so lacking in individuality and desperate for some semblance of validation that they often use pronouns as their primary means of identity, hash tagged with any combination of the aforementioned alt-left groups and are just utterly brimming with their eagerness to  ‘Punch Nazi’s (Ergo, anyone who opposes them). Their icons and art often appear harmless and innocuous, with pastel palettes and rounded contours that are almost childlike in their design imitating this “slice of life” artistic style while taking great pride in being furry trash. 

Whereas ISIS and the DPRK epitomize the external boogeymen that keep Baby Boomers up at night until the FoxNews story about the latest missile launch finishes airing at 11PM, the more overt threat to our Western society takes shape in the form of financially driven Russian Oligarchs and Chinese lords of business manipulating our currency to skew global trade in their favor while building crude oil pipelines in through the wastes of unstable middle Eastern nations, consolidating their resources. We have internal fractures which have taken shape, among them, AntiFa, BLM, anarcho-communists, and other subversive groups (PETA , Black Bloc etc.) have become the visible branches of this destabilization. I’m of the strongest conviction that these Alt-left groups represent the greatest innermost threat to our society and the continuity of western civilization as a whole. They are of the most delinquent social strata which promote open borders and the illusory fantasy of a classless hegemony which would inevitably result in an oppressive society governed by left-wing technocrats and despots.  We can thank George Soros in large part for funding these groups and bussing them into major cities to upset protests and spark riots so that the general public remains at perpetual war with itself. The furry fandom is just one of many communities in which this radical leftist disease has festered. Gamergaters, youtube commentators and even Google employees have all been victims of this type of silencing. The technocrats in charge of these media platforms have the ability control what you see and hear, so it stands to reason that they therefore gain tremendous influence on what you say and think. Make no mistake, the Hegelian dialectic tactic that cultural Marxists employ is very much in effect here. When your platform for spreading a message gets pulled out from under you by people in power who disagree with your ideas and opinions, the exchange of ideas being shared atrophies and a society of oppression inevitably emerges, degrading in an ever downward spiral, a race to the bottom of who can be the biggest victim?
 
Despite his wildly successful comedy show, (which drew in huge crowds might I remind you) Anthrocon’s decision to remove “2 Gryphon” has ruined his career and severely limited his opportunities within the Furry Fandom. This is an entire matter in itself involving petty boardroom politics conspiring against him that I won’t get into the details of regarding how this man’s name was dragged through the mud, but I freely encourage anyone to hear his story. This presents us with a prime example of just how adversely someone’s life can be affected when social justice warriors smell blood in the water; they have gone off the rails and fostered an environment of exclusion in this community. This is a talented man who had the most popular performance show at the largest furry convention in the world for many years running. There are many leftist zealots who have labeled his comedy routine as hatespeech when in reality, it was simply wrongthink.

Let me take a brief moment to address the appearance of Magnus, otherwise known colloquially as the ‘Confederate flag fursuiter’ at Anthrocon: Having never met him personally I couldn’t even say with any degree of certainty on whether or not I would get along with him, but that’s not at all the point: His God Given right to freedom of speech and expression must be upheld without exception. It is not only intolerant not to support Magnus constitutional right to free expression, it is strictly UnAmerican.

…but that’s entirely relevant because the people in question are very much ‘UnAmerican’ either without realizing it, or, in many cases, taking pride in it by their own admission. Indeed, this is not solely because they protest and practice dissent, but  because they routinely harass, label and punish others who exercise their 1st amendment rights in a public space that they mistakenly believe to be zone free of iconography that they disagree with or find unpalatable. Furry fandom began as a distinctly American phenomenon before spreading throughout the developed western world, but the American way of life of promoting that precise, inalienable concept of freedom to express ourselves the way we want is paramount to this fandom even getting off the ground to begin with. Whether or not these Leftistfurs will ever succeed in seeing the hypocrisy of their own words and actions is very much in doubt, yet still reflects poorly on them all the same.

Regardless of one’s personal feelings on the matter, the adults in the room understand that the Confederate battle flag is an important part of U.S history. The Confederate battle flag was never the official battle flag of the Confederacy during the civil war, instead being flown by Veterans of the war long after it had ended. Instead, it has come to take on new significance and represent an amalgamation of modern southern culture that many people who aren’t living in the south still remain ignorant about to this very day. The current frenzy of tearing down monuments to the past reeks of another cultural revolution parallel to 1960’s China: Yes our past is very often painful, but you are not going to usher in a great era of peace and prosperity by destroying and defacing the symbols that hearken back to that era; it will only further the division, incite violence, and create a world like George Orwell envisioned in 1984 where the script of history has been re-written and sugarcoated to appeal to modern liberal sensibilities.

It remains to be seen if the current generation coming of age under the Trump administration will further succumb to the pitfalls and platitudes of ‘social justice’ as the pendulum will inevitably swing back hard in favor of liberty and the traditional American way. They must also realize that there will always be authoritarian individuals in organizations like AntiFa and BLM opening their arms to the forgotten and rejected youth, trying to control them by offering them a place to belong that their families may not ever have given them and the support network that we all deeply crave as humans.  In the furry fandom, these groups have taken great strides in their attempts to hold sway over impressionable young minds.

At the expense of insulting their perceived social validation which, outside of their echo chambers, I would like to remind everyone, is essentially worthless, I have come to a pretty strong conclusion. If there is to be one takeaway from this article, let it be this: The ideological divide is too vast and the convictions and values too dissimilar, that achieving an understanding founded on mutual respect and common ground with Leftistfurs simply on the premise of being a ‘furry’ is impossible; we may as well be living on two different worlds while seeing reality through completely different filters. There can be no reconciliation with one another. Leftistfurs will continue to insist, out of misplaced hubris to save face in front of their peers, that anyone not sharing in their group-think mentality must be labeled as Nazis and must not only be silenced, but attacked for it as well. Altfurry, FurryRaiders, and many, many other Furries unaffiliated with either one of these groups often strive to take this community in a direction that promotes true tolerance for all people while upholding free speech and expression regardless of political affiliation without having to play into identity politics. Conversely, we have a voracious opposition in this fandom that forcibly strives to take it in an entirely different direction, one that actively seeks to censor, blacklist, and publically endorse witch hunts against those they consider to be transgressors. There is even a vocal and militant minority within the greater berth of that opposition who have been caught red-handed in their secret telegram chatroom, musing over making death threats and mail-bombs because they believe there is a certain Fox in this fandom which they believe to be the literal incarnation of Hitler. I don’t take any pleasure in the fact that many of these people were probably bullied growing up and that by banding together to bully others who don’t think as they do, somehow gives them the excuse to feel validated. Social justice doctrine is an oppressive method of leftist conditioning that puts artificial limits on what is and isn’t permissible, which is why it is so distressing when liberal bias in the fandom begins to dictate convention policy.

There exists a sense of curiosity and scrutiny by ‘outsiders’ to the furry community, but only the loudest and most raucous voices within tend to get heard by these outsiders, which is one reason why RollingStone magazine ran an article about “Nazis in the furry fandom” rather than the substantially greater presence of communists in the fandom. Leftistfurs are a fanatical and much maligned group of people that cannot be dealt with sincerely and since we disagree so fundamentally, any interaction with them often takes place under the pretense of multiple layers of irony (hence, the spontaneous appearance of “Deo-twitter” as a counter effect to mock her radical communist style censorship and malicious attitude toward Altfurry and Furry Raiders) but it is also through a combination of their condescension, arrogance and hubris that makes them oblivious to their own hypocrisy. One need only look as far as “Dogpatch Press” to see a blogger masquerading as a furry news source and come to the conclusion that this community lacks a source of objective journalism; instead, we are treated to a delightfully adolescent imitation of journalism with extreme liberal bias and less credibility than a gossip tabloid like the National Enquirer.  As Donald Trump would put it: “You are Fake news!”

The fact is, in the real world these people perpetuating the radical ideologies I’m talking about are still very much a fringe minority and that is a major reason why they are scared on a subconscious level. The Alt-Left in particular, has been in the midst of a meltdown. The Democratic Party has been in total disarray. They are lashing out like a wounded animal that has been cornered. The historic election of Donald Trump mass triggered them and put them in a panic-mode, further exacerbated by the wave of Trump supporters and swelling ranks of right-leaning conservatives, showing us that, outside their safe havens of predominately liberal cities, they are a dwindling demographic and an unwanted one at that. The presence of Altfurry and its expansion only adds fuel to that fire. In the furry fandom however, (which is something of a societal microcosm) they tend to have more social leverage on group policy by forming a distinct hierarchy of inclusive groups within the larger social hegemony which is why the appearance and growing preponderance of Altfurry, furry raiders, and others becoming so bold and outspoken while simultaneously generating renewed controversy and gaining new adherents has disturbed them to such a high degree.  What they fear most, above all else, are these liberty loving groups making their voices heard and becoming a more substantial presence in the fandom, thereby altering its course, inextricably, into a flourishing artistic community unhindered by the vicious subterfuge commonly utilized by Leftistfurs. Long have they been touting their militant brand of social justice and Cultural Marxism, which in practice, only deepens the divide in this community as it promotes exclusion, shame, ridicule and guilt.

I’ve never personally witnessed such hostility as that which has been directed toward Foxler Nightfire, Magnus (Confederate flag fursuiter) and my fellow members of Altfurry. I’ve got a message for anyone paying attention who may be a member of AntiFa or among the peanut gallery of Leftistfurs perpetuating the “punch Nazis” trend going around in the fandom: This vilification and demagoguery by you and your ilk will not stand. It stinks of elitism within the fandom and we will never back down. This is not *your* fandom to gate-keep and you do not get to call the shots. This is a fandom for everyone, and that means people with views and opinions different to yours; and if your precious snowflake feelings get hurt along the way, then that’s tough shit.

In closing

I am a firm believer that liberty must be proactively fought for by any means necessary, otherwise it is to be put in direct danger of being eroded and swept away. Many centrists and liberals who would otherwise not affiliate with any group will always get caught up in the frenzy for holding beliefs contrary to the extremist wing, should they gain a modicum of power. One important guideline that must be established is that the furry fandom is not a haven exclusive for people who hold political perspectives left of center. I have many liberal furry friends and may not agree with them on every point, however for those I know personally, we can still respectfully disagree on certain issues and still remain close friends. There is a deep flaw in human nature, and it is that we often see issues strictly in a black and white context, with each opposing “Side” being equally at fault. Alt-left, Alt-right…both are highly polar opposites that can be taken to extremes. There are even extremes in Alt-centrism since any position you assume can be taken to its logical extremes and it is in that moment that you lose the fundamental message and the ability to begin affecting change on a large scale. You denigrate yourself and others by subscribing to fanaticism. Anytime a movement grows in number it will inevitably attract such extremists joining the ranks which the opposition will always take advantage of to use as propaganda in their favor, eagerly highlighting these extremist outliers to purposely re-brand the entire group. 

This is why we must remain steadfast in our convictions, promoting liberty without censorship while not just advocating American exceptionalism, but taking refuge in it as a bastion to spread Anglo-Saxxon enlightenment principles worldwide.  So many of the youth today do not realize how many countless patriots shed their blood for the liberty which they often take for granted. Communists, in particular, hate America and always have since Marx and Engels concocted the communist manifesto. It may at first seem like they are an easy group to mock due to their limited numbers, but these modern anarcho-communists (Such as black bloc) are not yet a viable enough force to affect change on a mass scale primarily because they are restricted to liberal sanctuary cities largely on the west coast and elsewhere…but that makes them no less dangerous. Socialist mayors of these sanctuary cities and liberal judges defying federal mandate by encouraging asylum for illegal immigration, giving also, free range for these anarcho-communists by letting them run wild and hindering law enforcement from doing their job in curbing them, are among the most imminent internal threats to the stability of this country. Communists are a shadow of what they used to be, especially in the western world, and insofar as much as them having any political prominence they are only influential in extremist circles; however anyone who is savvy to modern history understands that communists have a long track record of committing atrocities once their numbers reach a critical mass and especially when they are presented with the opportunity to seize power within a country. Young furries only have to look as far as Cuba and Venezuela to understand just how deadly socialism can be for a country when going unchecked and just how drastically such a regime would restrict the Gender identities and LGBTQ rights that they so passionately cherish. Unless you want to get rounded up by a Castro-esque Cuban militia and shot for being a homosexual, subversive capitalist…take pride in your country by becoming a patriot. 

Though I personally lean moderate-right  and share certain “progressive”  and libertarian sentiments with many Millennials today, my philosophy has always been one of balance and equanimity to as much a degree as possible. There will always be a level of social tension present in any society but I firmly believe that spreading Western principles helps create the foundation for an ideal civilization, not a utopia per-se, but an open society to as much a degree as possible that advocates upward mobility and free enterprise which are just several of the ingredients that lend itself well to real prosperity. 

 The furry fandom is not some singular, monolithic institution by which any one individual can be ‘ousted’ from unless they are members of certain group whose de-facto leaders have come to a consensus about their involvement.  However, when the leaders in question have control over the wider public domain of a convention space that attracts thousands of people, the very real possibility of exclusion gauged on one’s political leaning or involvement with the Altfurry for example, would oppress many people, thereby driving down convention attendance and eventually become little more than a stagnant circle-jerk. Such a fandom would be incredibly restrictive, stifling creativity to such an extent that it would wither on the vine, inevitably fragmenting into multiple social scenes with such disparate views that they may as well be altogether divided. Altfurry has successfully exposed the vitriol of leftist furs that have been screen capped showing a desire to kill police, construct bombs, bring weapons to conventions, and have been caught discussing methods of premeditated murder toward Foxler Nightfire. Any sane community would normally decry such vile harassment that it be condemned in the strongest terms, but lo and behold, there is an entire league of brainwashed furries that turn a blind eye to it and some even encourage that this be celebrated with a twisted sense of justification.

It is important to understand that Altfurry is not, nor ever has been, a separate entity from the ‘furry fandom’ proper, but a wide and varied group of individualists who share a more tolerant and expressive vision of what should define the furry community. Our immediate goal should be long term growth by boosting our numbers, attracting more right-leaning furs into the fandom while providing an open and inviting refugee for younger furries who are just joining the fandom so that they may express themselves without feeling alienated or incurring unwarranted shame and bullying. There are still many that fail to understand that it is not ‘alt-right’ extremism either, but a counterweight to rampant Leftism. You don’t have to support Trump or any other public figure to be Altfurry or even a Furry Raider; you don’t even have to have right wing political views exclusively. You can be black, gay, straight, transgender, Native-American, aboriginal, Christian or Muslim, a left winger or a right winger: It doesn’t matter. All that is necessary, in my mind, is to advocate support for a fandom free of censorship and without hatred based on your political stance…and perhaps most importantly, an ability to love spicy memes.

Change starts with maintaining objective and unbiased convention leadership that promotes free speech and expression. Altfurry must take an active role in expanding its literary and art content, as well as its superior meme generation to encompass a wider swath of the fandom. This proliferation will help bring the community into balance by ensuring that leftist radicals are kept far at the margins of the community and reminded that their tactics of bullying others over their political choices and how they choose to exercise their freedom of speech and expression is something that will never be tolerated.

I leave you with a quote from Aldous Huxley that I find to be more relevant today than ever before:
“The Surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior ‘righteous indignation’-this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats.” 

Thanks for reading.

-Fox Crimson