“When The Saxon Began To Hate” | Ricochet

Join Ricochet Login March 21, 2019 2712

You may think you recognize the phrase in the post title. You’ll search your memory and think, “Hmm, Kipling?” And you will be close, but not correct. It is an adaptation of a repeated line in Kipling’s 1917 poem The Beginnings:

It was not part of their blood, It came to them very late With long arrears to make good, When the English began to hate.

They were not easily moved, They were icy-willing to wait Till every count should be proved, Ere the English began to hate.

Their voices were even and low, Their eyes were level and straight. There was neither sign nor show, When the English began to hate.

It was not preached to the crowd, It was not taught by the State. No man spoke it aloud, When the English began to hate.

It was not suddenly bred, It will not swiftly abate, Through the chill years ahead, When Time shall count from the date That the English began to hate.

The word “English” has been replaced by “Saxon”. Who did this? The New Zealand shooter (NZS).

I don’t remember his name and I am not bothering to look it up. It was a heinous act that all should reject. But how do I know about this phrase and his adaption/appropriation of Kipling’s poem? It is included in his 74-page manifesto. And why has he done it? That is a larger question.

NZS wants us to understand him. He claims to have written a 240-page manifesto and then deleted it in frustration. But as the date of his planned attack came closer he crafted a 74-page version that, no doubt, plums the same themes. So what are these? The best I can determine is he sees himself as a 2019 version of a Hitler Youth with a twist. He wants a world with fewer people so that they are further apart. He wants a return to a more agrarian, less industrialized world with less global marketing. He is fine with all ethnicities and races living in their own distinct geographies and none dominating one another. In that sense he is not a white supremacist, he is a racial purist. He believes it is inevitable that white people will be oppressed when they are put into minority status. And as a racial purist he sees the largest enemy as the United States of America — a society that gives the “illusion” that a plurality of races, ethnicities, religions, and politics can actually coexist and build a strong and happy nation. He wants to destroy that. He wants to give strength to the identity politics of the Left as a means of awakening white populations in the United States and elsewhere to their peril and spur them to act to protect themselves against the tyranny of democracy that precedes the oppression of the white race.

What strikes me as I read NZS’ manifesto is not that he is crazy, it is that he argues and reasons like the Left, but only as a mirror image. The Left argues that whites cannot be victims, NZS argues that whites are victims just like everyone else. The Left argues that “diversity is our strength,” NZS argues that diversity is our weakness and that homogenous societies like China should be emulated, not pluralistic societies like the USA. The Left argues that things should be managed centrally by a diverse elite since local control is just a dog whistle for “white supremacy,” NZS argues that the races should be separated and managed centrally within a racially and ethnically homogenous society.

Many of NZS’ ideas are in conflict with each other. This may have been the reason why he deleted his 240-page manifesto because he was struggling with the incoherence. But when faced with the time pressure, he dashes off a shorter version figuring that if he survived his attack on the mosques and consequent police response he will have plenty of time to polish it later. If he didn’t survive, he at least wanted it out there.

Taking NZS’ statements at face value he is not formally educated at a high level. His learning is mainly from the internet — the only trusted source for information anymore. He is not stupid. His vocabulary is pretty sound if not startlingly erudite. His manifesto is dotted with sarcasm and humor at points which likely the Left will take deadly serious.

And this brings us back to Kipling’s poem and NZS’ replacement of “English” with “Saxon.” NZS sees the modern English as a mongrelized and weak people. Like the Hitlerian ideal of the early 20th Century, NZS invokes the ancients — the people who possessed the lightly populated lands of northern Europe. If NZS were running for office his slogan might be “A Stag in Every Pot,” No doubt his favorite beverage would be mead.

Published in General The post “When the Saxon Began to Hate” was written by Ricochet member Rodin and recommended by members for promotion to the Main Feed Become a member to get your posts published on the home page as well

There are 27 comments

1. 

   I came across the Saxonized version of the poem just a few months ago, though I don’t recall where. The below thread suggests it goes back at least a few decades (though w/o evidence).

   https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/3215/did-rudyard-kipling-write-the-wrath-of-the-awakened-saxon

2. 

   What a thoughtful post, @rodin! It shows, too, that both extreme ideologies are about power and control. In that way, they are the same. And frightening. Thank you!

3. 

   Joshua Bissey (View Comment):

   I came across the Saxonized version of the poem just a few months ago, though I don’t recall where. The below thread suggests it goes back at least a few decades (though w/0 evidence).

   https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/3215/did-rudyard-kipling-write-the-wrath-of-the-awakened-saxon

   Yes, that’s true, although I’m not sure how long ago it was.  It’s been appropriated and altered by white supremacist groups. as shown here also.  http://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/119831298/Rudyard%20Kipling.pdf  referenced on the second page.

   Doesn’t alter the main point of the OP, thought.  Ugh.

    

    

4. 

   Joshua Bissey (View Comment): https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/3215/did-rudyard-kipling-write-the-wrath-of-the-awakened-saxon

   @joshuabissey, thanks for that. NZS probably found that version in his “internet education” program. I debated whether to amend the OP in light of this. But in re-reading my post I still think it is an accurate opinion of why NZS would prefer “Saxon” over “English” even though NZS was not the originator of the change. Unlike the reference at the link, NZS correctly identifies both the original poem and the fact that “Saxon” was an alteration. Thus even if he did not have the original idea he was deliberate in his inclusion of the altered version.

5. 

   Knuckleheads.

   The Saxons were invaders. The Angles were invaders. The Romans were invaders, and they brought with them riff raff from all over Europe. The Scoti were raiders, some of whom just never went home. The Celts and the Picts were there before all the others, but they came from somewhere. The Danes, the Normans (Normans were Vikings that had learned French) — so what is the point of picking just one segment of that polyglot people who eventually degenerated to the point where they drink warm beer with their cold roast beef? On purpose!

   Bah. Your “master race” just can’t be all that masterful if you’re an exemplar of it, no matter who you are.

   

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