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Here is a post at the immigration reform website Vdare, where my suspicions about the vanity of writers are, if not confirmed, at least supported.
The editor and founder of Vdare, Peter Brimelow, posted this observation about him on Vdare's blog a few days ago:
Peter was strikingly handsome, with light-brown hair and piercing blue eyes.Yes, it is a quote from an article by another writer – from the Vdare nemesis National Review. But who quotes from someone else how "strikingly handsome" one is?
Sorry, but Mr. Brimelow has nothing on him, light brown hair and piercing blue eyes notwithstanding (even in later years) .
But, as tempting as it is to go on about this, although it seems that readers are being goaded by Brimelow himself, I am not really interested in this. I am more interested in the content of Vdare, and what has it accomplished in the past ten years.
According to its copyright stamp at the bottom of its website, Vdare has been around since 1999. That is ten years.
So, it begs the question: What has Vdare achieved in the ten years that it has been publishing information and articles about immigration? Let me start by comparing it to another site.
Numbers USA has been around since May 2008 (at least according to their blog archives – although it seems much longer to me). They have divided their website into various categories:
- In depth articles
- Regular blogs
- Links for taking action – for political or grass-roots activities
- Other sources of practical information, including the latest immigration news, policies, governmental actions, election results, etc…
- Several ways in which to contact congressmen, including faxing or emailing them
- Updates on Numbers USA members in their grass-roots or political action, including testifying before various Senate committees.
Throughout the time I’ve been reading Numbers USA, they urge their readers (now well-informed about the issues through the blogs and articles) to actively participate in the immigration fight, including contacting their congressmen, or specific congressmen when the issues are more definite.
I’m not saying that a politics-oriented website has to enter directly into the field of politics. But Numbers USA has done an incredible job of posting researched articles, daily blogs, policy oriented information, grass roots action, and much more, for their readers. And they make things happen.
The only thing I would hope Numbers USA address with equal insight, information and action, is Muslim immigration. They are so focused on Hispanics and Indian IT workers, that they have neglected this most dangerous group of immigrants.
There is no doubt that Peter Brimelow has gone through great lengths to build his website. It really is a fountain of information, with some cutting-edge, factual, empirical, research on immigration and its costs to American society.
Yet, the writers have a tendency to use the site as a grievance center, Brimelow included.
The writers seem more interested in dredging out the most horrific news, statistics, and anecdotes. Some abandon completely their grass-roots involvement with immigration (such as Joe Guizzardi, a candidate in California’s gubernatorial recall election in 2003, who fled California - according to a blog entry in Vdare - for Pennsylvania).
Vdare could have been the powerhouse which Numbers USA is slowly becoming. Vdare has the man-power and the intellectual capacity. It apparently also has a loyal following, which nonetheless might be not so loyal if recent fundraising drives are anything to go by. People don’t want to send money to a movement which has no…motion!
I will conclude with one more point.
At a recent, very important, inaugural conference, Preserving Western Civilization, Brimelow gave the following speech: "Immigration, Innumeracy, And The Case For Impeaching Judges." Well, this is the title he gave his speech on Vdare, post conference. At the conference, it was simply called: "Problems Caused by Immigration."
Brimelow started his speech – in front of an expectant audience – with an unnecessary jibe (a tradition at Vdare) at the SPLC, and only after he got that in did he thank his host, who should have had the honors at the onset. Angry retaliation at one’s perennial enemy seems to take precedence over acknowledging the hard work and enterprising spirit of one individual who managed to get an important group of people together for an action oriented meeting, something which Brimelow so far has been unable to do.
But, beyond that breach of courtesy (anger and bitterness makes you awfully self-centered), and a flippant reference to a one-man-show website, and its author’s dedication with time spent on the internet, without complaint, to get his insights and information across to thankful readers (Brimelow always seems to be complaining about how much time his website takes to run), Brimelow gave a rambling speech on immigration in general, much of which his adroit audience probably already knew. And he provided an odd ending.
Brimelow’s final suggestion (solution to problems in immigration?) was to: impeach the judges. That was it. As an immigration expert of many years, who has all the data and information under his belt, this was all he could come up with.
In contrast, look at the leap of imagination, and a hope for something concrete and even possible, that the afore-mentioned and slightly, perhaps affectionately, mocked website author, Lawrence Auster, presented in eloquent fashion: "A Real Islam Policy for a Real America."
I have written that many writers these days, who are trying to fight the liberal world, get caught up in their own anger, bitterness, and eventual vanity (may as well be pleased with oneself – and one’s "eloquence" – if all else fails). This is what I think Vdare, despite its many good services, has become.
I think Brimelow is better off considering what his real impact on the immigration problem has been, besides giving rambling, and not so eloquent speeches at important conferences.