Reports on the Reactosphere #1

The view from the edge of the Cathedral

This is the first of what will hopefully be a semi-regular feature, in which I will report on (gossip about) any exciting stirrings I find in the weird and wonderful world of Neoreaction (NRx). A friend suggested that I do something like this, most likely in the hope that I'll stop boring him with this stuff (whether or not I will remains to be seen). It goes without saying, this is not intended to be even remotely exhaustive. It’s just the stuff that caught my eye.

This is really for people who are already familiar with NRx; if you're not one of those people, but would like to be, check out this and this for an idea of what it is I'm talking about. If not, I'm planning on writing a piece about a Japanese horror film this week, so perhaps skip this post and wait until then...

Scott Alexander, with his usual wit, has given the Reactosphere plenty to be annoyed at with his wonderful (though lengthy) new post Meditations on Moloch, an analyses of a pet topic for NRx: Gnon, the God of Uncomfortable Truths (God of Nature, Or, more simply, just Nature). You can find Nick Land’s response here, and Anarcho-Papist’s here. I’ll update this as I notice more, assuming I have the wherewithal, energy and inclination.

There was excitement for me earlier in the week, where I tweeted Michael Annissimov…and received a response (*pops party popper*)! 

@TEPidthinking Yes
— Michael Anissimov (@MikeAnissimov) July 31, 2014

*I only just noticed I call it 'the' Russia...

Another stir has been Arthur Chu's denouncing of NRx for the Daily Beast, which is largely just speculation about what the Hell the deal with Justine Tunney is. I wasn't that impressed with it: if you want a comprehensive rebuttal of NRx, again, Scott Alexander provides. 

Most interestingly, seemingly from the fallout with the Chu article, Land has proposed we use two, new vector calculations when we attempt a NRx topography, 'Outside' vs. 'Inside.' The 'vs' is perhaps misleading, but there is certainly a conceptual tension between the two currents. This is hardly the first time such a tension has been noticed, however, but any nod towards it is interesting.

Finally, we've had our first sign of life from Mencius Moldbug, the man who catalysed it all (mostly), for several months, with a formal declaration of hiatus. He even says that his return probably won't be in the form of his Unqualified Reservations blog...

I'll leave you with this piece of Anarchically-Papal wit: 

pic.twitter.com/YUAlgZKKg8
— Bryce Laliberte (@AnarchoPapist) August 2, 2014