IDNL (‘Identity Netherlands’) works on community organising / empowerment for the Dutch identitarian movement. Our inspiration comes from the identitarian ideas that are greatly flourishing in the West at the moment. These ideas must be understood in the context of what the French thinker Guillaume Faye called ‘archeo-futurism’. This is a longing for Traditional ‘virtus’ (strength/character) to reassert itself in our decaying society, so that it may guide us towards a future that marries the old and the new, or to be more exact: the ancient and the futuristic. Guided by this idea of ‘archeo-futurism’, we have specified the following vision, mission and values for our movement:
Our Vision
1. Goodness, Truth and Beauty
The Dutch poet Lucebert wrote: ‘Alles van waarde is weerloos’ (All things of value are defenceless). IDNL takes these words to heart and aims at protecting and cultivating ‘Goodness, Truth and Beauty’, according to the ancient Greek ideal. We strive for a culture and society that honours these ideals. As individuals and as a nation we want to pursue excellence. But what does this mean in our everyday life? As a foundation for the answer to this question we take our identity.
2. Authentic Identity
Identity is the way we view ourselves, and others view us, from an interpersonal, social perspective. Our identity has many facets, such as ethnicity, sex, sexual preference, age, class, belief, religion and personal vocation. Many of these facets of our identity are not chosen by us. They are a given.
However, a man does have a choice whether to accept the given facets of his identity. If he does not accept his identity, he may encounter many difficulties. He then suffers from an ‘identity crisis’. For example, there are men who reject their ‘gender’. These men may even resort to far-reaching medical interventions to acquire the appearance of the opposite sex. There are even white peoples who reject their identity. These peoples may put other peoples on a pedestal, and even collaborate with their own displacement and replacement. They suffer from ‘oikophobia’.
For healthy individual and collective development it is essential that people personally and collectively accept the truth of given aspects of their identity. But acceptance of the truth is not enough. The next step should be to strive for the good, based on the truth. Every aspect of our identity is also a call for excellence. Being a man implies the call to be a real man. That is why men will often judge themselves and each other as men, i.e. as being good or bad at being a man. Likewise, being a Dutchman implies a vocation to be a good Dutchman: someone who works tirelessly towards a better and more beautiful future for the Dutch nation.
It is our conviction that a man or woman must be empowered to answer this vocation to excellence. Following this call will lead to a meaningful life, and moreover will lead to the creation of beauty in all its many aspects. This is how truth, goodness and beauty can be realized.
A society led by these virtues needs far less external regulation because people are driven by an internal noble motivation. This is our ‘holistic’ vision for our society. Common ideals that are based on a common identity. The most important aspect of this common identity is the ethnic identity. A maximal (but reasonable) degree of ethnic homogeneity is an essential prerequisite for social and economic stability and material and spiritual development. It is the Dutch people who have made this country prosperous, beautiful and pleasant, not the other way round.
3. A Society of Excellence
How can we reshape our society so that people will be truly empowered to develop themselves according to their authentic identity? This is a question that cannot be answered by purely abstract theory. Reality is far too complex to be modelled in simplistic theories such as communism, fascism and liberalism. Not an intellectual contrivance should be our touchstone of our thinking, but concrete experience with reality through the ages. We can take the wisdom of our ancestors as a reference. How did they adapt to the world? What societal structures have demonstrated their worth? We want to take our inspiration from them in developing our vision for the future. In this way we want to honour the great sacrifices and achievements of our ancestors and continue their splendid heritage that is currently under attack. IDNL want to help raise the awareness necessary for this endeavour.
Our Mission
1. Reintroducing Identity as the Cornerstone of Society
IDNL aim for a new ‘Beeldenstorm’ (iconoclasm), an identitarian iconoclasm, in which the idols of the globalist, anti-identitarian ideology will be pushed from their pedestals. In its place we want to reinstate identity in all its many facets as the guiding light of our nation. We consider the following aspects:
1.a. Ethnic Identity
The first and central aspect is our ethnic identity. In our view this is not a strictly biological, but also a social reality, a subtle interplay of phenotypical, philosophical, religious and linguistic elements. We advocate a voluntary segregation, an institutional distinction between citizenship (paper nationality) and ethnicity (authentic, ethnically defined nationality), and ‘soevereiniteit in eigen kring’ (limited sovereignty for a particular ethnic group). The latter entails for example: limited forms of a judicial system, a welfare system and cultural institutions.
To achieve this aim we propose this fourfold programme: deportation of the bad elements, such as illegal aliens, terrorists, jihadists and other alien extremists; subsidized voluntary remigration; selective assimilation; voluntary segregation. Segregated, non-assimilated aliens will have an explicit status as guests, which means that they are excluded from Dutch politics, governmental positions and the official media.
Assimilation will require the completion of a demanding, multi-year programme. This may include a long term social engagement in work and family, an advanced state exam in Dutch, an impeccable conduct, renouncing any other nationality, adopting a Dutch name, a financial deposit, and an oath of loyalty to the king. A conversion to Christianity will be considered a substantial positive factor in the final judgement on the results of the assimilation trajectory, not because Christianity is considered intrinsically superior, but it is historically essential to the Dutch heritage that the candidates must adopt.
1.b. Philosophical-Religious Identity
To promote social cohesion, we recommend the Christian-humanist Tradition of our nation as a guideline. Although we want to retain the separation of Church and State, we do think that the state has the responsibility to recognize the value of the Christian religion and to protect her. This does not restrict the task of the state to guarantee tolerance and freedom of religion and conscience for minorities.
Central government measures in this direction should promote social and political ‘soevereiniteit in eigen kring’ (limited sovereignty for a particular ethnic group) of the religious groups, and organic growth of religious institutions with a social and economic added value. It concerns voluntary (though not non-committal) associations for social care, education and poverty reduction. Furthermore we would like the state to guarantee a prominent position for the Christian groups in the media landscape. This should also help to prevent a revival of the anti-identitarian ideologies, such as neo-liberal nihilism, cultural Marxism and cultural relativism.
1.c. Functional Identity
Every society has a hierarchical structure, even the murderous communist dictatorship in Cambodia (the rank of an official was indicated by the amount of pens in the pocket of his shirt). IDNL do not want to leave this structure to chance. It must be carefully shaped according to identitarian principles. In our present situation we see a constantly shrinking clique that swallows up all power and wealth, and an increasing number of people that are left behind. The middle class is disappearing. The result is that society becomes more and more ruthless and unstable.
IDNL aim at reversing these developments in two ways. On the one hand we want to stimulate social upward mobility by redirecting schools at substantive educational aims. On the other hand we advocate clarity in the hierarchical structure of society. The vagueness of the present situation allows many people in power to avoid the responsibility that should go with their high salaries and position.
Therefore we advocate a more traditional model for society in which remuneration, position and responsibility are clearly defined and visible. We would welcome a more clear and better defined role for the classes: the Crown (royal family), Nobility, Church, Patriciate and Commons. Especially the higher classes are emphatically expected to fulfil their role with a great seriousness and concern for the national interest. This should be stressed in the education of children. Noblesse oblige.
1.d. Sexual Identity
For IDNL the traditional family of husband and wife and their children remains the heart of our society. Through the ages this institution has proven to be of immeasurable value for the combination of biological reproduction and cultural transmission that safeguards the continuity of our culture and our society. The traditional family is the best guarantee for a stable, productive society with high investments in the children. Therefore the family should be given a legally and fiscally privileged position. Furthermore, we want to propagate the traditional family as the standard in the public sphere. Alternative households and forms of sexuality are to be tolerated, but the traditional family belongs on the pedestal.
To achieve this goal, IDNL want to stimulate people’s commitment to marriage and parenthood by imposing stricter requirements on engagement, marriage and divorce procedures. Furthermore we advocate a stronger legal position of children, as they are often the main victims of the lack of commitment to marriage. We propose a compulsory registration of the genetic parent-child relationship, and a strengthening of the legal status of children towards step-parents in inheritance law. Moreover in case of a divorce children should be able to choose themselves which parent they want to stay with.
The status of the traditional family should further be underscored by the abolition of ‘gay marriage’. These relationships may be incorporated in a different form of contract. The traditional family should also be promoted by making motherhood economically more attractive. It is the goal of IDNL to make it possible again that a family can live on only one income. Therefore we want to increase the subsidies and tax breaks for children. Furthermore we can expect that the re-migration of foreign groups will lead to far less stress on the housing market and health care, which will lead to significant reductions in the price of living. Finally the government should steer society back towards the traditional family through targeted media campaigns.
1.e. Personal Identity
The aspects mentioned above together with other personal gifts and characteristics combine to make each individual a unique person. One’s personal identity however also often contains a purely individually experienced element that we used to call a vocation – a personal mission in life for which one is called to fight and excel. IDNL want to create optimal circumstances for people to follow this very personal and unique vocation. Examples would be marriage, parenthood, and a religious calling, but also a dedication to the sciences, the arts or the armed forces.
To empower people in their striving for excellence in their unique personal mission, IDNL want to end the domination of commercial thinking and profit maximiza tion in our society. Their disastrous influence on the environment, social life and culture must be eliminated. Everywhere the political must take precedence over mere economic considerations. The arts, the sciences and health care must be liberated from the forces of the market. Infrastructure such as the railroads and utilities are to be re-nationalized. Going further in this direction we might consider a one-off collective debt restructuring for private individuals, and a partial conversion of social benefits into services in kind, such as housing rights.
2. A Return to Legitimate Government
It is the mission of the Dutch government to be a reliable watchman to guard the borders of the Dutch realm and to protect the Dutch people. The Dutch people did not give their government a mandate that exceeds these limits. The Dutch government is required on the one hand to respect the sovereignty of foreign nations but on the other hand to vigorously defend Dutch sovereignty with all possible means. This protection of our small nation requires much wisdom and effort. This wisdom rests in an unassuming fulfilment of duty, but also entails a deep understanding that the Dutch government receives its mandate from the Dutch people, and not from an abstract ‘Europe’, a foggy ‘international business’, a fictional ‘international community’ or even from ‘humanity’ as a whole. Therefore the Dutch government’s accountability is not at all towards these ill defined abstractions, but only towards the Dutch people.
Wisdom is also phlegmatic steadfastness and the courage to frankly discuss concrete threats. And the threats of the present are without precedent in history: our natural environment and our infrastructure are endangered by pollution and maybe by man-made climate change. Working conditions are under threat from globalist neo-liberalism and automation. Human social identity and connections such as the family are under attack from a militantly secular nihilism.
The most direct threat however is demographic: the homeland and the core identity of the Dutch people are under attack. In the last decade the waves of mass migration have escalated into an uncontrolled tsunami of foreigners streaming over our borders. Until this problem has been dealt with all other considerations are of secondary importance, simply because otherwise there will be no Dutch nation and state any more to deal with the other problems. This is the stark demographic reality.
This dramatic population displacement and replacement could be called the suicide of a people, were it not that this allo-cultural colonisation is being facilitated and manipulated against the express wishes of the native Dutch, by an establishment that has lost all contact with reality. Rightfully they are therefore called a ‘hostile elite’.
To correct the policy of the hostile elite it is not enough to steer our immigration policy towards re-migration. We also need to counter the ideology behind our displacement and replacement. IDNL reject this ideology of social engineering, multiculturalism, cultural capitulation and allo-cultural annexation. This approach must have absolute priority. If we do not expunge this ideology, our fight against the policies of the cartel of neo-liberal parties based on this ideology will be in vain. Our displacement and replacement can only be structurally stopped by changing the reigning ideology of our nation.
Thus the demographic threat consists not only of physical replacement but also has a psychological component: the influence on the minds of our people of the universalistic, cosmopolitic, anti-national ideology. This ideology is ultimately derived from the historical materialism of the secular Enlightenment. This materialism has fatally infected academia and journalism, and has dominated public discourse for more than half a century. Its universalist-ideological slogan “the Dutchman does not exist” absurdly contradicts more than five centuries of historical reality and the lived experience of almost all Dutchmen, but as a political and cultural programme it still threatens the foundation of our society.
It is the responsibility of the Dutch government to deal with the demographic threat through a new and vigorous corrective immigration policy. Such a policy should however be based on a new ideological discourse that is no less vigorous: a discourse that takes the Dutch people as a starting point and the protection of this people in its lived and felt identity. Only such a discourse will enable the Dutch government to consistently make use of the primacy of politics.
Our government should consistently root out derailed legislation, such as unjust immigration laws and endless asylum procedures. It needs to breach the politically correct consensus that leads to self-censorship in the media and ‘toleration policies’ that stimulate crime. The government has to actively counter anti-national economic interests, such as those of the ‘asylum industry’ and anti-patriotic businesses that want to use immigration to lower wages.
The perception of the Dutch people is that the government has completely failed in these tasks, and rightfully so. The longer the elite ignore this widespread dissatisfaction and the many electoral warnings (the Fortuyn revolt, the fragmentation of the political landscape, the waning support for democracy, the decline of the establishment ‘cartel’ parties), the greater the risk that this governmental failure will not be interpreted as apathetic complacency but as premeditated intent. This does not bode well for the establishment.
The elite will try to hide behind all kinds of excuses, like ‘higher considerations’, ‘international obligations’ of ‘humanitarian reasons’, but in the end this reasoning is defective: the real and only mandate the Dutch government has received from the Dutch people is to protect the Dutch borders and the Dutch people living within them. ‘Authorities’ within the Dutch government who want to serve ‘higher’ interests are not suited for their position. The longer they cling to their power and privileges, the greater the risk they will be seen for what they could become: traitors.
These people forget that participation in international organisations such as the UN, NATO and the EU, and in international treaties such as the ECHR, the Refugee Convention or the Pact of Marrakesh is only warranted if Dutch sovereignty and the interests of the Dutch state and people are respected. If our interests are severely violated participation is no longer justified. A government that lets globalist interests prevail over the interests of their own people forfeits its legitimacy. In such a situation there is a risk that the people will claim their ‘right to revolt’.
For let us not forget that the ‘right to revolt’ is the at the heart of the Dutch history of origin. The present elite would do well to realise that in the documents that lie at the basis of the right of the Dutch state to exist the principles of popular sovereignty and the right to revolt are well established. These are particularly Mornay’s ‘Vindiciae contra tyrannos’, the ‘Apologia’ of William of Orange and the ‘Plakkaat van Verlatinghe’.
These founding documents are the guidelines for any legitimate Dutch politics. A government that deviates from from these guidelines, loses de facto its legitimacy. This creates a significant risk in terms of the ultimate total implosion of society, as it falls into lawlessness and violence. This is why IDNL intend to restore the legitimacy of the Dutch state by ending, in a decent, legal and democratic way, the hijacking of our government by the present hostile elite. Pro fide, lege et grege.
Our Values
For IDNL the fundamental Dutch values of self-determination, solidarity and good stewardship are at the heart of her mission. These values express themselves in the following directions:
1. Freedom of Association
We believe in self-determination in the social en economic relations that people engage in of their own free will. The state should not intervene in these relations. This entails among other things freedom to voluntarily segregate, “soevereiniteit in eigen kring” (limited sovereignty for a particular ethnic group) and subsidiarity: decisions should be taken at the lowest governmental level possible.
2. Freedom of Speech
Although the state supports certain values, it is not its task to impose these values on the citizens. On the contrary: the state should encourage a free and open debate. The politically correct censorship must cease.
3. Protecting the Environment
The foundation for our vision is ‘econ-logie’, a vision on both the economy and environmental protection in which production and consumption are located at the lowest possible regional level. We strive for a reduction in the bio industry and in general for consumption and production that more and more reflects environmental concerns. To achieve this goal, we strive for close cooperation between government and industry, taxing environmentally harmful products, government investments and fiscal privileges for desirable forms of production.
4. Children’s Rights
Children are of the highest value for a society. That is why the state should strive for a safe and stable childhood for all children, with two parents and a good education.
5. Women’s Rights
IDNL want the state to create the conditions in which women who feel a vocation to motherhood and family will be able to develop themselves fully without any pressure to ‘emancipate’ or to participate in the labour process.
6. Workers’ Rights
According to IDNL the state should encourage stability in labour relations, and reduce the amount of temporary and flexible employment. The ideal is that a family can enjoy sufficient income and stability with one salary. Furthermore the government should strive for better working conditions through scale reduction and reduction of unnecessary management layers and bureaucracy.
7. Rights of Small Entrepreneurs
Small businesses (‘MKB’ and ‘ZZP’ in Dutch) are in a difficult position. Unlike big business they can’t lobby for government favours and subsidies. On the contrary, they often get crushed by a myriad of government regulations and taxes. IDNL wants to strengthen the position of this forgotten group so that they will get their rightful recognition, both socially and financially. See also the Dutch article ‘Rechten voor ondernemers’.
8. Freedom of Religion
In order to safeguard our heritage, the state should favour the Christian humanistic tradition, but it should also guarantee that all religious groups can live their faith in freedom. On no account is it the task of the government to impose a secular nihilism on the citizenry.
For more background information, please see the essay ‘Identitarian Iconoclasm’ on this website, and the book ‘Archeofuturism’ by Guillaume Faye.
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The goal of IDNL (Identity Netherlands) is to disseminate identitarian ideas in the Netherlands. We have founded a political party and organize meetings and lectures for politically engaged people. For more information, please contact us here.