Millennial Woes and Sargon of Akkad chat in their annual “Milleniyule” video. In my opinion, the most important part of the conversation happens at the very beginning:
MW: Before we begin, I want to emphasize that Sargon and I are not politically aligned, we’re certainly not politically identical — very far from it. I want to make that very clear for any people who would try to create trouble for Sargon for agreeing to appear on my channel. It is a necessary disclaimer. Sargon is anything but a —
SARGON: You mind if I hop in? […] Before we move on from that, I just want to explain, because people are gonna say ‘why are you on Millennial Woes’ podcast?’ Well, to be honest with you, it’s kind of a tradition at this point, because I’ve spoken to Millennial Woes many times, because I don’t think that every person who is in the Alt-Right is a bad person, and I think that if we cast these people out and never talk to them, then we can never try and persuade them that maybe they have the wrong ideas. And that’s why Colin [MW] began with ‘we know we disagree.’ Because we’ve had lots of disagreements in the past. But we’re not going to be focusing on those disagreements, I imagine. We’re just going to be talking, as two people who are content-creators on the internet, who have two different perspectives. And I think that’s gonna be an interesting conversation.
And to be honest with you, I’m also doing it to deliberately flaunt this kind of shaming and guilt-by-association culture the Left is pushing. I’m very very tired of it, I’ve never bowed to it before. It’s particularly strong and intense at the moment, but I have no intention of bowing to it now. I am a liberal, everyone knows that. Colin is a White Nationalist, I think it’s fair to say, everyone knows that. And everyone knows that we don’t agree on that subject.
MW: I am an ethno-nationalist, I would describe myself as. Anyways, go on.
However much you may disagree with Sargon or Millennial Woes on any particular subject, the willingness to have conversations with people who are “tainted” (Sargon is looked upon in White Nationalist communities more or less the way that Rachel Maddow is looked upon in Conservative circles) and give a big middle finger to the would-be vendors of guilt-by-association truly makes both of these personalities examples of moral courage in the internet age. The only way to learn anything — whether or adapting a new position, or better learning the strength of the position you hold — is through conflict with differing opinions, and this is best done in an amicable, non-confrontational fashion.
Faith Goldy was deplatformed by Jordan Peterson for not being aggressive and confrontational enough when she was interviewed by the Daily Stormer, a White Nationalist publication. But if the aim is to convert people from White Nationalism, then as Sargon points out, the best way to do that is through conversation.
And, of course, there’s always the chance that you hold the weaker position too.
