Bronze Age Pervert
Bronze Age Pervert is a far-right[1][2] Twitter personality who mythologizes an aristocratic past. The pseudonymous writer self-published a book called Bronze Age Mindset and began a podcast in August 2019 called Caribbean Rhythms. The pseudonym is often shortened to BAP by fans.[3]
Bronze Age Mindset
Author | Bronze Age Pervert |
---|---|
Publication date | 6 June 2018 |
Pages | 198 |
ISBN | 978-1983090448 |
Bronze Age Pervert self-published the book Bronze Age Mindset via Amazon Publishing in June 2018. The 77-chapter "exhortation" is written with intentionally poor grammar, mixing Nietzschean philosophy with criticisms of modern society.[2] It discusses classical figures, including Alcibiades, Periander of Corinth, and the heroes of the Homeric epics.[4][5] The New Republic describes the book as "rambling", "dizzying", displaying "prose...artfully penned" but "arguments...fractured and incoherent".[1]
The book gained a cult following in right-wing circles, including staffers of the Trump White House, according to anonymous sources described by Politico.[2] In October 2019, it was still ranked third in Ancient Greek History and #174 in Humour on the Amazon best-seller list.[1]
In 2019, conservative intellectual Michael Anton reviewed Bronze Age Mindset for the Claremont Review of Books in a 5000-word, five-part essay.[6][7] The book was first given to Anton by Curtis Yarvin, a major figure in the neoreactionary movement.[8] The Claremont Institute subsequently published a symposium on the review in their online publication The American Mind,[7] including a response essay from BAP in which he compared "the anti-male and anti-white rhetoric of the new left" to anti-Tutsi propaganda before the Rwandan genocide.[9][10]
Twitter
On Twitter, BAP uses a multi-layered style, including post-ironic far-right memes alongside homoerotic images of bodybuilders.[1] He comes out of "Frogtwitter," an intellectualized, esoteric group of pseudonymous online writers with a highly negative view of contemporary American society.[7][2] This group mythologizes an aristocratic past while engaging in racism and anti-semitism, often through memes laden with heavy irony.[2] Will Lloyd of The Spectator describes them as a "relatively non-racist, non-anti-Semitic dissident right movement" separate from the neoreactionary movement.[11] They tend to evoke themes of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory in their opposition to immigration.[2] BAP frequently condemns alt-right leadership figures, such as Richard Spencer.[12]
In February 2017, Curtis Yarvin told The Atlantic that Bronze Age Pervert was his White House "cutout / cell leader".[13] A number of politicians have been criticized for following or interacting with BAP on Twitter, including former White House speechwriter Darren Beattie,[14] Minnesota State Senator Roger Chamberlain,[15] and US Senate candidate Lauren Witzke.[16]
Following the 2020 United States presidential election, Bronze Age Pervert was one of many Twitter users who called for Trump supporters to abandon the Republican Party unless Republican-controlled state legislatures certified Trump electors.[17]
Podcasting
In August 2019, BAP began podcasting a show called Caribbean Rhythms with Bronze Age Pervert, hosted on Gumroad. The show consists of topics ranging from rants on contemporary geopolitics to opposition to journalism and institutions to introductions to classical political theory, punctuated by samples of classical music. The Spectator highlights the highly ironic nature of the podcast: "Listening to an episode of Caribbean Rhythms is a lot like being trapped in a radio version of The Manchurian Candidate: no one is who they seem."[3]
The podcast has covered topics such as Charles of Anjou and the Sicilian Vespers, ancient patterns of migration, and Alexander the Great's colonies in Bactria. According to the conservative National Review, the podcast uses a narrative style of history that highlights the historical drama of great men.[18]
References
- Allen, Ian (1 October 2019). "The Far Right's Apocalyptic Literary Canon". The New Republic.
- Schreckinger, Ben (23 August 2019). "The alt-right manifesto that has Trumpworld talking". Politico.
- Power, Nina (7 March 2020). "Oracles, perverts and the Dirtbag Left". The Spectator Australia.
- Lindqvist, Inga-Lina (28 September 2019). "Antiken är hetare än någonsin förr" [Antiquity is hotter than ever] (in Swedish).
- "Bronze Age Greeks Inspire Violent White Masculinity". Pharos. 13 August 2020.
- Anton, Michael. "Are the Kids Al(t)right?". Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2019).
- MacDougald, Park (5 February 2020). "The New American Millennial Right". Tablet magazine.
- Doherty, Brian (2 August 2020). "Wait, Wasn't Peter Thiel a Libertarian?". Reason.
- Bronze Age Pervert (22 October 2019). "America's Delusional Elite Is Done". The American Mind. Claremont Institute.
- Meserve, Jack (10 December 2019). "Beyond Compromise". Democracy Journal.
- Lloyd, Will (28 September 2019). "Is this Mencius Moldbug's moment?". Spectator USA.
- Burton, Tara Isabella (1 June 2018). "The religious hunger that drives Jordan Peterson's fandom". Vox.
- Gray, Rosie (10 February 2017). "Behind the Internet's Anti-Democracy Movement". The Atlantic.
- "Republicans Embrace Fascist and Antisemitic "Alt-Right" Manifesto, Bronze Age Mindset". Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. 11 September 2020.
- Carroll, Logan (24 August 2020). "A fascist manifesto is gaining fans on the right, including state Sen. Roger Chamberlain". Minnesota Reformer.
- Neiwert, David (16 September 2020). "Delaware GOP nominates QAnon cultist with white nationalist ties for seat in U.S. Senate". Daily Kos.
- "Trump supporters to Georgia Republicans: Back the president or get 'destroyed' in January Senate runoffs". RT. 2020-11-24.
- Collins, Will (3 January 2020). "No Time for Heroes". National Review.