I have often remarked that this blog is very much a group effort. The articles and essays that appear here — as well as the various direct actions carried out by Counterjihad activists in North America, Australia, and Western Europe — depend on intensive teamwork by an ever-growing network of volunteers.

Some of those volunteers are credited here for their work, either by real name or pseudonym, when their tips, translations, essays, and videos are published, and when we report on their direct actions. Others whose work is just as crucial prefer to remain anonymous.

In recognition of the dedicated efforts by both groups — and you all know who you are — the following quote from The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Chapter 2) is apropos:

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Therefore having and not having arise together.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short contrast each other:
High and low rest upon each other;
Voice and sound harmonize each other;
Front and back follow one another.

Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking.
The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease,
Creating, yet not possessing.
Working, yet not taking credit.
Work is done, then forgotten.
Therefore it lasts forever.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Back in January the Blogspot version of Gates of Vienna was knocked out of service by Google, with no announcement or explanation and for no apparent reason. It was restored the following day, again with no explanation.

Three days later our blog was removed again, this time for “violating Google’s Terms of Service” by having “malicious code on your blog”. No details about the “malicious code” were ever forthcoming. The blog was restored again three days later, once again without any explanation and without any further communication from Google.

By that time we had established the current WordPress version of the blog under its own domain name, where the writ of Google cannot be enforced. Even though we had been anticipating such a moment, the migration — jocularly referred to by everyone involved as the hijra — was a harrowing process, and not something I wish to repeat.

To be blown out of Blogger twice in less than a week may or may not signify anything. Depending on how conspiracy-minded one wants to be, there are several possible conclusions that may be drawn from what happened:

If the intention was to suppress our message and keep the Counterjihad meme from spreading, it was less than successful, and may have even had the opposite effect. Here’s what one commenter said:

I guess I’ve known about GoV in the dark recesses of my mind but rarely came here. Now the news that Google has exiled you makes it obvious to me that I should have been paying more attention. And so I have added GoV to my “favorites” list and expect to make at least one visit daily until the threat you address has been neutralized.

After the second removal by Blogger, I received a number of email messages from people concerned about the damage that would be done if Gates of Vienna were to disappear permanently. I pointed out to them what I have been saying in this space for the past seven or eight years: if a distributed network forms properly, the removal of a single node has little effect on the network at large, which rapidly forms the connections necessary to route around the missing element, and thus immediately regains its previous functionality.

I say “forms properly” rather than “is constructed properly”, because a truly distributed network is not constructed by any person or group. It arises spontaneously as a part of a process of self-organization by like-minded people, like a skim of ice forming on the entire surface of a pond that has just cooled to the freezing point. Gates of Vienna is not the “boss” of this network; it is simply one of the active nodes. Redundancy is already in place; all of our functions can be immediately assumed by various other people in the network, if required. The possibility that my eye condition may sideline me permanently has prompted me to make sure that anything I do can also can be done by someone else, preferably by several other people. Redundancy is further guaranteed when the network spans numerous countries, so that a crackdown in one jurisdiction does not interrupt activities in the entire network.

This type of network has emerged because it must of necessity remain largely unfunded. Most of the mainstream considers us “racists”, “crypto-fascists”, “neo-Nazis”, and all those other horrifying designations that place us beyond the pale of polite society, where virtually no self-respecting philanthropist would dare to venture.

Lack of funding has obvious downside. However, an unfunded network has its own unique advantages:

Continue reading →