Modern Nationalism is a Hollow Shell—Here’s Why

A Nationalist ghoul: “The term 'nation' is linked to the concept of birth. Perhaps if these individuals were born in that place and existed in substantial numbers, such a claim could be justified. However, if they were not born there, there would be no basis for calling it a nation. The Latin root of 'nation' is 'natus,' meaning birth.”

Me: The modern “nation” is but an empty shell, a lifeless form devoid of the transcendent principle that alone grants it meaning. Only the interior dimension holds significance—the race of the spirit, the eternal Tradition that stands beyond all temporal contingencies. Blood and soil possess no intrinsic value except through their connection to the supramundane. You, who remain bound by the residues of dualistic thought, fail to comprehend: the external is nothing but a reflection of the internal. All distinctions dissolve in the realization of the One—there is no paradox, for separation is illusion. Only the principle is real.

Julius Evola critiques modern nationalism as a degraded, materialistic phenomenon devoid of any transcendent or spiritual foundation. In his view, true nationalism must be rooted in a higher, aristocratic principle—an organic unity of people bound by tradition, hierarchy, and sacred authority, rather than mere secular or collectivist impulses.

Evola distinguishes between:
1. Traditional, Superior Nationalism – An expression of a people’s spiritual and imperial vocation, aligned with the sacred and hierarchical order (e.g., the Roman Imperium, medieval monarchies).
2. Modern, Degenerate Nationalism – A materialistic, mass-driven ideology based on race, economics, or democratic populism, lacking any higher principle.

What remains in nationalism “devoid of superior elements” is:
– Collectivism – The reduction of the nation to a mere aggregate of individuals without spiritual unity.
– Materialism – An emphasis on territorial, economic, or biological factors (e.g., racial nationalism without a sacred dimension).
– Demagoguery – The replacement of organic leadership with populist or totalitarian manipulation.

For Evola, such nationalism is a hollow shell, a symptom of decline in the Kali Yuga, where true sovereignty (symbolized by the Kshatriya or king-priest ideal) has been replaced by profane, horizontal solidarity.

Metaphysical part:

Title: The Supramundane Nation: Blood, Soil, and the Spiritual Hierarchy Tags: #Nationalism #FalseNationalism #TrueNationalism #PseudoNationalism #Tradition #SpiritualRace #GhibellineImperium #AntiModern

1. Historical Degeneration: The modern world reflects a collapse from higher castes (sacred kings, warriors) to lower castes (merchants, masses), marking a regression into collectivism and materialism.
   
2. False Nationalism: Degenerate nationalism reduces the nation to a collective idol, demanding subservience to ethnic or racial identity, suppressing superior individualism.
   3.Soviet & American Barbarism: Bolshevism revives primitive Slavic collectivism, while America embodies mechanized materialism—both converge in destroying spiritual hierarchy.
   
3. True Nationalism as Prelude: A restorative nationalism must reverse the fall, serving as a foundation for aristocratic rebirth, not an end in itself.
   
4. Hierarchy of Values: Superior culture demands the primacy of spiritual and warrior elites over economic and vital forces—rejecting pragmatism and utilitarianism.
   
5. Lagarde’s Principle: The “national” is a stepping stone—true value lies in the personal, the aristocratic individual who transcends blood-and-soil determinism.
   
6. Aristocratic Restoration: A warrior caste must emerge, embodying honor, loyalty, and leadership, to elevate the nation beyond democratic decay.
   
7. Beyond the Nation: The ultimate goal is a supranational spiritual unity (for example, Medieval Christendom, Roman Imperium), where elites transcend ethnic divisions.
   
8. Anti-Internationalism: Universalism must reject egalitarian humanitarianism, preserving ethnic distinctions while uniting through higher cultural principles.
   
9. The Choice: Nationalism is either a terminal phase of collectivist decay or the first step toward Traditional rebirth—depending on its direction.
   

Universality and Centralism

The Holy Roman Empire’s ideal reveals the decay of rulership (regere) when severed from its spiritual foundation. The Ghibelline conception upheld two principles: the regnum’s supernatural origin and metapolitical universality, and the emperor as lex animata in terris—a transcendent unity (aliquod unum quod non est pars) standing above the nations he governed. The Empire was not merely a material aggregation but a higher, spiritual order.

This universal function did not depend on brute force but on fides—a sacramental bond of loyalty that unified feudal communities without erasing their autonomy. True hierarchy permits both order and freedom, unlike modern centralizing states, which impose uniformity through coercion, reducing organic unity to mechanistic control.

Traditional civilizations—particularly Aryan societies—embodied pluralism within unity: families, clans, and gentes retained self-sufficiency in law, cult, and militia while adhering to a higher spiritual order. The Frankish model exemplified this, where nobility dispersed yet remained immaterially connected to the imperial center, like a nervous system within an organism. The Far Eastern tradition similarly emphasizes the ruler’s detachment—remaining at the spiritual hub while peripheral forces self-regulate, achieving order through invisible harmony.

Conversely, modern “empires” are mere bureaucratic or militaristic hypertrophies, devoid of transcendent authority. Authentic empire requires a race to overcome its naturalistic limitations, embodying a principle that unifies other peoples not by force but by elevating their latent potential. Without this spiritual foundation, imperialism degenerates into violent domination, a cancerous growth rather than an organic unity.

The secularization of rulership—divorced from sacred authority—leads to absolutism, which inevitably collapses into demagogic tyranny. This pattern repeats in history: Greek tyrannies supplanting aristocratic rule, Byzantine decadence, and modern totalitarianism. The Church, by denying the sacred nature of kingship (as in the Investiture Controversy), accelerated this decline, reducing the state to a temporal, popular construct. Thomism’s attempt to reconcile Church and state failed because Christianity’s lunar, passive spirituality cannot integrate the solar, virile principle of true imperium.

Frederick II was right: true freedom lies in obedience to a higher spiritual authority (the Empire), whereas submission to the Church—a foreign, sacerdotal power—is enslavement.