>>140288>>140307I believe in embodying ideals as well. Here's the thing, though: names and symbols matter when it comes to public consciousness. Every successful movement that has taken the reigns of power has had a distinctive name, slogan, or logo that captured the minds of millions. The goal is to have something that elicits an emotional response in everyone: positive in your constituencies and negative in your enemies.
A good name/symbol must be:
1. Unique/original
2. Representative of your ideology in some way
3. To the point and simple
4. Aesthetically pleasing and recognizable
5. Referential to your culture
There may be more points but these are the most important. Identitarianism wins out in every respect because its name and symbol exist otherwise in only a historical referential setting. The icon comes from the shields of the Spartans who are romantic warriors in the eyes of many and who defended Europe from foreign invasion. This ties into how Identitarianism celebrates European culture and its defense, without getting to drawn into more abstract ideologies. The name is simply about identity and the symbol can be drawn by a 5-year-old (which is a good criterium for simplicity) while retaining a beautiful form.
Libertarianism (before it got kiked by the Koch Brothers and the LP) had promise in these respects as well, at least in name. The name distinguished itself from liberalism well because, despite having the same root, the "tar" syllable has phonetic emphasis and therefore emphasizes the break from liberalism. As it is a philosophy centered around liberty it is a perfect name. It is generally simple because it can be summarized as "liberty good, government bad." The ideology took off especially well in the United States because the country was founded in liberty and many Americans feel we've betrayed our roots. The LP symbol remains quite good because of the "torch of liberty."
This is why the theft of our name by closet SJWs has taken the wind out of our sails. Anarcho-capitalism is a more or less purified version of the ideology that, thanks to efforts of scholars such as Jeff Deist and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, leans socially right. However, even if we converted the majority of self-identified libertarians to Hoppean anarcho-capitalism, we could not succeed politically. Firstly, the name is inherently unattractive. "Anarchism" gives conservatives and most right-wingers the heebie-jeebies while "capitalism" earns the emnity of not just left-libertarians but also centrists and Keynesian believers. Keep in mind that even in the U.S. unrestrained capitalism is considered a boogeyman and negative imagery is drilled into everyone from school, tv, movies, etc. "Capitalism" is more or less a strawman created by Marxists to bring about class warfare and by using this term we fall into this trap. Propertarianism is a gussied-up variant but even this more aesthetic term evokes images of large landowners, inherently distancing the poor and the middle-class whom we need. What symbol do we have? A dollar symbol, which is also a symbol of greed and international finance. We're in rough shape.
National Socialism succeeded in Germany partly because of terminology and symbiology. The name was obviously original and is quite distinctive. It is first of all national and serves the interests of country above all, which appealed to the battered nationalist sentiments of the Germans. The term "socialist" or "workers' party" serves a dual purpose. At the time Marxism was at the height of its power and was considered not only the most "moral" movement but the only choice for workers (who, not knowing better, blamed their ills on the capitalists who employed them) and inevitable. National Socialism stole their wind by providing an "alternative" for disgruntled workers, with whom Hitler was most familiar, while denouncing the degenerate internationalism of Marxism. The movement was even stronger with symbols: the swastika was an ancient Aryan symbol with positive connotations while the eagle on many devices represented strength.
I recommend reading the essay I shared earlier regarding all this.