Lines of Flight and the Männerbund

Possibilities and the Springtime

At the recent OGC Conference, Last Things gave a wonderful talk titled “Becoming the Nomad War Machine.” Inspiration abounds, and during discussions throughout the weekend were heard several points tangentially related to the speech itself. Most people are not well read on Gilles Deleuze or the postmodernists more generally, but it was obvious throughout the speech that there are two implied needs: first, the need to think archetypically in setting up our team; second, the need to set up for ourselves the preconditions of success which we require for “Lines of Flight.” I want to extrapolate on some of the ideas myself and tie Last Things’s talk to more established forms of right-wing discourse.

If I understand correctly, a “Line of Flight” as defined by Deleuze and further described by Last Things is as follows: an escape from a control society, typically through some kind of unorthodox means. The comparison of the archetypical forms of pirate, rebel, adventurer, barbarian, etc. all spring to mind. Everyone in our circles is broadly familiar with the classes of high fantasy: warrior, mage, and rogue. (In the most ancient conception of the class hierarchy, that of the Indo-Europeans, there existed three basic classes: warrior, priest, and peasant.) You shall know the warrior or barbarian type by his weapon — usually an axe, a war hammer, or a club. A mage uses magical or spiritual power as his implement and wields a staff. The rogue uses a bow, a spear, or sometimes throwing knives, but never a warrior’s close combat weapons. These three classes correspond exactly to the three classes of Runner in the game Netrunner, cited by Last Things.

This comparison is by no means a difficult one to make. But the importance of this at a fundamental level bears repeating. The overlap of science fiction and fantasy is something to be commented on. There’s a reason why Warhammer is such a foundational experience for the men in our spheres. Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 were two sides of the same coin in that regard, and the blending of these genres might only continue. Why exactly do these archetypical forms keep appearing? Why are they important? To answer these questions, we must first understand the Lines of Flight.

A Line of Flight is described as an exit from a preexisting pathway, an off-ramp from a freeway. It requires a kind of escape velocity. This visualization of branching out and off shows us the tangentiality of destiny. It must be said that this seems rather like old diagrams of Darwinian evolution via natural selection. Perhaps it is. It’s true enough, in any case, that not all “Lines of Flight” are successful. Most don’t have a happy ending…