Well said, much better than I could have said it. We need to talk about solutions to our problems because honestly we have been diagnosing for the past decade and I'm tired of it.
Diagnosing is easy because you can make your points and not get pinned down to anything. Once you take a stand and stake a position, you open yourself to for attack. Not everyone likes that.
I work in politics and I I've spoken with folks who represent the trades and manufacturers.
And I'll ll tell you this -- when it comes to manufacturing it's not the manufacturers who don't want to make things here in America.
It's workers in the workforce who don't want to make things here. And this is largely because of the state of our "public" education system -- kids that don't want to sit in classrooms all day are all too often segrated and sedated in special classrooms where they don't belong.
Of course there's more that could be said here, but ultimately blaming the manufacturers is blaming the victim. When our school culture is either apathetic towards the blue collar worker at best or proactively discouraging people from working, we shouldn't be pointing the finger at people who want to provide jobs and meaning to our great country.
I wonder if worker sentiment varies by region or even social class. Anecdotal, I know, but I live in an area with a very large percentage of the population of lower education level, probably average IQ workers. These are the folks who would be the backbone of steel mills, lumber mills, farm laborers, factory workers, and I would also include skilled trades like welders and plumbers.
The sentiment for the last ten years has been overwhelmingly that they want to work and they want to build stuff in the United States. I think it's a little disingenuous to only listen to manufacturers (or even a union rep) on this subject when manufacturers are primarily interested in lower labor costs and making the line go up.
I've also substitute taught in schools and there was indeed no mention of being industrious, diligent, or thoughtful -- or what'd call blue collar virtues -- in any of the schools I visitrd.
In fact there was a report commissioned by the rural county I used to live in which stated that guidance councilors were proactively discouraging kids from going to vo-tech. Decisions like that seem self evidently anti blue collar to me.
Nevertheless the sentiment you mention probably has truth to it -- but those expressing it likely only comprise a small percentage of the total workforce.
But if you ask around and talk with employers they'll likely confirm what I'm talking about. The future of the workforce isn't looking bright, and that issue is compounded by an ever dwindling labor force participation rate. Simply put people don't want to work and those lazy cultural attitudes are being reinforced by our school system.
Every society has a core belief. The West's core belief is egalitarianism ultimately deriving from Christianity. The thing about a society's core belief is that it ratchets on itself over time and becomes more powerful, which continues if or until the society is militarily conquered by others, it results in genocide of the "unequal" group or there is a transvaluation of values. There needs to be such a transvaluation where inegalitarianism becomes accepted on its own without having to apologize for it -- it's part of life and that's all there is and there's nothing anyone can do about it. This is discussed here: https://neofeudalreview.substack.com/p/the-egalitarian-ratchet-effect-why
Because so few people understand this, one can expect the egalitarian ratchet effect to continue unabated...
The "Egalitarianism came from Christianity" canard is a zombie meme popular in wignat circles. A cursory look at Western history sufficies to falsify it. What immediately stands out when you look at those centuries of ecclesial hierarchy and temporal monarchy is that Christianity is in no way egalitarian. The historic Christian understanding acknowledges a hierarchy of being in whch no two places are equal, and no place is left empty.
Western egalitarianism is derived from the Enlightenment, which was the rejection of Christian hierarchy.
I don’t think egalitarianism as practiced now, or since the Enlightenment, derives from Christianity at all. But I do agree that egalitarianism is one of the biggest problems facing the west: if everyone MUST be “equal” in ability, outcomes, etc. (instead of under the law), then it takes increasingly insane measures to get there.
Also, in case anyone reading NF’s comment wants to chime in, no, Christianity wasn’t a Jewish plot to destroy the Roman Empire and weaken the white race.
This post is leading to a lot of thoughts in me and I’m not sure my response will be totally coherent. I do feel as a society that we have largely been atomized as units of production and analyzed to manifest economic efficiency. As long as we had responsible Oligarchs and Elites and pretended to uphold morality and the rule of law, this situation was not a major problem for our society and even led to quite a lot of thriving. However with corrupt and immoral leadership, we now all feel that we are getting pissed on while they tell us it’s raining. I’m not sure our society can be improved en masse from the ground up. What needs to happen is the decentralization of power in our society. I’m not sure how that happens. If I am to have a larger purpose, aside from being an Ambassaor for Christ and taking care of my family, I believe promoting the concept of decentralized power structures, and working in my small ways to advance it, is probably it. I love what Javier Milei is doing. But it’s only a start.
Decentralization of power is a good start. As is somehow inculcating a sense of community, and maybe even collectivism (gasp!) with the idea that we are NOT atomized individuals totally separate from the wider society and in constant competition with each other, but ARE in it together and what we do DOES affect others.
Why are we in competition with the guy who sits across from us at work? It’s perverse.
-Imagine if technology and AI were put in the service of building a higher purpose for society, instead of as a tool for consolidating wealth into the hands of the financial elite (which is essentially its current function)?
-IQ is important, but it’s not *that* important. Fully agree here. I doubt that the great statesmen of bygone eras were the smartest of smart either. We need men of virtue, men of action, who are capable of making decisions in the best interests of a nation. Savants need not be the rulers, though they can make good advisors.
-Some spiritual thinkers have pointed out that America has yet to become a distinct culture in its own historical right. I think that’s an accurate assessment. America Pt. I was a late outgrowth of European culture. That culture is basically now on its last legs on the continent. Because of the massive demographic changes, the future American culture may only partially resemble that of the one we’ve known. How this plays out…we’ll have to see. The preservation of our identity is basically up to us now. That will be our generations’ real lasting contribution to history, imo.
All good points. Your last one is something I’ve been harping on too. America never really had an ethnogrnesis for various reasons. We came close but that was scuttled in the mid-1960s. What is even an “American” now save for occupying space and paying taxes (maybe?) in what is essentially an economic zone?
Fantastic. I think a baby step isn’t necessarily to delay the metaphysical discussion but rather get people on board with God the Father before discussing the other two figures of the Holy Trinity. I’m biased because that’s how I returned to my Catholic faith, but I think philosophically it’s a lower bar to convince people of the First Mover.
It is a lower bar to start with God before the Trinity, but I think that the American populace isn’t even ready for that yet. Christianity and religion generally doesn’t matter to a majority of Americans (I don’t buy the polls about how supposedly religious we are) and materialism has taken such root, we have to start there and meet people where they are. But reasonable minds can differ.
Re: the Trinity, I never understood why the idea is such a stumbling block to people. If God is omnipotent (which He is), why is it so hard to understand He can manifest Himself in multiple ways? It seems so simple.
I should say the gospels and the truth of the Incarnation followed by the Resurrection are hard to swallow because of the very materialism/scientism which has indeed become the American national religion (quite deliberately, I should add). This battle is spiritual, so it will take spiritual tools (prayer, etc.) to bring about change. God is indeed omnipotent, so I choose to he optimistic He will continue to shed grace on people to change their hearts. Me, as a mere human, choose to engage atheists intellectually on the argument of the Father to plant the seed before I pray for these people. We’re called to spread the gospels in our own way, so this is one area I, by force of will, choose to be cheerful about.
Absolutely fucking marvelous, sir. We proceed from different ideological quarters, but we've arrived at the same place. Well argued, and thank you for writing it. I shall be aggressively promoting it and perhaps offering a reply post.
Well said, much better than I could have said it. We need to talk about solutions to our problems because honestly we have been diagnosing for the past decade and I'm tired of it.
Diagnosing is easy because you can make your points and not get pinned down to anything. Once you take a stand and stake a position, you open yourself to for attack. Not everyone likes that.
I work in politics and I I've spoken with folks who represent the trades and manufacturers.
And I'll ll tell you this -- when it comes to manufacturing it's not the manufacturers who don't want to make things here in America.
It's workers in the workforce who don't want to make things here. And this is largely because of the state of our "public" education system -- kids that don't want to sit in classrooms all day are all too often segrated and sedated in special classrooms where they don't belong.
Of course there's more that could be said here, but ultimately blaming the manufacturers is blaming the victim. When our school culture is either apathetic towards the blue collar worker at best or proactively discouraging people from working, we shouldn't be pointing the finger at people who want to provide jobs and meaning to our great country.
I wonder if worker sentiment varies by region or even social class. Anecdotal, I know, but I live in an area with a very large percentage of the population of lower education level, probably average IQ workers. These are the folks who would be the backbone of steel mills, lumber mills, farm laborers, factory workers, and I would also include skilled trades like welders and plumbers.
The sentiment for the last ten years has been overwhelmingly that they want to work and they want to build stuff in the United States. I think it's a little disingenuous to only listen to manufacturers (or even a union rep) on this subject when manufacturers are primarily interested in lower labor costs and making the line go up.
I've also substitute taught in schools and there was indeed no mention of being industrious, diligent, or thoughtful -- or what'd call blue collar virtues -- in any of the schools I visitrd.
In fact there was a report commissioned by the rural county I used to live in which stated that guidance councilors were proactively discouraging kids from going to vo-tech. Decisions like that seem self evidently anti blue collar to me.
Nevertheless the sentiment you mention probably has truth to it -- but those expressing it likely only comprise a small percentage of the total workforce.
But if you ask around and talk with employers they'll likely confirm what I'm talking about. The future of the workforce isn't looking bright, and that issue is compounded by an ever dwindling labor force participation rate. Simply put people don't want to work and those lazy cultural attitudes are being reinforced by our school system.
Interesting! I appreciate the insight. When I am King Alexander I of America, the education system will require a massive overhaul.
Every society has a core belief. The West's core belief is egalitarianism ultimately deriving from Christianity. The thing about a society's core belief is that it ratchets on itself over time and becomes more powerful, which continues if or until the society is militarily conquered by others, it results in genocide of the "unequal" group or there is a transvaluation of values. There needs to be such a transvaluation where inegalitarianism becomes accepted on its own without having to apologize for it -- it's part of life and that's all there is and there's nothing anyone can do about it. This is discussed here: https://neofeudalreview.substack.com/p/the-egalitarian-ratchet-effect-why
Because so few people understand this, one can expect the egalitarian ratchet effect to continue unabated...
The "Egalitarianism came from Christianity" canard is a zombie meme popular in wignat circles. A cursory look at Western history sufficies to falsify it. What immediately stands out when you look at those centuries of ecclesial hierarchy and temporal monarchy is that Christianity is in no way egalitarian. The historic Christian understanding acknowledges a hierarchy of being in whch no two places are equal, and no place is left empty.
Western egalitarianism is derived from the Enlightenment, which was the rejection of Christian hierarchy.
Stuff your "..."
What's your solution then? How does it address long term trends and moves them in the direction you want?
I don’t think egalitarianism as practiced now, or since the Enlightenment, derives from Christianity at all. But I do agree that egalitarianism is one of the biggest problems facing the west: if everyone MUST be “equal” in ability, outcomes, etc. (instead of under the law), then it takes increasingly insane measures to get there.
Also, in case anyone reading NF’s comment wants to chime in, no, Christianity wasn’t a Jewish plot to destroy the Roman Empire and weaken the white race.
This post is leading to a lot of thoughts in me and I’m not sure my response will be totally coherent. I do feel as a society that we have largely been atomized as units of production and analyzed to manifest economic efficiency. As long as we had responsible Oligarchs and Elites and pretended to uphold morality and the rule of law, this situation was not a major problem for our society and even led to quite a lot of thriving. However with corrupt and immoral leadership, we now all feel that we are getting pissed on while they tell us it’s raining. I’m not sure our society can be improved en masse from the ground up. What needs to happen is the decentralization of power in our society. I’m not sure how that happens. If I am to have a larger purpose, aside from being an Ambassaor for Christ and taking care of my family, I believe promoting the concept of decentralized power structures, and working in my small ways to advance it, is probably it. I love what Javier Milei is doing. But it’s only a start.
Decentralization of power is a good start. As is somehow inculcating a sense of community, and maybe even collectivism (gasp!) with the idea that we are NOT atomized individuals totally separate from the wider society and in constant competition with each other, but ARE in it together and what we do DOES affect others.
Why are we in competition with the guy who sits across from us at work? It’s perverse.
A couple random unrelated thoughts:
-Imagine if technology and AI were put in the service of building a higher purpose for society, instead of as a tool for consolidating wealth into the hands of the financial elite (which is essentially its current function)?
-IQ is important, but it’s not *that* important. Fully agree here. I doubt that the great statesmen of bygone eras were the smartest of smart either. We need men of virtue, men of action, who are capable of making decisions in the best interests of a nation. Savants need not be the rulers, though they can make good advisors.
-Some spiritual thinkers have pointed out that America has yet to become a distinct culture in its own historical right. I think that’s an accurate assessment. America Pt. I was a late outgrowth of European culture. That culture is basically now on its last legs on the continent. Because of the massive demographic changes, the future American culture may only partially resemble that of the one we’ve known. How this plays out…we’ll have to see. The preservation of our identity is basically up to us now. That will be our generations’ real lasting contribution to history, imo.
All good points. Your last one is something I’ve been harping on too. America never really had an ethnogrnesis for various reasons. We came close but that was scuttled in the mid-1960s. What is even an “American” now save for occupying space and paying taxes (maybe?) in what is essentially an economic zone?
Interesting.
Thank you.
Fantastic. I think a baby step isn’t necessarily to delay the metaphysical discussion but rather get people on board with God the Father before discussing the other two figures of the Holy Trinity. I’m biased because that’s how I returned to my Catholic faith, but I think philosophically it’s a lower bar to convince people of the First Mover.
It is a lower bar to start with God before the Trinity, but I think that the American populace isn’t even ready for that yet. Christianity and religion generally doesn’t matter to a majority of Americans (I don’t buy the polls about how supposedly religious we are) and materialism has taken such root, we have to start there and meet people where they are. But reasonable minds can differ.
Re: the Trinity, I never understood why the idea is such a stumbling block to people. If God is omnipotent (which He is), why is it so hard to understand He can manifest Himself in multiple ways? It seems so simple.
I should say the gospels and the truth of the Incarnation followed by the Resurrection are hard to swallow because of the very materialism/scientism which has indeed become the American national religion (quite deliberately, I should add). This battle is spiritual, so it will take spiritual tools (prayer, etc.) to bring about change. God is indeed omnipotent, so I choose to he optimistic He will continue to shed grace on people to change their hearts. Me, as a mere human, choose to engage atheists intellectually on the argument of the Father to plant the seed before I pray for these people. We’re called to spread the gospels in our own way, so this is one area I, by force of will, choose to be cheerful about.
Absolutely fucking marvelous, sir. We proceed from different ideological quarters, but we've arrived at the same place. Well argued, and thank you for writing it. I shall be aggressively promoting it and perhaps offering a reply post.
Thank you my friend. That means a lot. I can’t wait to see what you come to with.
Got to space, kill everyone that gets in your way.
Let there be light.
Amen.
I don’t know if we HAVE to kill everyone they gets in our way, but I guess it’s not off the table.