Offsite Post: ‘Building on a Foundation of Sand’

 

The 13 colonies of England gained their independence at an inauspicious time.  Christianity was at a low ebb in much of the world:  In western Europe, Roman Catholics and Protestants were continuing to have violent quarrels.  The Orthodox Christians of eastern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa were under the heavy yoke of the Muslims, while the Orthodox in Russia were being oppressed by Empress Catherine II.

All of this together helped create a spiritual vacuum in the West, which was filled by new atheistic and humanistic theories (i.e., the Enlightenment).  Among them was the one that has become central to the United States, that the unhindered exercise of freedom here in the world is the sine qua non of human existence, that history unfolds as the quest of humanity towards greater, more expansive liberty.

But Christianity teaches us something different.  St. Seraphim Rose of Platina, California, says in the first lecture of his Orthodox Survival Course:

 

If you read the Old Testament, you will find a remarkable history which is different from the history of any other country. In other countries there are rulers [who] rise and fall: there is tyranny, there are democratic paradises, there are wars, sometimes the righteous triumph, sometimes the unrighteous triumph; and the whole of history is extremely sceptical. Historians will tell you their chronicle of crimes and savagery — and no meaning. And what happens to come out is some chance event which no one can see any meaning for. But in the History of Israel we see a very deep thing which is the history of the chosen people of God which is now following God’s commandments, and now falling away; and its history depends upon how it is, whether it’s following God or falling away from Him. . . .

 

The whole history of Israel is this history between belief and unbelief, between following God and turning away from God. And the history of Israel becomes in the New Testament the history of the Church, the new Israel. And the history of humanity from the time Christ came to earth until now is the history of the Church and of those peoples who either come to the Church or fight against the Church, or come to the Church and fall away from it. World history, from that time to this, makes sense only if you understand there is some plan going on, which is the plan of God for the salvation of men.

History, according to the Church, is about the peoples of the world accepting or rejecting the salvation made available to man through the incarnation, birth, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, the God-man.  This is actually the essence of what it means to be human – to be united to the Lord Jesus and to His Church, to acquire fully the Grace of the Holy Spirit, not simply the exercise of freedom.

But since the peoples of the States have divinized human freedom, they have also necessarily divinized the political system in which that freedom is exercised.  This has led to an interesting reversal:  When Christian faith was strong, adherence to the teachings and traditions of the Holy Apostles was paramount, and every deviation was strongly contested.  Hence the intense doctrinal debates from the 4^th to the 8^th centuries, that led to the Seven Ecumenical Councils, those gatherings of the bishops from throughout the Christian world that established the dogmas of right belief about the Holy Trinity and other matters.  But now when Christian faith is weak and humanistic faith is strong, adherence to the proper political traditions has become paramount, with corresponding anathemas and denunciations of heretics who hold to this or that ‘false teaching’ about constitutional matters; meanwhile, one may believe whatever he likes about religious matters with hardly a care by anyone.

Thus we have created in a real sense in the States a substitute church for that of Christ’s, and we diligently preach the gospel of this church around the world:  not that of Christ crucified for our sins, but of mankind’s liberation from tyranny through constitutional government, with its holy trinity of legislative, executive, and judicial branches, man’s salvation being in the mutual antagonism (rather than mutual love) of these three towards one another.

George W. Bush admitted as much in his second inaugural address in 2005:

 . . .

The rest is at https://thehayride.com/2024/04/garlington-building-on-a-foundation-of-sand/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Meta Won’t Be Hiring Many Richlanders for Its AI Center’

 

Big Tech firms like Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and others are often touted as US entrepreneurial success stories.  It is strange, then, that they have such an aversion for hiring natural-born citizens of the States to work for them.

Even the most MAGA-supporting of them, Elon Musk’s Tesla, is eager to hire cheaper foreign workers using H-1B visas:

‘It’s no secret that Elon Musk is a big fan of the H-1B program, which puts him at odds with the core principles of the America First movement. Don’t get us wrong—we’re incredibly grateful for everything Elon has done to support Trump and fight for free speech. He’s made some amazing contributions, and we’re not taking anything away from that. But we can’t just gloss over the fact that hiring foreign workers over Americans is a real issue. To ignore it would fly in the face of everything America First stands for.

‘The fire started when Amanda Louise, an America First advocate, called out Musk and Tesla when she happened upon several job listings for the company in a newspaper. She suggested that Elon was “hiding” these jobs from Americans, so they could hire more foreign workers.  . . .

‘Elon Musk has done incredible things for innovation and free speech, but his support and use of the H-1B program don’t exactly line up with the America First agenda. Let’s be honest—prioritizing foreign workers over Americans is the kind of globalist mentality that got us into this mess in the first place. If Elon truly wants to be a champion of the American spirit, he should embrace every part of the America First movement, especially foundational issues like hiring American workers’ (‘Did Tesla hide job listings in newspapers so they can hire H-1B visa workers?’, revolver.news)

Some statistics from various Big Tech firms confirm their disdain for the citizens of the US:

‘Employers are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers at significantly lower wages, displacing qualified U.S. workers. Recent statistics show that while mass layoffs have disproportionately impacted American-born workers, foreign workers continue to be hired, undermining job opportunities for U.S. citizens. In 2022, 65% of H-1B visas went to computer occupations, specifically, the tech industry.

‘From 2022 to 2024, the tech industry saw more than 569,000 layoffs across major companies like Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Many of these layoffs were attributed to economic downturns, restructuring, or overhiring. However, despite these layoffs, these same companies continued to submit thousands of H-1B petitions, effectively replacing U.S. workers with foreign labor.

‘Amazon: Laid off 27,000 workers globally in 2023 but continued to file H-1B petitions, bringing in additional foreign workers through outsourcing firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys.

‘Alphabet (Google): Despite laying off 12,000 employees in 2023, Alphabet filed more than 6,000 H-1B petitions, continuing to bring in foreign workers even as more U.S. workers were displaced.

‘Meta (Facebook): Laid off 21,000 workers between 2022 and 2023 but continued to file new H-1B petitions and to increase its reliance on foreign labor through the H-1B program.

‘ . . . Companies are exploiting the PERM [Program Electronic Review Management—W.G.] process by using fraudulent recruitment practices to bypass U.S. workers and hire foreign labor for permanent positions. This abuse results in the exclusion of American workers from jobs they are qualified for.

‘Several major legal cases have revealed how companies exploit the PERM process to bypass U.S. workers: Facebook settled with the DOJ for $14.25 million after being accused of systematically excluding U.S. workers from jobs reserved for foreign nationals under the PERM process. This case set a significant precedent, demonstrating how employers manipulate the system to favor foreign workers over Americans.

‘Infosys paid $34 million to settle claims of visa fraud, which included filing false job descriptions and misclassifying foreign workers to bypass recruitment requirements. The settlement revealed systemic abuse of both the H-1B and PERM programs, further underscoring the need for stricter enforcement’ (Institute for Sound Public Policy, A Call to Protect American Workers: The Need for Non-Immmigrant Visa Reform, pgs. 2-5; report available at instituteforsoundpublicpolicy.org/petition/).

One will note that Meta/Facebook figures prominently in the H-1B visa abuses and others.  This should give pause to everyone cheering the Meta AI data center announced for Richland Parish.  The narrative being presented to folks in Northeast Louisiana (NELa) is that this center will provide high-paying jobs for lots of people now living in the area.  Given the foregoing, it is more likely that only a few natives of Richland and surrounding parishes will be hired by Meta for positions at the data center, while the bulk of the jobs go to foreign workers brought in on visas.

And this injustice begets another:  the destruction of the conservative culture of NELa.  Generally speaking, workers from abroad who settle in the US lean Left politically:

 . . .

The rest is at https://thehayride.com/2024/12/garlington-meta-wont-be-hiring-many-richlanders-for-its-ai-center/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘The Long Martyrdom of the South’

April 9^th, a day adorned with many martyrs –

Abbot Hedda of Peterborough,

Abbot Theodore of Crowland,

And dozens of other English monks

Cut asunder by the Viking Danes;

Bishop Desan of Persia with companions

In the hundreds, sentenced by Sapor;

Massylitan Martyrs of northwest Africa,

Honored by saints, Augustine and Bede;

New Martyrs of Lesbos, monks Raphael

And Nicholas, cruelly tortured

By the Turks, the first sawn through the jaw,

The second died at the gruesome sight,

The children Eleni and Irene,

Mistreated and murdered, too:

Eleni beaten fiercely,

Irene lost an arm

And suffocated in a cask

With a fire blazing underneath –

Several more died with them.

On April 9^th hosts of martyrs

Finished their trials and received their crowns

From the Victor over Death, Christ our God.

On April 9^th the Southern people

Began their martyrdom at Appomattox,

A contest not quick like those of others,

But slow and subtle, full of cunning,

As Yankee apostates, devils, demons,

And other swindlers attempt to draw

Dixie’s folk away from the Soul-mender,

The Flesh-healer, her Savior Jesus Christ.

The weight of years presses upon us,

Many have fallen into the traps of temptation,

 . . .

The rest is at https://identitydixie.com/2024/04/18/the-long-martyrdom-of-the-south/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!

Offsite Post: ‘Industrial Ag Alternatives to Meta’s AI Data Center’

 

It is one thing to offer negative criticism, which we did regarding Meta’s proposed AI data center in Richland Parish.  It is also necessary to offer positive alternatives to the thing being critiqued.  We offered a few ideas but nothing substantive in the previous essay.  We wish to correct that here.

Richland Parish, as the name implies, is a place where farming predominates (lsuagcenter.com).  Rather than deny the history and culture of the parish by imposing a destructive AI data center, the people there should let the past inspire the future.

There are two promising possibilities in this regard:  creating industrial products from river cane and/or from hemp.  Both have long histories in Southern life.

River cane has been around for millennia:

‘Once a dominant feature of the southeastern United States, canebrakes dominated hundreds of thousands of acres along floodplains and stream bottoms. Large expanses of canebrakes were often described by early explorers in the Southeast. In the 1770's, William Bartram explored much of the southeast United States and describes canebrakes often in his description of floodplains and creek bottoms. From these descriptions, it appears that canebrakes were both ubiquitous and expansive’ (rivercane.msstate.edu).

It is extremely fast growing, up to 1.5 inches/day in the springtime (Ibid.).  The Native Americans in Louisiana relied on it to make various items:

‘In central Louisiana, the U.S. Forest Service is spearheading efforts to restore river cane, a bamboo-like plant that played a vital role in Native American culture for thousands of years. This significant piece of tribal heritage has become increasingly rare, prompting an effort to bring it back.

‘Rose Fisher, an elder of the Jena Choctaw Tribe, takes me to a roadside patch of river cane in the town of Jena, Louisiana.  . . .  Holding up a nearly 200-year-old basket made by one of her ancestors, Fisher highlights its importance. The basket was likely used to store or dry food, she explains. Additionally, river cane has been crafted into various tools and instruments, including whistles and blowguns’ (‘River Cane’, heartoflouisiana.com).

In addition to these traditional uses, bamboo grasses like river cane can be used to make a wide array of products:

‘Bamboo is a category of fast-growing and widely distributed perennials having unique physical and mechanical properties. The mechanical properties of bamboo are often higher (typically by two to three times) than those of conventional timbers, and it has become a very important raw material for the household/ building industries. Bamboo has been commercially used for the production of indoor and outdoor floors, furniture, and structural timber for building. Some performance defects/ drawbacks of bamboo have been effectively remedied, due to the new technologies, such as bamboo scrimber, which facilitates the market penetration/ acceptance of bamboo-based household and building products’ (Qiu, H., Xu, J., He, Z., Long, L., and Yue, X., ‘Bamboo as an emerging source of raw material for household and building products’, bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu).

The market for bamboo products is expanding rapidly:

‘There are about 100 bamboo species that are economically important. In the 1980s the total revenue of bamboo and its products reached 4.5 billion US dollars. In 2005 the global bamboo product market was about 7 billion US dollars. By 2015 the number had grown to an astonishing 60 billion US dollars.

‘China is rich in bamboo resources and has a global leading level in the research and utilization of bamboo. In 2017 its industrial output value of bamboo was 35 billion US dollars, ranking first in the world, and it increased 11.2% compared with that in 2016 (Dai et al. 2017). More and more attention has been paid to the economic benefits and social value of bamboo, and the development prospects of bamboo products are expected.

‘ . . . Bamboo fibers have been used in many industries, for example the garment/ textile, automotive, pulp and paper industries. Due to its excellent durability, fire safety, environmental impact, user safety, energy efficiency, and so on, bamboo is one of the ideal raw materials for the production of sustainable household/ building products. In fact, the household/ construction sector accounts for 30 to 40% of the annual bamboo consumption in the world’ (Ibid.).

Combining a manufacturing facility at the Franklin Farm megasite in Richland Parish with surrounding farms dedicated to growing river cane is one possibility.  Pairing a factory with farms dedicated to growing industrial hemp is another.

Hemp is also embedded deep within Southern history:

 . . .

The rest is at https://thehayride.com/2024/11/garlington-industrial-ag-alternatives-to-metas-ai-data-center/.

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!