Executive Director's Corner
Dear All,
In 1978, Sir John Bagot Glubb wrote The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival, which boldly expressed that most empires throughout history, share similar characteristics and phases that set the stage for their rise and fall.
In that short treatise, Glubb cited examples of states that through conquest changed their trajectory and rose from insignificant backwaters to become great empires. That initial rise or phase which he called “outburst” is exemplified by extraordinary displays of energy and courage and those qualities often manifest in many fields of endeavor to produce a formidable nation and body politic.
The U.S. in its outburst phase conquered a continent through pioneering, and early on, mastered engineering feats like the Erie Canal. Completed in 1825 ahead of schedule, under budget, and considered an economic marvel for reducing shipping time from New York to Buffalo from three weeks to 8 days, it put us on the map as AmeriCANs!
Glubb’s progression of phases from rise to fall include commerce, affluence, intellectualism and decadence. Each phase builds upon the previous; for example, the lands acquired through conquest naturally lead to a phase of commerce characterized by the pursuit of financial gain and then affluence in which that store of wealth births art, architecture and the pursuit of luxurious living.
Eventually affluence spawns intellectualism, and education is gradually transformed from producing “brave patriots ready to serve their country” to producing graduates whose degrees enable them to enrich themselves. Elite classes are created and formed which gives way to a preference for debate over taking decisive action.
A long period of wealth and power ultimately gives rise to the final phase – decadence which is defined as economic stagnation, institutional decay, and cultural and intellectual decay at a high level of material prosperity and technological development. Other hallmarks are pessimism, defensiveness and the arrival of vast numbers of foreigners. And it is on the latter I will dwell.
Contrast DeWitt Clinton, the Mayor of New York City who built the Erie Canal to today’s Mayor, Eric Adams and his feckless attempts to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants forcing the city’s own vulnerable population out of its homeless shelters.
The canal was a massive 351-mile project that included building expansive aqueducts to redirect water. Its construction pushed the envelope of present-day engineering capabilities and crews and engineers developed advanced expertise to become the skilled labor force the country needed.
To solve his city’s problems, Adams need only pick up the phone and persuade his Democratic cronies in Washington, D.C. to enforce the laws and secure the southern border. But the institutional, cultural and intellectual decay that exemplifies America in the 21st century appear to be blocking him from overcoming even that small obstacle.
The inability of federal and state and local governments to protect our southern border, which has seen more than 1,641,943 encounters with illegal aliens this fiscal year, shows just how deep the rot has gotten. Even when individual states being impacted by the invasion attempt to stem it, they are thwarted by the courts.
On June 23rd in U.S. v. Texas the Supreme Court ruled the states of Texas and Louisiana lacked standing when it came to arresting and removing illegal aliens. Clearly, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas and President Biden have been derelict in their duty to protect the security of the U.S. and its citizens.
Not all is gloom and doom, though. On May 5th, Congress passed the H.R.2 Secure Border Act. If this clears the Senate and gets signed into law by President Biden, it will impose limits on asylum eligibility, mandate the use of e-Verify by employers, enhance penalties for visa overstays and tighten up the use of parole.
Seemingly good news until this week when we learned that many of those who voted for the act turned around and voted for a massive expansion of foreign workers to be placed into the DHS appropriations bill.
As John Biner, reporter for Breitbart summed it up, “Specifically, the $91.5 billion funding measure would loosen H-2A visa rules so that more industries related to the agricultural sector could import foreign workers and rewrites the program so that jobs do not have to be seasonal or temporary. The H-2A visa program, as currently implemented, allows U.S. farms to annually outsource an unlimited number of American agricultural jobs to foreign workers, who can extend their stay for up to three years.”
This expansion of foreign workers is terrible on several levels, but it is most disturbing when it is viewed through the lens of labor force participation rates. The rate of foreign-born men in the workforce is now roughly 10% higher than native born men.
According to Rural Immigration News, “the foreign-born share of U.S. workers reached 30 million or 18 percent of the 165 million strong labor force in 2022, the highest on record. Immigrant workers include foreign-born residents with many legal statuses, including naturalized US citizens, legal immigrants, unauthorized workers, and temporary residents, workers, and students who are allowed to work.”
Letting that sink in and putting it into context, what we’re now facing in the U.S. is an increasing number of working age males who have chosen to exit the workforce.
According to Nicholas Eberstadt, author of Men Without Work: America’s Invisible Crisis, “Over the past two generations, America has suffered a quiet catastrophe. That catastrophe is the collapse of work—for men. In the half century between 1965 and 2015, work rates for the American male spiraled relentlessly downward, and an ominous migration commenced: a “flight from work,” in which ever-growing numbers of working-age men exited the labor force altogether.”
This is a big problem and one that requires decisive action if we are to solve it. And no, continuing to displace American workers with foreign workers is not a long-term solution. What’s more, it’s farcical as far as solutions go. But then again, perhaps it’s indicative of Glubb’s decadence phase we currently find ourselves in.
In closing, I want to let you know that Church Militant is staging a protest at 11:00 a.m. July 20th in front of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) headquarters located at 3211 4th St. NE in Washington, D.C. Following the protest there will be a press conference at the National Press Club located at 529 14th St. NW.
The USCCB has for decades advocated for open borders, and made a buck in the process. They, along with other volunteer agencies such as, Church World Services and Lutheran Refugee Services, have lobbied congress for higher levels of immigration.
It’s time to shut them down.
In solidarity.
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