Listen in as Victor Davis Hanson and cohost Jack Fowler discuss Trump’s polls, trials, voters, and strategic possibilities. Then they examine the Central Valley of California, the blaming and defaming of white rural people, the “12 O’Clock High” series, and Israel’s dilemma.
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Can you show the 1931 letter from your aunt?
Thanks Victor, honesty, humility, humor. What a joy to hear!
VDH on fire with this one! This generalization by color has to stop. Half my ancestry is of the Famersville culture, descendant from sharecroppers, fruit pickers, canners, carpenters, and so on. My grandparents lived in Camron Creek and then moved up living on Costner Ave. They grew and canned almost all of there fruits and vegetables. Spending a few cents on RC Cola or an ice cream from the truck was a huge treat. Multiple uncles served in WWII with nothing but loyalty to the United States. Oddly enough many of them were Southern Democrats, but I don’t think they would recognize the party today. I remember the story when they came to California in the 30s. They were stopped at the California border and couldn’t cross until they could verify employment with an Uncle who had a farm in the Famersville/Visalia area. Even the current generation of which I am part of are not or have ever been privileged in any way. Half of us succumbed to the criminal culture and are in jail for drug or robbery related crimes. The other half are all hard working Americans who have earned everything they have. You are so right that being characterized as having some kind of privilege or somehow being a white supremacist is so insulting on so many levels. Be interesting so see who fights the next war for our country since this demographic will not participate at previous levels.
So very interesting and true. A bygone era for sure. Thank you for sharing.
Interesting that right now in Britain they’re discussing racism in rural Wales. Climate change, racism and everything in between are all being used to destroy all western societies. Maybe we should all join together and fight against the globalists.
Kathy
Unless Haley approaches TRUMP, there is no reason to call her. This “Big money” that’s behind Haley is from Progressives who want to DESTROY Trump. They aren’t going to change their minds cuz Haley and Trump reconcile. They don’t care one iota about Haley. Haley knows that but she’s still willing to take the money. Mr. Hanson, I usually agree with you and learn from you, but you are wrong on this point.
Okies, a yes. A word whose usage has all but been lost.
A dear aunt that moved with both sides of the family to Oregon from farming in Minnesota in order to work in the woods and sawmills in 1938 fretted even in her advanced years in Roseberg about being called that.
I love the “free-range” childhood in the San Joaquin valley stories, having had a similar childhood. People look at me like I’m from another planet when I tell them I learned to castrate animals in my high school ag class and learned to fix tractors in ag mechanics. My mother and most of my friends mothers worked seasonally in the canneries and most of us worked in the fields picking crops to earn money in the summer break. Salt-of-the-earth people.
Victor and Jack,
I enjoyed this recent podcast, and then subsequently Victor’s essay of comparison between Israel’s current Oct. 7th War and the Fall of 1973 Yom Kippur War recently published in the New Criterion: https://newcriterion.com/issues/2024/3/israels-eternal-dilemma
Regarding a question in the podcast, if I recall correctly, it was Nixon’s N.S.A. head, former Gen. Alexander Haig who was the point man for directing the military airlift to Israel during Y.K. war while Nixon was extremely busy with domestic issues as you thoroughly detailed in the essay.
Regards
Jeremy
Professor Hanson,
I discovered your work after 9/11. I have always appreciated your view as a professor of classics and as a farmer from a rural town. I love History as a hobby while my profession is project management for a home builder.
I remember years ago listening to “A History of the Roman Republic” by Cyril Robinson. At one point he describes the Roman population around 200-100 BC(I think) setting the stage for despotism. When I was listening to this it was probably around 2004-2006. He describes the Roman citizenry as “not able to do anything for themselves, because they had slaves to do everything so they didn’t know how to do anything anymore, and didn’t care to learn “, none of them fought in the army because they had barbarian auxiliaries” and on and on. I was struck how much America embodied the whole passage even then, before social media and smart phones. I keep looking for the passage to review it(forgive my paraphrase).
I’ve been listening to your podcasts for about a month, and it’s painfully clear that we have spiraled even further. As you say, it was gradual to me then, and now, almost 20 years later, it is sudden. I really hope sensible people that know what it takes to keep the utilities on and how to build and grow things will vote this November; “for civilization”, as you say; even though we are called “deplorables”. It’s refreshing to hear well reasoned, through-the-lens-of-history conversation about our country’s challenges.
Thank you
Scott
Victor, Jack and Sami
I am enjoying every single minute of these podcasts; Truly thank you.
You mentioned on today’s podcast Israel is alone in the middle of 500 million hostile Muslims. It’s a reality and it’s unfortunately true. However, I need to bring your attention that “Iranian/Persian” are not enemy of Israel or people of Israel at all; “Islamic Republic (of Iran)” is.
Apart from close relationship of Persian and Jews from the old times (recorded in the Old Testament) please have a quick look at #IranianStandsWithIsrael hashtag on Twitter (X) after Seventh of October 2023 massacre. This relationship and its importance has been re-addressed by Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Kind Regards,
B.R
VDH. You should write a book about rural America. I am not a farmer, but am rural. I spent my teenage years working for one particular farmer, mostly hay and straw bailing. I have fond memories of that, and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I remember in my Junoir year of college(roughly 1984) The owner asked me what I was doing. I explained that I was going to college. At that time, the going rate for bailing hay was $3 per hour. Kenny was a man of few words, and he did not say anything further. At the end of the day when it came time to pay for the labor, I was paid $4 per hour. I have never forgotten that, and I never will. This farmer has since passed on, but my property line is within a stones throw.
Thank You, Victor. For your comentary.