On Nov. 18, Nashville News Channel 5 writer Phil Williams delivered a frantic “exclusive analysis” into the supposed right-wing radical targeting remote Jackson County, Tennessee, for a invasion. They do not, according to him, differ significantly from the thoughts that the neo-Nazis and another white supremacists have advocated while marching through Nashville streets last year.
In order for Phil to” talk truth to power,” as he describes his vision in his X profile, his camera crew, helicopter, and even a news helicopter flew over the small Gainesboro community. As a local Tennessean, past Nashville police agent, long-time resident of the area, and colleague to several of these so-called radical, I thought I’d give my view.
Conservatives relocating to liberal cities
Two listeners who made the decision to relocate to Jackson County and purchase land for the Highland Rim Project, a project I’m friends with and RidgeRunner, are at the heart of Williams ‘ article. RidgeRunner’s theory is n’t some key, and a quick look at their website would’ve saved Williams decades of problems in his search to discover their intentions.
They aim to retain what’s good, revive what’s frightened, and develop toward a better prospect in smaller towns and rural areas of Appalachia. They connect the plethora of Americans who are fed up with the conflict, danger, and madness of large cities and blue says to desirable locations abroad. It has nothing to do with light power.
Phil believes he has found a purpose in the X feeds of people who have chosen the pioneer road through rural America, but he is correct that motion is the main focus of today’s culture. There’s no stopping the Big Sort, merely like there’s no stopping development in and around Nashville, so any blogger may be looking into who’s moving to Tennessee, why, and what it will mean for local communities.
Some red-state people are concerned that large crowds of newcomers will cause abrupt changes to the social and political order because so many people are moving across the country. ” Do n’t California my Texas” is the constant cry of those overrun in the Lonestar State. If too many liberals move in, voting for the very things that initially sent them packing, red state could turn into orange.
Small-Town Classic American Culture
RidgeRunner leans into the Big Sort because he sees it as a chance. RidgeRunner just announced its plan for an innovative but conventional society in Gainesboro, Tennessee, a smaller town close to my house in Cookeville. It’s not just area and properties. In addition to attracting 150 well-paying developing jobs starting in 2027, RidgeRunner has previously partnered with four other companies.
You wo n’t hear anything about that in Williams ‘ piece. Phil is content to leave his blue bubbles and start a fearmongering business in Gainesboro with the great people of Jackson County. The inventors are. That’s why they’re moving it. That’s why they’re bringing tasks with them.
They’re attracting good people who want to lead quiet, fruitful life in well-run communities in keeping with the traditional American, Christian small-town society, which most Americans enjoyed up until recently. Their project seeks to preserve the history, culture, and way of life of its native people, in contrast to other developers who want to raze up the countryside for the highest profit.
Outsiders Dive-Bombing Locals with Lies
In a report he claims took three months to prepare, Nashville-based journalist Phil allegedly attacked the ideas and people trying to live in Gainesboro. Phil might have a working investigative story about the bloody gangs that rule Tennessee’s major cities in the next three months.
Phil lashes his hatred at a few American families who have moved from outside the state as Venezuelan gang soldiers set up shop there. If Tren de Aragua took over Gainesboro, you would n’t see Phil in Jackson County covering the story. He only showed up because it serves as an excuse to criticize the majority of Americans who had already voted to stop paying attention to those like him.
Phil reached out to two progressive pastors who live more than 100 miles from Gainesboro in search of “local” voices to reaffirm his convictions. If either of them ever visited Jackson County, I’d be surprised. At the end of the day, the news story was just another group of city residents venting their opinions of the rest of us because no one was in contact with them outside of the Nashville area.
Cynical Hatred of Rural Americans
This one is focused on improving the area rather than just hollowing it out like the others, out of all the outfits looking to make money off the Big Sort. A group of Christians are responsible for its operation, and they follow biblical principles. A well-organized and well-run investment group travels to a rural Tennessee area with limited resources to create new economic opportunities that will improve the area’s reputation and raise the standard of living for its residents.
And now they appear all of a sudden? To do what, exactly? Kill this development? Scare off investors? Continue to keep Jackson County’s poor and forgotten. Now that Christian conservatives are taking action to address Jackson County’s plight, Phil finally cares about it. Pardon my incredulity.
The Highland Rim Project’s members are good people who are tired of living in the grip of utter nonsense, in plain sight. They seek the tranquility of an agrarian and rural lifestyle. They prefer to be surrounded by people who wo n’t try to evict or murder them. Unlike Phil, they do n’t look down on the people already in Jackson County, but want to be their neighbors. They desire a resumption of American culture. The purpose of RidgeRunner is to simply create a location.
Immigrants Who Love Our Country are Welcome.
Some of the newcomers to the Highland Rim Project have contacted me to ask what they think about the influx of “foreigners” like them who are from other states. I say I’m glad they’re coming. They will make my house feel better if I have them. We share a vision and goals.
The newcomers have expressed a desire to be good Tennesseans. They want to be good neighbors. They aspire to respect our cultural norms, respect our heroes and histories, and respect our culture by ensneering from it. Whether or not their new neighbors are Christians, they want to improve the lives of the typical town residents.
The Highland Rim of Tennessee already has good churches, a classical Christian school, and a strong homeschool cohort. It has affordable land and high taxes. Sweet water is pouring directly from the ground. It retains a culture that fondly recalls the days when everyone unharmedly declared,” Christ is Lord.”
As a “local”, it would be all too easy to resent the arrival of those who might dilute my culture, or to simply dislike them over regional differences. You will be asked to become a Tennessean if you want to relocate to Gainesboro and participate in it.
I, for one, embrace the strengthening of my hometown. I embrace its growing anti-fragility. And I have good news for Phil Williams: He wo n’t ever have to tamper with Jackson County, Tennessee’s sacred earth. We do n’t need him.
Terry Gant is a great books teacher at Highland Rim Academy, Principal of Daniel 1 Academy, and the managing editor at American Reformer. Prior to that, he worked as a Metro Nashville police officer and owner of a small business. In Tennessee’s Highland Rim, he and his wife and kids reside. He is on Twitter/X @scriptmanuscr1.
