tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post738991132630622746..comments2024-02-18T17:35:25.382+00:00Comments on Bloggin fae the 'Burn: <i>Ulster-Scots thoughts</i>: Secession - and the 'Ulster Month' of 1922Mark Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820251983224121718noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post-14594855264623434172014-09-16T14:12:40.721+01:002014-09-16T14:12:40.721+01:00As a native Middle Tennessean (and a person of Sco...As a native Middle Tennessean (and a person of Scotch-Irish ancestry), I need to point out a small error in your article. <br /><br />Only eleven states actually went through the formality of secession. Kentucky and Missouri never formally left the Union, but elements in both states set up Confederate governments in opposition to the standing state governments. These were recognized by the Confederacy and that is the reason you have thirteen stars on the Battle Flag.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15936919501511897370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post-19304665801810144302014-09-10T16:34:33.310+01:002014-09-10T16:34:33.310+01:00"Is there still a sense of North v South in t..."Is there still a sense of North v South in the US, or has it become powerful v powerless, across the whole nation?"<br /><br />In the south - the scars are very deep, and still remembered. From 1865-1980 or so we had I think a shaky truce of narrative. Both sides had heroes, both sides had villains, it was a tragic wound in our common history, but we were a stronger, better people together than apart.<br /><br />The establishment generation *after* the Civil Rights era chose instead a "rub those ignorant southern noses in it" approach, and began a steady attack on southern culture in all its manifestations.. That's led to most of the southern resentment you probably noted on your trip. <br /><br />The latter part of this essay captures it well - <br /><br />http://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/review/why-do-they-hate-the-south-and-its-symbols/<br /><br />Outside the south, it's a different story. The West was settled largely after the war, was little touched by it, and there aren't deep memories of it. Once you pass Nebraska, history seems to start with the cowboys. :)<br /><br />The northeast .. is a mixed bag. The late 19th/early 20th c. immigration brought in lots of folks with no dog in the old fight, and who mostly just don't care/think about it. <br /><br />The old Boston Brahmans over the course of the 20th caught the new wave, and at some point lost their religion but kept their messianic fervor. Add in a sort of cynical despair after the Great Society never delivered on its promise, and you get the "Bright" / collectivist / scolding / snarky vibe you see on the "Commanding Heights" of American culture today. <br /><br />"Powerful vs Powerless"... is a tricky dichotomy, b/c our left and right are culturally more antipathetic to each other than we have been in decades, and thanks to the cultural bubbles of online news as opposed to a common broadcast-era culture are moving apart daily. <br /><br />The reasonable middle of each side sees only the elites and the dregs of the other. BOTH sides see themselves powerless, victims of arrogant elites manipulating dull stooges on the other side.. and both are kinda right in that. <br /><br />Both would love to get out from under the elites of both parties.. but neither wants to live in a world made by the other. Law and politicking have become weapons of cultural conquest and internal warfare. <br /><br />I've heard the state of America today called a "Cold Civil War" and I think that's true. <br /><br />Maybe it's always been like this and I didn't notice as a teen, maybe it comes and goes in waves, I don't know... but I know it feels worse to be now than any time in my lifetime. <br /><br /><br />Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682072668997410668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post-7580142196849027492014-09-10T15:34:12.240+01:002014-09-10T15:34:12.240+01:00Fascinating thoughts Jenny. From the other side of...Fascinating thoughts Jenny. From the other side of the pond there has been a generational, and institutionalised, disdain for the achievements of previous centuries - usually because of colonial guilt etc. And ordinary folk in Britain and Ireland were probably exploited by those elites just as much as the ordinary folk in the various colonies. Our present-day metropolitan elites still like to exploit and mock the working classes, as demonstrated in England just a few days ago by a politico/media figure called Matthew Parris.<br /><br />Is there still a sense of North v South in the US, or has it become powerful v powerless, across the whole nation?Mark Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12820251983224121718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post-13016126522648525472014-09-10T15:30:15.953+01:002014-09-10T15:30:15.953+01:00Ah! And I don't think I answered your question...Ah! And I don't think I answered your question re: states rights / secession as regards the UK. <br /><br />As an American traditionalist with fond romantic notions of our old mother country in her glory days, I'm sorry to see her split still more. <br /><br />As a Southerner with a romantic attachment to stubborn independence I'm happy to see Scotland is no tame subordinate, but keeps her own culture and identity - and if the Scots choose to break away, yeehaw!<br /><br />Being very dubious of left wing economics, I suspect Scots won't find the prosperity they expect after a divorce. <br /><br /><br />But mostly, as liberty-minded American I think "not my playground - y'all do what you want." <br /><br />:)Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682072668997410668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post-44919020436477869642014-09-10T15:01:26.839+01:002014-09-10T15:01:26.839+01:00Been away from blogger too long. :)
re: The Late ...Been away from blogger too long. :)<br /><br />re: The Late Unpleasantness - <br />I think the Confederate States did the right thing for the wrong reason - the USA the reverse. <br /><br />It's not for nothing that a foreigner visiting our shores - forgive me, I forget his nationality - was told that war then underway was the process of "Massachusetts conquering America."<br /><br /><br />re: States Rights as a more general concept - <br />James Madison - I think in Federalist 10 - talks about the smoothing effect of federal power. <br /><br />As an example- Pot smoking hippies are a minority in Texas. Christian gun owners likewise in Massachusetts. But b/c Texas and Mass both have significant federal voices, there's a limit to how far Texans can harass hippies, or Massachusetts folk can harass gun owners.<br /><br />At least, that's the ideal. In practice I think it's come to a point we'd all be better off with an amiable divorce. <br /><br /><br /><br />Finally - The world would be I submit a more dangerous place without the Anglo-American hegemony of the seas we've both enjoyed the last 300 years, and I don't think that's a power that should be so lightly tossed aside. <br /><br />However, since our elites are helping themselves to the trough while negligently away everything that made this forced marriage worthwhile, well.. to quote a damn Yankee- <br /><br />"Good fences make good neighbors."<br /><br />I think we'd all be a lot happier with a cultural divorce that lets us each live as we wish, without having to wage a constant war over the federal machine just to live unmolested.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682072668997410668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post-26851252649424336262014-09-10T14:35:58.080+01:002014-09-10T14:35:58.080+01:00Hi Jenny - nice to hear from you again! The region...Hi Jenny - nice to hear from you again! The regions of the UK are definitely suffering from our own federal dominations, either from London or 'higher up' from Brussels. Both are very detached from the lives of everyday folk. What is your opinion on 'states rights'?Mark Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12820251983224121718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13344062.post-50596073282154695302014-09-10T14:18:35.592+01:002014-09-10T14:18:35.592+01:00For what it's worth, you'll find more rebe...For what it's worth, you'll find more rebel flags in East Tennessee today than you ever would have in 1861. It leaned Union back when, but 150 years of Federal domination and "make fun of the hillbillies" orthodoxy has soured a lot of folk. Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682072668997410668noreply@blogger.com