Now I know how John Stewart or Stephen Colbert must feel when all kinds of crazy things happen while they’re on vacation. Of course, politics being what they are in this nation, at this time, just about any week you pick is chock full of events proving beyond doubt that we are a nation infested with lots of crazy people in high places.
One of the latest examples is the governor of Virginia’s attempt to reinstate a hallowed Virginia tradition: Confederate History Month. One would think that after George Allen had his macaca moment, Virginia Republicans would have learned that times have changed a bit since 1964 and that even covert appeals to racism might no longer be politically astute moves, at least outside of the Deep South, where racism still appears to be a winning strategy. It’s interesting that these politicians still try to perpetuate the myth that the Civil War was about more than just slavery. It is surprising how these myths can have such staying power when one really need only go back to what was actually being said at the time to demolish them. Witness this brilliant post by my second born here (picked up by TAP, no less) which presents some pertinent quotes from the various declarations of secession. There’s also an interesting discussion here of the Confederate Constitution, the authors of which seemed quite obsessed with preserving the South’s way of life through eternity. A noble document indeed.
There are a lot of what-ifs in history, and there’s been no end of speculation about what would have happened had the South won, or simply been allowed to secede. My own opinion is that we in the North would probably have benefitted tremendously, had we simply let them go, since the cultural drag that the South has been (Southerners have wielded disproportionate political power for a number of reasons, e.g., control of chairmanships, group think, etc.) on this country has deprived us of the ability to keep pace with enlightened regions of the world, though they likely would have made common cause with Nazi Germany, which might have been inconvenient. Without them we’d probably have universal health care and a whole lot more. Judging by the sections of their constitution quoted in the article I’ve linked to, the South itself would have become a third world nation, if it managed to stay together at all. Just as an example, their constitution forbade the Confederate government from “appropriat[ing] money for any internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce”. No highway system, no effective rail system, etc. It would have been a reactionary government in the extreme, founded on economic and political theory that was outmoded when it was written, though, crazy as it sounds, it is the same theory the Republicans are trotting out to have the health care law declared unconstitutional.
