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It's been 150 years and sometimes it seems like we are still dealing with the fallout of the Civil War.
When you think about it, our culture, ideology, and way of life as Americans is still sharply divided based on whether you are in a former Confederate state or former Union state. While things have and are changing in most of the urban areas in the South, in much of the rural South people hang on to the Confederate flag with the same pride and loyalty they have to the U.S. flag, if not more so. Confederate monuments, despite the fact that the Confederacy was beat badly, are symbols of pride for Southerners.
I've heard people describe Trump's Presidency as the "South rising again," a common theme in Southern culture. I live in the South so I see it all the time. It's a very different mindset compared to most of the United States. Southern ideology tries to tow a fine line between right-wing authoritarianism and rugged individualism. People have the right to pursue their own form of happiness, as long as they adhere to the morals and values of their heritage and their God.
Northern culture is much more comfortable with the melting pot that America is. Southern ideology is much more tribalist in nature and rejects multiculturalism. Of course I want to say again because I know somebody will respond with this; this ideology doesn't represent the ENTIRE South and many cities in the South are as diverse and as purple as they have ever been. This mostly applies to the rural South and the smaller cities.
With all this in mind, it's clear that are polarization we are seeing today is very much a legacy of the war between the states. I wonder if we will ever move on as a country?
It's morphed and is part of the larger urban-rural battle that has defined much of US politics. Prohibition was a rural-urban battle. Cities are more liberal, rural areas more conservative. That's why Trump's victory map shows big impressive swathes of red but with less than 50% of the vote.
Best case scenario - the South is forcibly kicked out of the union. That would be great. If you want to elect jackass traitors like Trump, get the fudge out!
If the country ever split, I would hope that it is peaceful and there is a grace period where people from either side could migrate to the side they would prefer to be a part of. Even the South, in the urban areas, is far more diverse now than it was in 1860. I doubt people in places like Austin or Charlotte would be on board with the type of society rural Southerners want.
I live in the deep South and absolutely would NOT want to be here if the South were an independent nation.
There is no reason why Alabamans who also happen to be Americans should have to suffer.
I completely agree. That is really what I am worried about if the nation ever were to split. Not everyone in red states are on board with the radical ideology of the rural South and they should be granted citizenship in the Union if they want it.
No, a big part of our history, probably the biggest. We were a solid union during the revolution and WW1 and WW2 but the civil war divided us. We prevailed as a united nation, "that what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger".
I don't agree with all the monuments and flags on federal or state property but you do have to let the people and their families that fought for the Confederacy be recognized some how by their ancestry.
If the country ever split, I would hope that it is peaceful and there is a grace period where people from either side could migrate to the side they would prefer to be a part of. Even the South, in the urban areas, is far more diverse now than it was in 1860. I doubt people in places like Austin or Charlotte would be on board with the type of society rural Southerners want.
I live in the deep South and absolutely would NOT want to be here if the South were an independent nation.
LOL that grace period would get every over taxed gun owner out of NY NJ MA CT and into Texas, Florida etc. Where there's no state income taxes...
See how well an urban area fares with every farmer rancher and orchard owner flee south of the Mason Dixon line... All of Stewart's milk, came from locally sourced dairy farmers in NY. Price Choppers produce meat and poultry-alot of it was sourced from upstate NY farms...
Just like the election map for the presidential race, if you look at the north east states, there are more red areas than blue, but a higher concentration of blue population...
No lie, I've seen more rebel flags flying in the beds of pickup trucks and in front of people's houses in upstate NY than I have in the rural parts of Florida...
Last time I had been in all 5 boroughs, there was no farm in sight... Good luck to NYC pizzerias who can't get fresh tomatoes for sauce... the big city would have to dispense half of its population to rural areas to take over the farming and produce industry... that won't last long though... never met a cityiot who didn't have their weekend home lit up like a prison at night... every snap of a tree branch sends terror through their bodies...
No, we'll probably never move past it. How the hell could we? Think of how significant it is?
Most civil wars are about political uprisings. Has the American revolution gone different, that would probably have been considered a civil. We'd hear stories of the American separatists waging war and ultimately being defeated by the King's noble army. The American revolution was different though; it was distinctly geographical.
And think of what the country is called. The UNITED States... and there was a civil war, essentially among states. And look, states have feuds even now. I grew up in Iowa and there was a running joke that is the souther part of Iowa became part of Missouri, both states would get smarter. Jokes are regularly made about New Jersey being a trash state. Ted Cruz, with his weird brand of Texas Libertarianism made a comment about "New York values" prompting Trump to defend them in the only moment in which I actually kind of liked Trump. But New York isn't going to threaten a military conflict over that comment. Iowa and Missouri aren't going to war... espeically since people on the East and West coast probably don't know which state is which.
The Civil War was traumatic. Is it any surprise that there would still be scars after such a conflict?
The southern fries are what they accuse all non Trumpers of being - sore losers!
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