[Magdalen] More Like Canada?

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

You know, the fact is, all over the world you see countries fracturing as
different groups seek their own personal place in the sun.  It even was a
big subject in Belgium and Holland. But in the USA, where some of us really
sometimes seem to hate each other, we still stick together.  I think it's a
large dysfunctional family.  So-and-so may have bad manners and smell
worse, but by God, he's still family.

Besides, all generalizations are false, and we all have relatives from the
South (or North, if you're in the South), and we almost all know somebody
who, while part of that area we don't care for, we still love this
individual to pieces.  We have our differences, and newspapers thrive on
covering the dissenting and quarreling, but for the most part, I really
think we make it work.

Maybe we remember Ben's wise remarks about union. I don't know what it is,
but so far the arguments for withdrawing from the Union generally receive a
few attaboys, then go nowhere.

I love the Hudson Valley; I love that I live on a road that was once a
bridle path on what was once Roosevelt land.

But I also love that my country includes Shrimp fishermen, the Rockies, the
Alamo, the road to Lexington, Massachusetts, and folks who speak English in
such a musical manner it makes me feel all warm, especially when they add,
"bless yer heart."



James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Mon, Jul 13, 2015 at 1:23 AM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm a thousand miles away geographically, not quite so far
> socio-politically, but to me it sounds like my Mom on one of her
> what's-wrong-with-society rants. At least those are free.
>
> Surely the USA including "the South" whatever that means, is more complex
> than this?
>
> Aspects I see that seem to have some commonality with Southern Africa,
> aside from a painful history of slavery, racism and civil war, include a
> "frontier mentality" (guns and anti-Government interference), tremendous
> pressure from porous borders with an unstable rest-of-the-Continent, and an
> uneasy mix of dependency on agriculture (family farms of all sizes and some
> commercial operations going to the wall economically), scarce resources
> (water, electricity), inadequate social welfare and education systems in
> some places, environmental damage from mining and industry, and a host of
> factors underming grass-roots democracy, from corrruption to lack of
> education,  especially at local levels.
>
> Ongoing militarisation, abuse of security forces and the constant invoking
> of fear ("gevaar") which feeds xenophobia is another common pattern.
>
> How somehow separating North and South (or maybe West as well?) would
> resolve these issues is beyond me but maybe the fourth-generation Texan has
> some solution that doesn't sound like Donald Trump taking his latest show
> on the road.
>
> Sally D
>
> On Monday, July 13, 2015, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > We have to remain with them to save them from themselves.
> >
> > James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> > except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 5:30 PM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> > magdalen at herberthouse.org <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> > > This is excerpted in The Week, a magazine I read regularly.
> > > Lind is a 4th generation southerner from Texas himself.  He  brings
> > > up some food for thought.  There have been some strong  commentary
> > > disputing his views, as might be expected.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > <<<On  Friday, "Politco" contributing editor, Michael Lind postulated
> > that:
> > > “The  United States would be much less exceptional in general, and in
> > > particular more  like other English-speaking democracies such as
> Britain,
> > > Canada,
> > > Australia and  New Zealand were it not for the effects on U.S. politics
> > and
> > > culture of the  American South.  I don’t mean this in a good way. A lot
> > of
> > > the traits that  make the United States exceptional these days are
> > > undesirable, like higher  violence and less social mobility. Many of
> > these
> > > differences can be attributed  largely to the South.”
> > > Lind  goes on:
> > > “Some  deluded Southerners still pine for secession from the Union. Yet
> > no
> > > doubt there  are also more than a few liberal Northerners who would be
> > > happy
> > > to see them go.  Minus the South, the rest of the U.S. probably would
> be
> > > more like Canada  or Australia or Britain or New Zealand—more secular,
> > more
> > > socially liberal, more  moderate in the tone of its politics and
> somewhat
> > > more
> > > generous in social  policy.”>>>>
> > > David S.
> > >
> >
>