We Don't Need Another CIVIL WAR!

Old School ^ | 6/8/21 | Patrick Rooney

[rebuildus]

I’ve been watching documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ classic series The Civil War , and I’m loving it! Since coming to the South, my interest in the horrific fight between Americans has increased dramatically.

I’ve also read Bill O’Reilly’s / Martin Dugard’s book Killing Lincoln, which I also enjoyed immensely.

Watching The Civil War, I heard Frederick Douglass quoted many times, which piqued my interest too, so now I’m also reading his autobiography! I definitely highly recommend this one. Too many have white-washed Slavery with an image of happy slaves joyfully singing spirituals. This is the other side, from the perspective of an ex-slave.

In times past, I may have watched The Civil War with a jaundiced eye, suspect that it originally aired on liberal PBS, or that Ken Burns is probably a liberal.

But I’m watching it with an open mind, and though I’m sure some people may tell me that it’s biased and is missing this or that key fact, I find it even-handed, and just as important–HUMANE.

In our mad desire to “win” in the political and cultural arena, I find a severe shortage of humanity among us (“right” and “left”). No, I will not equate the two, and pretend that humanity is equally lacking in the two sides. Many leftists are out of their minds with rage and destructive impulses. Yet, I see too little love on the right side of the spectrum as well.

That’s a problem.

As I watch The Civil War, I’m constantly struck by the good and bad on BOTH sides:

The North stood against the evil of Slavery (that’s a HUGE mark in their favor). Yet, life in northern cities could be de-humanizing, particularly in contrast with more natural and healthy rural living, which the South personified.

And the destruction of states’ rights, which Lincoln started, opened the door to today’s full-on ASSAULT against these rights. Yet nobody can rationally say that any state has the right to sanction the buying and selling of human beings against their will.

The South had a healthy distrust of the corrupting power of the federal government. Unfortunately for them, this distrust was so great that it impeded them from coming together sufficiently within their OWN government to maximize their chances for winning the war.

That so many Americans were essentially okay with a system that treated other Americans as PROPERTY is unsettling, to be frank. Of course, things have not changed all that much: the WHOLE country (North and South) permits the slaughter of unborn children in the womb. So are we any better than the slave-holders?

My point here, is that our hatred for our fellow man blinds us to the GOOD that resides within him. If the North and South COMBINED the good aspects of each, there never would have been a Civil War, and Reconstruction would have gone much better for all concerned, particularly the ex-slaves.

This principle is true of virtually EVERY division we have: black vs. white, right vs. left, rural vs. city, vegan vs. carnivore, “internal” vs. “external” martial arts, calisthenics vs. weight training, etc.

Tribes rule what was once the UNITED States of America, and this same phenomenon is playing out worldwide.

Rise of the “Tribal Chiefs”

Everywhere we see the rise of “tribal chiefs”–those who benefit via money and power from fomenting DIVISION amongst us. We see it all over the Internet–“influencers” who get clicks by insulting people who don’t agree with them.

You probably watch some of them. We all do.

Think about it–is this really productive? Does this place us in a more or less united position? Many of the people doing this call themselves “Christians.” Is this Christian?

Tribes are typically led by “chiefs” who are charismatic, have a way with words, are bold, and insatiable for attention. They cater to our worst instincts. It reminds me of one of my favorite old quotes…

"The palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise"--Thomas Paine

Tribalism is killing our unity, and thus killing our nation and the civilized world. We must overcome it or perish!

I believe healing starts when we recognize the part we are playing in this deadly game. This site will continue to promote the best in natural health, success, and freedom, and it will continue to point out those who are enemies of these, but it will not indulge in gratuitous insults to build our readership.

And I have no illusions–we will not ALL unite. Only those of goodwill, despite our differences. But I believe that will be enough to save our countries, or at least to safeguard those of us who trust God’s grace and the power of a people united.

Patrick Rooney is the Founder of OldSchoolUs.com. He communicates clearly and fearlessly during perilous times about natural health, success, and freedom. To reach Patrick, email him at info@oldschoolus.com.

[Sans-Culotte]

I despise Ken Burns. He is the original CRT pusher. Every “fantastic” documentary he did had whole segments on the poor oppressed blacks and how awful we all are in the US. Plus, the docs are BORING. Good Lord, how slow, dirge music, monotonic narrative.

Burns has really ruined the art of documentary-making. It used to be you would see footage or photographs with a narrator telling you what had taken place. You only saw "talking heads" if the interviewee was involved in the story (as with the British documentary The World at War). Since Burns, every documentary seems to consist of a narrative that is constantly interrupted by some professor or author saying the same thing with a lot more words.

[wardaddy]

He has some salient points

But if you move south as a yankee don’t use Ken Burns as your go to on the War Between the States

Does he see Deliverance as documentary...

The war and the south is because in most of the south you can still see the vestiges of it..

Particularly both where I grew up and live now ....Mississippi and Tennessee and I was born around 3 generations after when it’s still fairly fresh especially since the cultural divide still existed and we had so many slave descended here..

That last point is one most Freepers just never will grasp....their knowledge of the black race is so naively limited

In most of the south you coexist with them....the good bad and ugly

In my youth it was overwhelmingly good and I was sympathetic to them...man has that worm ever turned...

Anyhow...I can’t speak for Charlotte or Richmond or Baton Rouge and so on but most of the South is disappearing

Overrun by non southerners coming here to escape the liberal Hells they created or inherited....I’m outside Franklin Tn and it’s over half yankees

And southern college qualified kids today rarely have strong southern accents anymore

The rural areas hang on as quote southern but truly they are as much country as southern ...

It’s just how things go

Sherman’s atrocities applauded by assholes on this forum ....carpetbaggers and Reconstruction excess all failed..even civil rights largesse again applauded by a many Freepers .failed ..in the long run to subjugate the south

But the wacko excess of the non southern America and subsequent migrations of refugees here will vanquish us in short order

That same momentum is already eating away at Idaho and Arizona and did in Colorado

But Wardaddy these are conservatives moving....not all I hate to break it to folks....here where I live I know one lady realtor said last 90 days she sold 80 homes to Californian refugees....simply incredible numbers

Look at big outfits moving here

Amazon
Oracle
Asurion

I asked her are they lefties....she said about 50/50

No question my 70% red county will slide some...

I’m not overstating this...

It’s unprecedented ...well maybe the black migration north post WWI for automotive work is similar

And look what that did to those cities ...eventually

[Wallace T.]

There were many Republican politicians in the North and West that were pro-Klan in the 1920s. Edward Jackson, a Republican elected Governor of Indiana in 1924, had the strong support of the KKK. The Oregon legislature, which voted in 1922 to outlaw private (mostly Catholic) schools, was overwhelmingly Republican at that time. Clarence Morley, Governor of Colorado from 1925 to 1927, was a Klan member and a Republican. Morley was outspokenly anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic, demanding that the University of Colorado fire all non-Protestant professors. In Maine, Ralph Brewster was elected Governor in 1924 with KKK support.

Oregon and Maine had little Southern influence a century ago and were effectively one party GOP states. Neither state, nor Indiana and Colorado, had large black populations.

[mewzilla]

Wrong war.

Reread the Declaration of Independence.

Pay special attention to the “facts submitted” bits.

Any of them sound familiar...?

[Paal Gulli]

His first mistake was taking anything to heart that was seen in one of Ken Burns’ propaganda pieces.

[rebuildus]

Thanks, Iceclimber58. As you likely know, he appears often in the Ken Burns documentary. Sounds like he knows his stuff.

[rebuildus]

Burns’ documentary often mentioned the abolitionist movement, but you’re right—not the Christian basis behind it.

[rebuildus]

Interesting. Thanks.

[freeandfreezing]

Those Republicans might be early RINOS. I wonder why they decided to go against the principles of the early Republicans, many of whom were killed by the KKK in the south.

[rebuildus]

100 percent. Many here are ignoring this most important of points.

[rebuildus]

You’re missing the point. The author DOES realize this war has already started, but it’s not about kumbaya. It’s about getting our own house in order first, something too many on this forum ignore. It’s always easiest to point the finger somewhere else.

[metmom]

Whether we need it or not, it looks like we’re heading for one anyways.

[sarge83]

This type of war will be fought in every town, county and state. So far the right has not joined the battle, when it happens it would get as ugly as Sarajevo in the 90’s. Cities destroyed and targeted killings by both sides, it will be brutal and nasty.

[central_va]

Wrong. Red sates will secede and have organized armies and will crush the cities that dare to go into chaos.

[central_va]

Red sates = Red states

[Wallace T.]

From the beginning, the GOP has been a coalition between different factions. Lincoln was a Whig before switching to the nascent Republican Party. His political hero was Henry Clay, advocate of the American System, which advocated protection of domestic industry through high tariffs, emphasis on internal improvements like canals, harbors, and railroads, and vigorous prosecution of Indian wars. There was the Free Soil Party, which supported restricting slavery to the 15 states where it was legal and the opening of the West to small farmers. The supporters of abolition wanted either entire manumission of slaves or splitting the Union to let the slave states go their way. Finally, there was the Know Nothing Party, which favored strict restriction on immigration. Like the 1920s Ku Klux Klan, it was virulently anti-Catholic, with its advocates notorious for burning Catholic churches and convents and fighting with Catholic immigrants. The movie, Gangs of New York, emphasizes this trend.

The four factions united in vigorous support of suppressing Southern secession. After the defeat of the Confederacy, the Republicans split over the degree to which Reconstruction would be pursued. Ulysses Grant as President was a strong supporter of crushing Southern resistance against black civil rights. However, there were the so-called Liberal Republicans like Horace Greeley, who favored reconciliation with the white South. The election of 1876 marked the end of Reconstruction. Rutherford Hayes, as part of a deal giving him the electoral votes of three Southern states taken over by the Democrats, agreed to withdrawal of Federal troops from the South. Losing the military protection ensured that the blacks, outnumbered, outgunned, and dealing with hostile state governments from Virginia to Texas, were relegated to second class citizenship, including loss of voting rights, and segregation over the 1877-1900 period.

While some Republicans, such as Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, and Warren Harding, publicly advocated protection of black rights, virtually nothing was done at the Federal level between the end of Reconstruction and the New Deal. Republicans during this period were divided between a laissez faire faction, epitomized by Calvin Coolidge, who famously stated that the business of America was business, and a Progressive faction, which favored what we would call liberal reforms like Federal regulation of railroads and monopolies. Theodore Roosevelt and Robert LaFollette were examples of the Progressive faction. The Coolidge faction was the progenitor of conservatism in the GOP: Robert Taft, Sr., Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan. The Progressive faction is the ancestor of liberal Republicans, known as "me too" Republicans, RINOs, etc.: Thomas Dewey, Dwight Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, the Bushes.

[M Kehoe]

Professor, I’m not sure if I should have pinged you to this thread.

5.56mm

[the OlLine Rebel]

I thought boring. Again, slow dirges for music, and just too “quiet”. It’s really sad when a topic that’s supposed to have action and fun is dull.

Never mind the whole “whoa-is-me” section on blacks.

[GOPJ]

Yes, in Ken Burns “classic series” there’s good and bad on both sides...that’s true. But on the important issue - the issue of the day - the only one that mattered during the civil war - the issue of slavery - ONLY the North had it right.

Slavery is evil. That truth stands the test of time.

In our situation today - a fight against an organized domestic communism - only conservatives are right. On the most important issue - the only one that matters - that Marxism is evil - only our side has it right...

Marxism is evil.

[the OlLine Rebel]

“or splitting the Union to let the slave states go their way.”

Ah hah!

Never heard this brought up.

Oh heavens that those Southerners dared split it!