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In reply to the discussion: Secession? Secession! You have got to be kidding me. [View all]JustAnotherGen
(33,288 posts)6. I read this book in August
http://www.amazon.com/Better-Off-Without-Manifesto-Secession/dp/1451616651
Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession -
Chuck Thompson takes a hysterical look at the "threat" of "The South Is Gonna Do It Again" and turns the tables on the Take Our Country Back Crowd.
I have hesitated to post a review because we do have so many staunch liberal and progressive members at DU who come from the 14 states he makes a strong argument *nudge* for the rest of the country INSIST the South leaves the union.
The serious side of the book (layered throughout the humor) is the vast inequality that still exists in the South today. Example - how can we head into the future when the public school system is broken and RE- segregated? With people who wish to continue the inequality by their push of "charter" schools and the massive number of "Christian" (read whites only) schools that have sprung up in retaliation to the Brown V Board cases? Would the US be better to leave those 14 states Thompson outlines behind? Allow them to go so they can take science off the table and teach creationism without United States interference?
He touches on everything from the SEC College Football shakedown to the Jesus/Creation Museums, to the very definition of a Southern Strategy by one political party who benefits from the entrenchment of Confederate values, and how it could even become a huge tourist point for Americans . . . IE - made into an exotic foreign locale akin to Tanzania or Belize.
Might be worth a read - because while funny - its also a terribly sad analysis of perhaps WHY non Southerners and those who have no roots in the South (I'm in the North East - raised here but have Alabama red clay in veins) say . . . Why didn't we just let them go when we had the chance?
Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession -
Chuck Thompson takes a hysterical look at the "threat" of "The South Is Gonna Do It Again" and turns the tables on the Take Our Country Back Crowd.
I have hesitated to post a review because we do have so many staunch liberal and progressive members at DU who come from the 14 states he makes a strong argument *nudge* for the rest of the country INSIST the South leaves the union.
The serious side of the book (layered throughout the humor) is the vast inequality that still exists in the South today. Example - how can we head into the future when the public school system is broken and RE- segregated? With people who wish to continue the inequality by their push of "charter" schools and the massive number of "Christian" (read whites only) schools that have sprung up in retaliation to the Brown V Board cases? Would the US be better to leave those 14 states Thompson outlines behind? Allow them to go so they can take science off the table and teach creationism without United States interference?
He touches on everything from the SEC College Football shakedown to the Jesus/Creation Museums, to the very definition of a Southern Strategy by one political party who benefits from the entrenchment of Confederate values, and how it could even become a huge tourist point for Americans . . . IE - made into an exotic foreign locale akin to Tanzania or Belize.
Might be worth a read - because while funny - its also a terribly sad analysis of perhaps WHY non Southerners and those who have no roots in the South (I'm in the North East - raised here but have Alabama red clay in veins) say . . . Why didn't we just let them go when we had the chance?
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"4 Big Reasons, Plus A Bunch Of Smaller Reasons, Why The South Won’t ‘Rise Again’". . .
Journeyman
Oct 2012
#1
the big scandal of DC is beyond the beautiful buildings are slums filled with poverty.
roguevalley
Oct 2012
#49
What I was trying to say is nobody believed the South would actually secede....
OldDem2012
Oct 2012
#67
Gee back when the internet was ARPA/DARPA net nothing was in the red states
coldwaterintheface
Oct 2012
#45
We became a SLAVE nation because of the red states at this countries founding
coldwaterintheface
Oct 2012
#48
Maybe you should take a look at this PBS site: Slavery and the Making of America"....
OldDem2012
Oct 2012
#69
Even during the Civil War there were counties that remained loyal to the Union
vinny9698
Oct 2012
#16
You beat me to it! This time around, i can't se cities like Miami, New Orleans or Atlanta
hedgehog
Oct 2012
#25
Hell, West Virginia became a state during the Civil War because its patriots
coalition_unwilling
Oct 2012
#30
There are hard core secessionist in Missouri such as State Senator Brian Nieves.
gordianot
Oct 2012
#28
If the scenario you lay out happend, all bets are off EVERYWHERE in the U.S. n/t
sharkman25
Oct 2012
#38
I say let 'em see their no government government in action - in a month they'll come crawling back.
Initech
Oct 2012
#37
Well if these people are so set on doing it then I will sell my property and move to Maryland
southernyankeebelle
Oct 2012
#51