Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Bye, Bye Miss American Empire
by Bill Kauffman
Secession? Oh, yeah, that's the quaint idea that the South came up with back in the day. The one that was proven to be wrong by the Civil War, right? Don't you believe it. The idea of secession from the United States is as old as the nation itself. (Or older, if you look at the American Revolution as the Seccession of American Colonies.) Mr. Kauffman gives us a rambling tour of the history of secession in the States, focusing mostly on those areas where folks still feel the pull of independence today. He's an appealing writer--informing and entertaining at the same time. He half tempted me to join the cause and root for the dissolution of an American Empire that looks much more like King George III's England that George Washington's United States. Of course, Mr. Kauffman's underlying philosophy is localism--a love of place and native culture. I can respect his stand, but when he starts to sing the praises of place, I realize that I'm just a poor exile living far from my native lands. I don't know if I ever really had a place that I would call my own. I'm pretty sure I could never reclaim it if I did. But it's still nice to dream of an alternative to Walmart, McDonalds and the never ending wars in someone else's back yard.
Do check it out.
LibraryThing link
Secession? Oh, yeah, that's the quaint idea that the South came up with back in the day. The one that was proven to be wrong by the Civil War, right? Don't you believe it. The idea of secession from the United States is as old as the nation itself. (Or older, if you look at the American Revolution as the Seccession of American Colonies.) Mr. Kauffman gives us a rambling tour of the history of secession in the States, focusing mostly on those areas where folks still feel the pull of independence today. He's an appealing writer--informing and entertaining at the same time. He half tempted me to join the cause and root for the dissolution of an American Empire that looks much more like King George III's England that George Washington's United States. Of course, Mr. Kauffman's underlying philosophy is localism--a love of place and native culture. I can respect his stand, but when he starts to sing the praises of place, I realize that I'm just a poor exile living far from my native lands. I don't know if I ever really had a place that I would call my own. I'm pretty sure I could never reclaim it if I did. But it's still nice to dream of an alternative to Walmart, McDonalds and the never ending wars in someone else's back yard.
Do check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
// posted by John @ 11:57 AM 
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