Desertscope

Musings from Southern New Mexico

Page 37 of 60

How Confederates Think

November 27, 2012 /

Today, Erik Loomis had an article up on John C. Calhoun’s argument against the complete annexation of Mexico. In it, he quoted some notable lines from Calhoun’s 1848 speech to Congress:

I know further, sir, that we have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race—the free white race. To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes. I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race. The greatest misfortunes of Spanish America are to be traced to the fatal error of placing these colored races on an equality with the white race. That error destroyed the social arrangement which formed the basis of society.

Thumbing through last week’s issue of The Economist, I saw “The 51st State? on the recent pro-statehood vote of Puerto Rico.” Of note:

The vote will not have immediate consequences. Congress would have to pass a law admitting Puerto Rico for it to become a state. With a fiscal squeeze looming at the start of 2013 lawmakers will have their hands full in the coming months.

…

Moreover, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has little incentive to address the topic. According to exit polls, 83% of boricuas on the mainland voted for Barack Obama. Statehood would add two Senate seats and a House delegation of five, the same size as Oregon’s and probably as reliably Democratic.

Well, yes, I suppose we could see Republican distaste for Puerto Rican statehood as a tactical concern. Then, of course, there is this:

This is the reception incurred by Republican National Convention delegate Zoraida Fonalledas of Puerto Rico, on being called to the lectern:

I believe this sentiment goes further in explaining the overwhelmingly likely inaction…

Update:I should have mentioned that John C. Calhoun was the founder of South Carolina’s Nullification Party and “an inspiration to the secessionists of 1860–61.” (Wikipedia) He was also found on the Confederate $100 bill:

An inspiration to all slaveholders (wikipedia)

Catalonia

November 26, 2012 /

I noticed a little something in an AP piece titled Independence drive falters for Spain’s Catalonia:

Catalonia is responsible for around a fifth of Spain’s economic output and many residents complain that the central government in Madrid takes in more tax money from the region than it gives back. But now Catalonia is the most indebted region in Spain and has had to seek a €5.4 billion bailout from Madrid.

So by this logic, California should be teeming with separatists.

The fact is that separatists are usually in the thrall of power-seekers wanting to take advantage of nationalistic or cultural issues (e.g. the Nazis exploited Slovak separatists to weaken Czechoslovakia prior to invasion or the Southern aristocracy exploited racism of Southern peasants in order to garner support for a rebellion).

One thing is certain. When a country is broken up, the power of each part is disproportionately reduced. The combined influence of the Czech Republic and Slovakia is less than that of pre-split Czechoslovakia. As well, a rebellious province introduces something else that is often overlooked: a border shared with an enemy state. Suppose the Confederacy had prevailed in the American Civil War. The most important facet of the CSA was its so-called “peculiar institution.” In continuing the Monroe Doctrine, would not the two North American powers find themselves on opposite sides of colonialism? Wouldn’t the CSA be compelled to prop up dictators lest their own “lesser race” get too uppity?

I would posit that the most likely outcomes of a CSA victory would be either a permanent state of antagonism (taking opposite sides in wars such as WWII), or the South would fall into a collection of warring states with the inherent lawlessness spilling into USA territory. The latter seems more likely, given that the precedent would have been made that any union may be dissolved on a whim of any state. The logical consequence of this would be smaller and smaller political entities could seek an “independence,” such that the fractal nation would quickly collapse into anarchy.

Idiot Self-Identification

November 23, 2012 /

There are a lot of phrases, clauses, and sentences I regularly hear that tell me more than I wanted to know about the speaker. When I hear the statement “Failure is not an option,” I assume the speaker means “I am an idiot.” To date, I have not been disappointed.

As far as I’m concerned, that statement is an acceptance that any accident of chance will render the speaker’s plans unusable. That is to say, the speaker is not only admitting that he has no backup plan, but he is also admitting that the depth of his analysis thus far has been so limited as to consider only the case that everything worked precisely as expected from beginning to end. More bluntly, this means that a minor change effects complete disaster. I’m not sure that is tactically smart.

Congratulations, Bibi

November 19, 2012 /

Binyamin Netanyahu is a lucky man. For once, he is only the second worst human being in Israel. Recently, Ariel Sharon’s son, [I would put the name in here if I bothered to google it, but I won’t since each of the headlines I read on today’s intertoobs just referred to him as Ariel Sharon’s son] declared in favor of genocide as an appropriate response to the recent attacks originating in Gaza.

Aside: while I will grant that Hamas is worse than Likud in terms of its rhetoric, Likud’s ability to follow through with its vile plans gives it a definite leg up.

It would almost seem as if Mr. Ariel Sharon’s son is calling for an ultimate resolution to the Palestinian issue. Or, perhaps one could say, a final solution to the Palestinian question.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Desertscope

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑