I am not sure we can equate the Nazi flag with the Confederate battle flag and lump them both as symbols, of racism. Having spent too much of my life in the American South, the Confederate flag is known as the “Rebel Flag”. They view The War Between The States as a struggle between federalism and State's rights. You can see it in the current battle about abortion rights - the States will decide individually rather than following cohesive national federal guidelines. They don’t want a ‘nation’ but a loose ‘confederacy’. Centrally managing a diverse country of this size with 18th and 19th-century technology was rudimentary. Remember, the American Revolution was a reaction to British colonial federalism. We’re a nation that is reluctant to become one.
I also lived in Germany for a few years in the 60’s while de-Nazification was still happening. In contrast to the U.S., Germany has ‘rules’, and federalism adheres to a fault. The ‘N’ in Nazi stands for national. Yes, there was a strong racist overtone to the movement, but the main feature was nationalism. Rebellion against the fascist state was not tolerated and not tolerated throughout Europe today. Europeans roll their eyes at the anarchy tolerated in the U.S.knowing from experience that no good can ultimately come of it. “Is that any way to run a nation?”
To slap the ’racism’ label on the situation masks deeper systemic problems facing the nation. Can a country with a heritage of defiant individualism truly govern a population of over 300 million or are we fooling ourselves? The happiest nations in the world are Scandinavian countries with populations under 100 million and strong federalist socialistic governments. Perhaps the United States needs to downsize into separate countries of more manageable size - North, South/Central, and West Americas? The cultural divides are more systemic than simply racial attitudes.
Thank you for your thoughtful and intelligent response to my article. I agree. The situation is multilayered and indicative of larger problems. Several smaller countries may be a solution but that would be difficult to achieve. Interesting idea to explore.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
We have to remember and respect that we embarked on a bold 'experiment' in the 19th century and everything has changed since then. I noticed you pictured an old flag of the 13 original colonies and now we've massively grown to 50 states and 5 territories. We're clinging to a relic of a Constitution in the midst of exponential change and globalization. The longer we deny the situation, the more difficult it becomes.
That would require “those in power” to relinquish their status quo power structure. No, it will have to be a grassroots initiative and charismatic visionaries. We are long overdue for change. As one person noted: “You have a young country for such an old Constitution.” The devastation of WWII allowed much of Europe to revise its legacy governments. Can you imagine the catastrophic event required to reboot the world’s Superpower and all the repercussions to follow? “There will be blood…”
I am not sure we can equate the Nazi flag with the Confederate battle flag and lump them both as symbols, of racism. Having spent too much of my life in the American South, the Confederate flag is known as the “Rebel Flag”. They view The War Between The States as a struggle between federalism and State's rights. You can see it in the current battle about abortion rights - the States will decide individually rather than following cohesive national federal guidelines. They don’t want a ‘nation’ but a loose ‘confederacy’. Centrally managing a diverse country of this size with 18th and 19th-century technology was rudimentary. Remember, the American Revolution was a reaction to British colonial federalism. We’re a nation that is reluctant to become one.
I also lived in Germany for a few years in the 60’s while de-Nazification was still happening. In contrast to the U.S., Germany has ‘rules’, and federalism adheres to a fault. The ‘N’ in Nazi stands for national. Yes, there was a strong racist overtone to the movement, but the main feature was nationalism. Rebellion against the fascist state was not tolerated and not tolerated throughout Europe today. Europeans roll their eyes at the anarchy tolerated in the U.S.knowing from experience that no good can ultimately come of it. “Is that any way to run a nation?”
To slap the ’racism’ label on the situation masks deeper systemic problems facing the nation. Can a country with a heritage of defiant individualism truly govern a population of over 300 million or are we fooling ourselves? The happiest nations in the world are Scandinavian countries with populations under 100 million and strong federalist socialistic governments. Perhaps the United States needs to downsize into separate countries of more manageable size - North, South/Central, and West Americas? The cultural divides are more systemic than simply racial attitudes.
Thank you for your thoughtful and intelligent response to my article. I agree. The situation is multilayered and indicative of larger problems. Several smaller countries may be a solution but that would be difficult to achieve. Interesting idea to explore.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
We have to remember and respect that we embarked on a bold 'experiment' in the 19th century and everything has changed since then. I noticed you pictured an old flag of the 13 original colonies and now we've massively grown to 50 states and 5 territories. We're clinging to a relic of a Constitution in the midst of exponential change and globalization. The longer we deny the situation, the more difficult it becomes.
Let us hope that those in power are able to take steps to resolve the situation.
That would require “those in power” to relinquish their status quo power structure. No, it will have to be a grassroots initiative and charismatic visionaries. We are long overdue for change. As one person noted: “You have a young country for such an old Constitution.” The devastation of WWII allowed much of Europe to revise its legacy governments. Can you imagine the catastrophic event required to reboot the world’s Superpower and all the repercussions to follow? “There will be blood…”