Don Devine on the secession trend:
American hegemony properly controlled thus assists world peace, and secession could threaten international and domestic liberty. Still, secession in its tamed form of federalism and decentralization presents the secret to domestic liberty, especially in larger states. The ability to devolve power to the lowest levels possible—first to the individual, then to the family, to free associations and businesses, to the community, to local and regional government, and only to the national state when no other institution can perform the function—allows freedom to adjust to community differences and make individuals more satisfied with their national state.
Clark Bianco on the persistence of the English Civil War in our red state-blue state divide:
If you visit a red state you will notice higher than average levels of tobacco use, Evangelical Christianity, Ford F-150s, and so on.
If you visit a blue state you will notice higher than average levels of organic foods,evangelical Brightism, Priuses, and so forth.
To a first approximation, these two bags of cultural signifiers have absolutely nothing to do with King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell and the cultures around them.
In fact, though, if you dig a bit deeper you’ll see that there are very solid strands connecting them. The Parliamentarian Roundheads were made up of Diggers (agrarian socialists – who’d think that farmers would be socially liberal?),Levellers (who were into “popular sovereignty”, which is a fancy political science term for a drum circle, I think) and a bunch of near heretics who’s spiritual descendants believe in Crystal Power and Chakras (or perhaps having their female priests and rabbis perform gay marriages in an inclusive church), and always voting Democrat. In short, you’ve got a pretty similar culture alliance in 1614 as you do in 2014.
WRM on a world in flames:
Obama, Merkel, Cameron and Hollande have made plenty of mistakes on their own; words like “Libya” and “Syria” come to mind. But the rip currents through which they must swim are not entirely of their making. They, and we, are reaping the consequences of bad decisions taken two decades ago, when the skies were still bright and the world was full of hope. For a quarter century now, Western policymakers have assumed that history held no more great challenges on the scale of the colossal crises of the 20th century. They have acted as if we had reached some kind of post-historical utopia, and as if our security and prosperity had become so absolute and so embedded that we no longer needed to concern ourselves with the foundations of the world order.
This was foolishly and tragically wrong. We are not yet back in the worst of the bad old days. We have passed from the late 1920s to the early 1930s. A shadow is stirring in Mirkwood, the orcs are roaming the forests, but the Dark Lord hasn’t returned to his Tower. The historical clock that seemed to slow in the 1990s is ticking faster now. We can no longer afford to live carelessly and large. The days are getting darker, and if we are to avoid a repeat of the horrors of the last century, there is no time to waste and little to spare.
