tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post4925882218168092537..comments2024-03-27T15:44:43.564-08:00Comments on What Do I Know?: "It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards." Lessons from Iran For The US From Graphic Novel PersepolisStevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-5507765977330065752018-01-25T23:28:26.971-09:002018-01-25T23:28:26.971-09:00Yes, the movie would be a bit too intense for a yo...Yes, the movie would be a bit too intense for a young one. It was too much for our bears, who had insisted on coming along.<br /><br />Moving on to a general comment on this, that, or another thing, I wanted to send what's below along for some time. It's a bit of American cultural history that reveals the ways in which the USA never really overcame its civil war as many still fly the stars and bars. Why? we ask. <br /><br />A traditional song performed Hoyt Axton, courtesy Youtube:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8ZA_8l3YVg<br /><br />Oh, I'm a good old Rebel, <br />Now that's just what I am; <br />And for this Yankee Nation, <br />I do not give a Damn <br />I'm glad I fought again her, <br />I only wish we'd won. <br />I ain' ask any Pardon, <br />For anything I've done. <br /><br />I hates the Yankee nation <br />and everything they do, <br />I hates the Declaration <br />of Independence, too <br />I hates the glorious Union <br />tis drippin' with our blood <br />I hates their striped banner, <br />I fit it all I could. <br /><br />I rode with Robert E. Lee, <br />For three years, thereabout. <br />Got wounded in four places <br />And I starved at Point Lookout. <br />I caughts the rheumatism <br />O' camping in the snow. <br />But I killed a chance of Yankees <br />And I'd like to kill some mo'. <br /><br />Three hundred thousand Yankees <br />Is stiff in Southern dust; <br />We got three hundred thousand <br />Befo' they conquered us. <br />They died of Southern fever <br />And Southern steel and shot; <br />I wish they were three million <br />Instead of what we got. <br /><br />I can't take up my musket <br />And fight' em now no mo', <br />But I ain't gona love' em, <br />Now that is certain sure <br />And I don't want no pardon <br />For what I was and am <br />I won't be reconstructed, <br />And I do not give a damn. <br /><br />Oh, I'm a good old Rebel, <br />Now that's just what I am; <br />For this Yankee Nation, <br />I do not give a Damn <br />I'm glad I fought again her, <br />I only wish we'd won. <br />I ain' ask any Pardon, <br />For anything I've done. <br /><br />I ain' ask any Pardon, <br />For anything I've done. <br /> <br /><br />-----<br /><br />Powerful stuff (and read some of the comments from folks responding to it). Many who raise the 'Rebel Flag' do so knowing its purpose. It's far more than slavery or racism as it was and is about politics and a very class-based way of life. It was powerfully rooted in economics then and it still is now. Slavery in America is much what was known as colonialism elsewhere round the world.<br /><br />Britain today have the same kind of divisions echoing from England's Civil War in the 1600s. A nation doesn't forget these divisions. Here, we're fighting its proxy way with the EU: Self-determination vs further integration.<br /><br />Good luck to both nations!<br />Jacob Dugan-Brausehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06287631724339961459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-14209284197397340012018-01-25T14:23:19.542-09:002018-01-25T14:23:19.542-09:00We'll get past this. We'll start talking....We'll get past this. We'll start talking. And like Satrapi, we will find allies in unexpected places. We have to diffuse the tension. I'm sure there are Trump voters who have regrets. But people don't want to admit they were wrong - in this climate it gives 'the win' to the other side. We can be understanding of people's feelings without agreeing with their thinking. When everyone is hurting - like a bad divorce - respectful conversations are hard to have. Asking questions - not loaded rhetorical ones - like Satrapi did about the rules is a good way to get others to explain their logic. Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-23827123100696013872018-01-25T14:02:04.845-09:002018-01-25T14:02:04.845-09:00yes. . . btw, took my granddaughter to see Paddin...yes. . . btw, took my granddaughter to see Paddington. I thoroughly enjoyed it. She looked away often and spend most of the movie on my lap for protection. Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10498066938213558757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-76899588595203457502018-01-25T07:59:56.083-09:002018-01-25T07:59:56.083-09:00So many people, I regret, do not see where Trump a...So many people, I regret, do not see where Trump and his enabling minions and financial supporters are heading. And, they think we who can imagine it are fear-mongering and worrying for nothing. <br /><br />McCarthyism happened. Fascism happened. Believing it can't happen again is folly. That 5,000,000 women marched last Saturday is extremely heartening. We are not alone.<br /><br />But Huxley was right, people are basically too self-absorbed and "won't bother looking up from their screens" to notice or ...care.Barbara Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05463074148195784152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30897652.post-62591160575206460952018-01-24T22:48:52.043-09:002018-01-24T22:48:52.043-09:00So many thoughts on these (very related) subjects,...So many thoughts on these (very related) subjects, so little need to write about it. I'll leave it at that. <br /><br />Good advice to your past students, btw. Cheers!Jacob Dugan-Brausehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06287631724339961459noreply@blogger.com