…is the heart of Red-State Fascism.
Consider last night’s election returns.
Ron Paul did poorly in Arizona and Utah for obvious reasons, and in California for reasons I don’t understand. In much of the North and West he did quite well, however –
Montana – 24%
North Dak – 21%
Minnesota – 15%
Colorado – 8%
We know he did very well in Nevada and he’s done well in Maine and is reported to be doing quite well in Washington State.
Let’s see, do we have a single Southern state in which Paul has done well?
Alabama – 2.7%
Georgia – 2.9%
Missouri – 4.5%
Tennesee – 5.6% – (not quite as bad)
Oklahoma – 3.4%
As I wrote before in greater detail, the modern Southern political world is built around 2 things – militarism and government subsidized agriculture. Which is why the region LOVES McCain and Huckabee. No region receives more taxpayer dollars from increased military spending than the South, and the relatively large dominance of agriculture over modern urban economies means that the South is a tax receiver region. The rest of us pay the taxes that flow to Dixie.
Why should the region support liberty? The fact is that it does not.
UPDATE –
Writes DS –
“I was born and lived 35 years in California, but I currently work for a company in Atlanta that employs over 100 electronics technicians and engineers. I honestly can think of only 4 fellow employees who have not served in the military. I have not, and I can assure you that I am one lonely libertarian. All 4 of the other non-military types are hard core libertarians (not surprisingly).
Most of these employees joined the military in hopes of escaping a miserable future in the South. Rural upbringings and little hope for escape were greater motivators than any remnant of government hatred left over from the mid 19th century conflict.
Combine this blind loyalty to the union, their commander in chief (so long as he is a Republican), and the sickening obsession with competitive team sports, and you have the makings of one large herd of sheep. Athletes around here are held to a different standard (as evidenced by the Michael Vick case), and even thieves caught on videotape are worshipped if they are high school or college ballplayers. Its all about the TEAM.
The presence of the military bases of course has a similar effect here as in the Philipines or other places around the globe. Here too the populace prostitutes itself one way or the other to show its support for the bases and the base’s supposed “contribution” to the community.
The poor showing for freedom in the South is just another glaring reason why our standing army must go. When someone who has been out of the military for 10 years still refers to the president as his “commander in chief”, then you know that this person can never be trusted to do the right thing if push comes to shove.”
UPDATE 2 – MS points out that most of the states where Paul has done well have had caucuses while most of the states where he has done poorly have had primaries.
A good point. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
4:09 pm on February 6, 2008
