by Robert M. Traxler
The current debate is whether we remove monuments to the Confederacy. I have no problem with removing monuments to the Confederate States of America (CSA), none, but removing the monuments to the soldiers of all grades who fought for their country as they believed it to be, I do have a problem with that.
The soldiers were not the government; they did not set national policy, and 95% of them did not own slaves. Ask the Confederate soldiers why they were fighting, and they would say to maintain states’ rights, not to preserve slavery. Many soldiers were drafted into the CSA Army and Navy; they fought for what they believed in their eyes, home and family. The South was being invaded by the North and they fought to preserve home and heart.
One out of every four young men in the southern states were killed; the entire draft age male populations of some counties were killed. The South suffered during the war, and the families of the dead wanted to remember their loved ones who died for a nation they believed in.
This argument is much larger than a few monuments to dead soldiers; it is a rejection of American history and our way of life. The Mexican American War is referred to by those who hold our nation in disdain as an illegal war that repressed and occupied Mexico, even though Mexico declared war on us. The Spanish American War is called American Imperialism and evil by those who wish to rewrite history. All the wars post-WWII are oppression by an unjust American government in search of a dollar. The folks who wish to rewrite history will tell us the first World War was fought to preserve imperialism. The Banana wars of the early 1900s were fought to retain profit for corporations. The Gulf Wars were fought to protect oil companies.
The plain truth is that the good folks who lead the left hate our country, and want to paint it as an unjust, racist, sexist, homophobic illegal society that needs to be purged. They want to start with the Constitution, a document that was written by criminals and social degenerates, and rewrite our other founding documents to be in line with the writings of Karl Marx and Lenin.
According to them, our current Constitutional Democracy has an election process that produced President Trump; thus, it must be revamped to allow his removal from office. Any system of government that produced President Trump must be cleansed and a new national government instituted, one that is more just, inclusive, tolerant and equal: a Socialist form of government. The problem is that the angry left feels they are initiating Senator Bernie Sanders’ “Political Revolution” for the good of us all: we need to tear down monuments to American historical figures to clear a path for monuments to the glories of Socialism. Nationalism is a disease, patriotism a vile concept, the Constitution an illegal document designed to oppress and repress the proletariat.
My leftist friends, be careful of what you fight for, you may just get it. Socialism has never worked, never; it fails every time over time and the people are always the ones who pay the price for the unworkable form of government. Socialism works for a few years; then it spends more than it takes in, and as it destroys free market capitalism it just runs out of money. The economy destroyed, the nation suffers strife and want; just look to Venezuela.
The American system is not perfect, but it is the best in the world and much better than the rest. The good folks on the left will have a chance again in three years to change our national leadership. There is no cure for stupid; leave your hands off the American Constitution, leave your hands off our history.
“My leftists friends” ?
A few weeks ago Mr. Traxler was telling readers President Trump was being persecuted by Ivy League elites. At that time he failed to mention that 3 of the Trump children, Trump’s son-in-law, at least a half a dozen of his cabinet and even President Trump himself have degrees from Ivy League schools.
Now we are told “leftists” are wrong to want to see monuments and statues honoring men who fought for a secessionist government attempting to leave the country they had been a part of to fight and kill more than 600,000 Union soldiers who fought for The United States.
Mr. Traxler ignores the fact that often the monuments were erected as political statements to show that though the Confederacy lost the war, those who supported segregation were still In charge. Look at the timeline of when the monuments went up. It coincides with segregationist becoming more powerful and racial civil unrest. Big spike after the Plessy v Ferguson court decision, which upheld separate but equal and in the 1950s and early 1960s when segregationist politics were being protested. A majority were built at least four or five decades after the Civil War.
The idea that our nation should honor soldiers who fought for the dismantling of the United States by fighting for segregation is astounding. The rationale doesn’t work either. The Confederacy lost the Civil War. Joining an army to fight for an alternative government that wanted to ignore federal laws by creating a new country would be called terrorism in the 21st century.
R. Davenport
Mr/Ms. Davenport,
Once again you error, the number of Civil War dead are generally believed to be around 620,000 total, Union dead 360,222, Confederate 258,000, not the 600,000 Union soldiers you quoted.
The WWII monument was opened decades after the war, most memorials are constructed well after the wars. This is the normal way the process works, go to the web sites for Civil War regiments and you will see they are still raising money fore memorials.
Thank you for the comment.
Just as a footnote, Arlington National Cemetery was created on the former land of Robert E Lee. There is a monument there to all the UNKNOWN SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. This monument contains the remains of BOTH Union and Confederate victims of the Civil War. If they can rest together in death, why can’t our current population do the same?
Pat,
Outstanding comment, thank you.