The weak high school educational instruction on the history of the U.S. Civil War and its causes usually talk of the despicable Confederates (CSA – Southern states) against the good Union (Northern states), but usually doesn’t point out the politics of the overwhelming Democrat South against the overwhelming Republican North.
In between the two government entities are the pawns; the generals and officers, down to the enlisted sergeants and privates used as cannon fodder in their open field assaults upon each other. The Civil War was fought under circumstances and mindset not understood by today’s generation of teachers or students. Words such as honor, loyalty and service to state (we were more state centered than a nation then), chivalry, pride – all words that have lost their meaning over the years.
Yes, the South at the time of declaring secession from the United States government was populated overwhelmingly by Democrats. They constantly worked against the Republican abolitionists to keep the slave labor they needed for their livelihood in cultivating and harvesting of cotton and other cash crops.
According to an Anthony Ciani article, he states, “During the first half of the 1800s, slavery was a contentious and persistent issue. Many slave owners and Democrats viewed slavery as a necessary evil, and abolition as unnecessary contention… Even if they publicly stated that slavery was wrong, Democrats consistently worked against abolition and emancipation, often by compromising: abolitionists get a free state, slavers get a slave state. In this way, Democrats could publicly side against slavery, while obtaining the support of wealthy slave owners. Does this tactic seem familiar now on other issues? No slaver ever supported a Republican; they meant what they said and did what they meant, and it started a war.”
Today, most people think the Democrats have been the purveyors of truth when it comes to the slavery issue, since they own the black vote. Democrats did everything they could, short of war, to keep it. When the war started, Republican president Abraham Lincoln later announced the “Emancipation Proclamation,” aimed at fomenting slave rebellions and encouraging slaves to flee to the North.
Forward 100 years to 1965, a year after the overwhelmingly Democrat supported “Great Society” programs were enacted and the government was going all out to make things “better” for the African-American population, primarily in urban areas. The government was “all knowing” and billions, eventually adding to trillions of dollars were spent to bring those seen as less fortunate to rely on welfare, government programs, and public housing. By doing this, the males in those populations were free to do whatever they wanted, since the government was now the provider of sustenance, education and housing – their responsibilities were abolished.
Black families decades before were mostly intact, married and children had mothers and fathers they knew and respected. After the government pushed aside the black males with their programs, virtually all hell broke loose. Once reliable conditions and social structure were destroyed and government took over, creating Uncle Sam’s plantation, who were the losers in this scenario? All of us – those suffering under such chaos of broken homes, single-parent homes, drugs, alcohol abuse, no jobs, no future perceptions, broken schools, and the remainder of the population having to support such a broken and expensive system.
We know it doesn’t work, didn’t then nor now, so why do we keep and expand it? Because Democrats never admit a program they enacted and supported didn’t then and doesn’t now work. They just throw more money at it. The only problem with a program is it needed and continues to need more and more money.
Patrick Moynihan, Democrat Senator from New York, early in his career while serving in the Johnson administration as Assistant Secretary of Labor, accurately assessed the quickly spreading problems when the programs were in their infancy and was ignored. He could see these programs were devastating to the black culture and only made things worse. But the hardest thing to kill is a government program.
The media and Democrats in political power over the years since the 1960s Great Society programs have done a devastating denial of truth and made it stick (or slime?) upon Republicans saying they were against African-Americans, women, homosexuals, suppress voting rights of African-Americans, etc. whenever they point out the truth the programs don’t work as intended.
Ironic, since if it weren’t for Republican support, the Great Society programs wouldn’t have been passed. What’s that you say? It can’t be true! Yup, facts are stubborn things, and it is true.
In retrospect, the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is true in the case of the “Great Society” programs. One person on the Republican side, Senator Barry Goldwater, saw the folly of such programs and how it would affect and eventually divide the country and voted against it, as did a few other Republicans and Democrats.
The unexplained truth and, I must say, the Democrats are the undeniable masters at it, lying about history is certainly puzzling in that African-Americans were duped into believing Democrats were their friends. They are, as long as they stay on Uncle Sam’s plantation; vote for Democrats, show allegiance for all ideas and programs Democrats espouse, and go along to get along.
Look at what their ideas and policies have wrought for African-Americans – overall, terrible results. Generations now relying on government handouts, and it isn’t just the African-Americans – it is many low income folks applying for assistance. America has turned from liberty and freedom to socialism and oppression, where the idea of a self-sustaining person is discouraged and even subjected to ridicule and those dependent on government sustenance are viewed as honorable and noble.
What a difference since President Obama was inaugurated as the first African-American president elected. His administration has certainly fundamentally changed America, just as he promised. More people are under government programs than ever.
Do you think it is better or worse? My opinion is this country is close to a tipping point and going in the wrong direction, and I hope I am dead wrong. I don’t want, nor do the citizens of the United States need, the misery that I believe may be in store for the future.
The rotting of America from within continues…
Exceptional rundown on the history of slavery and the long term effects of the Great Society programs. The folks who developed the programs hearts were pure but they failed to see the cause and effect of generations of dependency on welfare.