The Fourth Stage Of American History

Over a century ago, Robert Lewis Dabney noted that Northern Conservatism never conserves anything. It makes a show of resisting whatever Progressive fads are currently popular, but in the end, it always gives in and eventually, embraces the fad as a principle of conservatism. He was probably not the first to note this, but his description remains the most famous, among those who traffic in taboo thoughts. His description of conservatism as a shadow that follows the Left is a great image that captures their nature perfectly.

The Dissident Right often uses a version of Dabney’s description to describe the modern conservative movement. What gets lost is the fact that Dabney was describing northern conservatives. This geographic split has been erased from the modern mind, as the people who won the Civil War slowly, but surely, erase everything but the history of the North from the nation’s memory. That last bit is critical. One of the distinguishing features of 20th century American conservatism was its Yankeeness.

One reason for this, of course, is that Progressivism is rooted in the North. In fact, it has been pretty much confined to what Colin Woodward called Yankeedom. This map is useful for understanding the demographic contours of American regionalism. Those dark blue areas are where Lefty walks the streets unmolested. It only makes sense that the loyal opposition would be located in the same areas. The colleges and universities growing the next generation of Progressives, also produce their conservative analogs.

There is another angle to this. There were fifteen presidents before Lincoln. Six of them were from Yankeedom or the Midlands. The rest were from the Tidewater or the South. Virginia used to be called the Cradle of Presidents because seven pre-Civil War presidents were from there. Only one post-Civil War president, Woodrow Wilson, has been from Virginia. Of the thirty since the war, twenty-five have been from Yankeedom or from the Midlands. There have been nineteen from parts of the country that fall into the dark blue portion of that linked map.

Since the Civil War, America has been dominated by one region of the country. It stands to reason that politics would be rooted in this region as well. Because Progressives, in various manifestations, are dominant in the North, they have been the driving force in America politics and culture as a whole. Naturally, any reaction to this would be culturally rooted in the North as well. Put another way, politics in America has been a lover’s quarrel between the two halves of Yankeedom since the Civil War.

This arrangement probably would have collapsed a century ago, but world events interceded to lock things in place. The Great War, the Depression, World War Two and then the long nuclear stand-off with the Russians locked things in place. With the nation at risk, any effort to upset the domestic political arrangements would be quickly swatted down. The reason our politics are in a flux now, with the old arrangements collapsing, is there is no longer an exogenous force to lock things in place. Normalcy is returning.

This is why the gap between Progressives and the Buckley Conservatives seems so small all of a sudden. The stand-off with the Soviets was not just a military and political conflict. There was a moral and philosophical conflict. That magnified the differences because it cast them against the backdrop of the larger dispute between Eastern authoritarianism and Western pluralism. Once that backdrop was gone, what was left was two sides squabbling over trivial items and competing for the love of financial backers.

It is also why politics turned into a screaming match after the Cold War ended. There were no big areas of dispute, so they had no choice but to pretend that the trivial differences between the two sides were enormous divides. That was the crucial insight of the Clinton people. Bill Clinton won in 1992 by bellowing about how Bush the Elder did not know how grocery store scanners worked. Clinton, Bush and Obama were basically the same guy, but the political class carried on like they were polar opposites.

What all this means is that we are in the transition period between the third and fourth phases of American history. The first phase was the Colonial Period that lasted up to and included the Revolutionary War. Then there was the Constitutional Period that lasted until the Civil War. The third period was the Yankee Imperium, which lasted from the Civil War through the end of the Cold War. What comes next is debatable, but it is clear that the rest of the country is going to have a say in the political life of the country.

One thing that is certain is that the political arrangements, both formal and informal, will change as the nation transitions to what comes next. The great centralization of power over the last century to implement the Yankee moral vision domestically and build out the empire around the world is not made for a world of identity politics, regionalization and an empire in retreat. We have legal and political institutions for white people to manage disputes between white people. Those are useless in a majority-minority country.

One final thought on this. These phases of American history have been punctuated by violent conflict. The people who settled and founded the country were not gentle, passive souls. The Colonial Period ended in War. The Constitutional Period ended with the Civil War. It is reasonable to think that this transition period will have its violent elements before we settle into that fourth phase. We live in a low violence time, so civil war is unlikely, but the coming years will most likely feature harsh, regional disputes.

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joey+junger
joey+junger
6 years ago

Most American political conflict goes back to the Civil War…but it’s the English Civil War, not the American one. Colin Woodward’s map is neat, as is his book, but a better place to look for explanations would be David Hackett Fisher’s “Albion’s Seed: The Four British Folkways of America.” You’re also correct that Western (re: white) institutions designed to function on principles will not work in a majority-minority nation. Paul Kersey pointed out on an episode of the American Renaissance Podcast that when you break it up by race, 70 % of blacks think Trump should be impeached and 70%… Read more »

Alex
Alex
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Looking for recommendations on intelligent and readable books about the English Civil War…

pyrrhus
pyrrhus
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

JayMan has broken it down into about 12 nations, as I recall. His site is recommended…

Matt(Tx)
Matt(Tx)
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

URL, for Jayman?

vanderleun
vanderleun
Member
6 years ago

“We live in a low violence time,”

Wait a month… a year…. an inch of time.

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
Reply to  vanderleun
6 years ago

Virtually everything in history is a variation of Hemingway’s “gradually then suddenly”. The question is what will the trigger be? Faceberg has two utilities. Great way to keep up on kid pictures and stuff like that. But if you live way behind enemy lines, it’s also a great listening post. In my case, a window into the what is going through the minds of the educated, upper middle class Progressive world. And it is batshit crazy. Could screen snap dozens of variants of the CBS lawyer chick’s “I’m glad a bunch of hillbillies got killed in Vegas” on virtually any… Read more »

Spherical_Cube
Member
Reply to  Saml Adams
6 years ago

Make no mistake, Las Vegas was an attack by the deep state on Trump supporters, or likely Trump supporters.

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  Saml Adams
6 years ago

Saml;
Just in case anybody doubts your above observation about just how crazy the Progs. are these days, here’s a prospective on today’s topic from their side:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/omar-el-akkad-donald-trump-american-civil-war/article37267643/

It’s one of the most deranged rants I’ve seen in a supposedly mainstream publication: Completely confirms that American Whites *are* under threat from Progdom (if the author’s views are in any way representative). Of course it’s from the Canadian Cloud, which is reputed to be even more insane than our own.

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
Reply to  Al from da Nort
6 years ago

Could only read halfway through, had to catch my black helicopter ride to spend the night plotting to keep the people down. Articles like these showcase the narcissism and self importance of these people…their self worth is entirely tied up in the assumption that we spend our days and nights endless obsessing over them.

Epaminondas
Member
Reply to  vanderleun
6 years ago

Any civil conflict must necessarily arise among antagonists already in the employment of government. The reason is the cost of modern weaponry. It will be a come-as-you-are civil war that could degrade into more primitive tactics as we wear out each other’s capacity to replace the high tech devices. The longer it goes on, the longer it CAN go on.

pyrrhus
pyrrhus
Reply to  Epaminondas
6 years ago

A civil war would collapse much of the economy and leave the large cities starving…4th generation warfare would be fought more with food than bullets.

LFMayor
LFMayor
Reply to  pyrrhus
6 years ago

This, with substations. No electricity, no water. Some rules of three act faster than others.

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
Reply to  Epaminondas
6 years ago

A friend of mine that spent time in Afghanistan once told me one of the biggest pains in their collective asses were the old men with Enfields. These guys would take reasonably accurate shots from a 1000 yards, shoot and scoot style.

Tim
Tim
Member
Reply to  Saml Adams
6 years ago

I’ve read that the Russians immediately killed any Afghan prisoners armed with an Enfield or Moisin because they hated the snipers so much.

pyrrhus
pyrrhus
Reply to  vanderleun
6 years ago

Indeed. But as I have pointed out to Dmitri Orlov, the fact that America is heavily armed at the civilian level makes it unique. That fact has somewhat limited the depredations of both the State and the rival factions. It’s what we used to call a Mexican standoff….

Christopher S. Johns
Christopher S. Johns
Reply to  vanderleun
6 years ago

I don’t see how the 2020 presidential election does not descend into a sinkhole of violence. The left, egged on by their enablers and cheerleaders in Big Media, will physically attack Trump and his supporters, and will feel justified in doing so. Trump supporters will be compelled to respond in kind. The writing is already on the wall for this, and anyone denying it just isn’t paying attention.

Allan
Allan
Reply to  Christopher S. Johns
6 years ago

Yes, let’s expect some violence from lefty in 2020, but bear in mind an important lesson that observant leftists are sure to have learned during 2015-2016. Leftists attacked Trump supporters from coast to coast. Lefty even attacked the Democrats’ militia in Chicago and bloodied a few of the D’s blue goons (i.e. Chicago police officers, aka “heroes” to r.w. jurisprudes) at a Trump rally in March 2016. Did Trump supporters reply to lefty according to a reasonable policy such as ‘eyes for an eyelash’? Did they demonstrate a willingness and capacity for action? Well, no. In fact, they replied like… Read more »

Pimpkin\'s Nephew
Pimpkin\'s Nephew
Reply to  Allan
6 years ago

Sheep and doormats? Well, they won, against all the odds. The leftist tactics didn’t change their vote; it might have expanded it. You call this pathetic? I call it civilized.

Did you storm out on the streets with a baseball bat, Allen?

Tax Slave
Tax Slave
Reply to  Christopher S. Johns
6 years ago

^^^This. Spot on.

Member
Reply to  vanderleun
6 years ago

Re: “We live in a low-violence time.” Not true, never was true, never will be true. Until humans are replaced by robots. Then, the robots will fight each other.

Trimegistus
Trimegistus
6 years ago

I was musing about the divide in American politics and something occurred to me. During the two previous eras of intense polarization — the 1850s and the 1960s — there was a “signature issue.” The abolition of slavery was the driving issue in the Civil War era, and once that was settled, the polarization receded. The Vietnam War was the driving issue in the 1960s, and once the US withdrew the polarization receded. But I can’t for the life of me identify the current driving issue. The Left is constantly outraged, but the subject of their outrage constantly changes. Gay… Read more »

Spherical_Cube
Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Who do you think will annex CA? China? Or Mexico?

McChuck
Member
Reply to  Spherical_Cube
6 years ago

Mexico will annex it (already has most of the population), but China will own it.

Andy Texan
Reply to  McChuck
6 years ago

God let’s rid ourselves of those bastards. California has to go. Don’t care who gets it.

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  Trimegistus
6 years ago

Trim; Excellent insight. It’s possible that the signature issue arises largely by chance and that it’s percolating just below the surface right now. The Dreyfus Affair in France is the historical example that comes to mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair This particular signature issue is largely incomprehensible now, but it bears some resemblance to the Trump-Russia imbroglio and the Gen. Flynn persecution at present. Starting with an obscure coverup of military counter-espionage incompetence in 1894, it percolated below the surface for four years before it blew up overnight in 1898. After that it lasted until 1906. Like the Trump-Russia issue, the furor among… Read more »

cerulean
cerulean
Reply to  Al from da Nort
6 years ago

Interesting that the Left are the ones who grabbed signature issues and ran with them in the past. Does it have to be this way in the future?

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
Reply to  Trimegistus
6 years ago

Z has suggested (rightly) the analogy of the Cargo Cult. See an immense nostalgia for the 60s (though by people that did not actually experience them) and for leftism–again by those that never saw the “fruits”. Attribute some of this to a frantic search for something that will bring some sense of meaning and purpose to these people who have led the most self absorbed lives in history

Teapartydoc
Member
Reply to  Saml Adams
6 years ago

I live in a college town. They play songs from the sixties almost exclusively in all the stores and buildings around here. Nauseating. Can’t wait for my fellow boomers to die. Hoping I out last most of them.

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Trimegistus
6 years ago

There is an additional dimension to our current situation. It is the “feelz”. The left has encouraged the adoption of the primacy and legitimacy of how people “feel” about things. The internet has exaggerated this element. People “feel” wronged by others who believe or live their lives differently than how those with “feels” choose to live theirs.

It is madness, but it is the world we live in. Reality doesn’t care how people feel when things shut down and needs are not met. Which they will do, sooner or later.

Steady Steve
Steady Steve
Reply to  Dutch
6 years ago

And if they keep it up, they are going to feel some high velocity lead.

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Dutch
6 years ago

When things shut down due to needs not being met is when white men may start to be appreciated again.

Anonymous White Male
Anonymous White Male
Reply to  Trimegistus
6 years ago

“The abolition of slavery was the driving issue in the Civil War era, and once that was settled, the polarization receded.” I have to disagree with this. I know what you are saying, but at the time of the Civil War I don’t think that more than 3% of White Yankees gave a shit about negroes. They certainly didn’t go to war over them. And once the issue of slavery was settled, the polarization did not recede. It still hasn’t receded. Now, subsequent history has been written to make slavery the casus belli for the War of Northern Aggression, and… Read more »

james+wilson
james+wilson
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

It is no contradiction to say citizens of the North regarded both Negroes and slavery poorly. It was something unclean, to be washed away. And war is an adventure when you feel certain to impose your will easily and quickly.

Pimpkin\'s Nephew
Pimpkin\'s Nephew
Reply to  james+wilson
6 years ago

Personally I’m tired of modern judgements of the motives and philosophies that incited men to fight in the Civil War. It happens to be the first war, anywhere in the world, for which we have abundant written records, not just from the historians, not just through the memoirs of generals, but from ordinary men writing letters to their families. North or South, we discover a people – can I say it? – better than we are. The life expectancy in that age was roughly 40, even without war. They didn’t get everything right, the way we do. They didn’t have… Read more »

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  james+wilson
6 years ago

So noble of the North to bring them in to dump them in the South, and then blame the Southerners for the whole mess.

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

The blacks are a cursed race. God help us correct this scourge we’ve brought upon ourselves through slavery. The magic negroes are in high demand and are sought out for employment over our capable and talented white men, who are then displaced from our economy. God protect us from black governance and the corruption, violence and dysfunction that brings. White men, rise up, claim your place, your women, your society. And thank you, white men, for all the beauty and excellence you’ve brought the world thus far.

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Ursula
6 years ago

Thank you, beautiful smart white men:
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G, BWV 1048 – 1. (Allegro) https://youtu.be/1IWWJcDDxPY

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Ursula
6 years ago

Thank you, beautiful smart talented white men:
Beethoven “Symphony No 9” Karajan (Stereo)
https://youtu.be/fRZaX6-dsn8

Pimpkin\'s Nephew
Pimpkin\'s Nephew
Reply to  Ursula
6 years ago

You’re being ironic, am I right?

If not, then you need to see a doctor.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Pimpkin\'s Nephew
6 years ago

Got yer plane ticket to Harare or Johannesburg- or Camden- right here.

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Pimpkin\'s Nephew
6 years ago

No, asshole.

Hauptmann
Hauptmann
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

I agree with White Male. The issue of the War Between the States was money. Lincoln and the north milked the South to support its programs and, when the South had had enough, Lincoln pushed the South until they unwisely fired on Sumter. Slavery was a hot issue but money was the fundamental cause.

Sea Liner
Sea Liner
Reply to  Trimegistus
6 years ago

The current basic driving issue is race. The “coalition of the fringes” wants white genocide, but if that’s too much for them to ask, they want whites (except the self-hating variety) to be a low-caste minority.

Whatever the ostensible issue or cause du jour, at heart it’s about the future of the white race.

Diavolobello
Diavolobello
Reply to  Trimegistus
6 years ago

The current driving issue is immigration, obviously. C’mon, Y’all …

Backtable
Backtable
6 years ago

The determining factor will be fiscal. When, not if, but when the can smacks the wall at the end of the road is when we’ll see what’s what. There will dividing lines across generational, racial, and assorted special-interest lines, all vying for limited financial resources, all desperate to retain whatever government largesse has been thrown their way to date.When the checks from Uncle Sam no longer arrive and/or are severely diminished is when the true divisions will begin, generally along regional boundaries but also locally, as federal programs are downsized and slowly ceded back to the states. I’m in my… Read more »

Glen Filthie
Glen Filthie
Member
Reply to  Backtable
6 years ago

Agreed. It may be the catalyst that will change everything. In previous harder times the family made sense as it was a survival mechanism: it allowed you to pool resources and divide labour and win as a team. Today, and chit house feminist can ditch her husband, goof off at work and get cash and prizes because of her vagina. Here feral children also get a free ride (no grades at school, everyone gets a trophy, self esteem is more important than education, etc). It works because we live in opulence and abundance. I see the next civil or regional… Read more »

james+wilson
james+wilson
Reply to  Backtable
6 years ago

It should not be underestimated how many characteristics state governments have absorbed from the federal example. If Switzerland is a good example of republican government, and it is, counties will be more important entities than states, and should be.

Backtable
Backtable
Reply to  james+wilson
6 years ago

Agreed, which is probably why knowing your local sheriff isn’t always a bad thing. He’ll be one of the more powerful entities in many counties, particularly rural. Having a good knowledge of the political power brokers in any county won’t hurt, either – if for no other reason than to recognize the machinations as they unfold..

Chu
Chu
Reply to  Backtable
6 years ago

I’m thinking of forming a ‘bitcoin’ religion to draw the coddled youth into one great scheme.-It will be something like Scientology. -lol. Since all the former institutions of this nation are in question, and everything is moving so quick, many don’t know what to aim for or how to carve a niche for themselves.- It leads to why they’re getting jerked around so easily by the puppet masters.

McChuck
Member
Reply to  Backtable
6 years ago

By 2032, over half of all Federal spending will be on each of the following items: interest payments on the debt, social security, medicare/medicaid, Obamacare, welfare payments. That’s over 250% of all Federal spending, for those not keeping track. Just for these programs. Please notice that the military and all Federal agencies aren’t included in the total. We have until about 2022-2024 to fix this train wreck. After then, the train starts wobbling off the rails, and can’t be recovered without a crash. Separate note – for those who believe that men with rifles can’t tackle the US military, I… Read more »

John Derbyshire
6 years ago

One of your best, Z.
Everyone is welcome to my modification of Bill Buckley’s “Stand athwart History crying ‘Stop!'”
Thus: What modern “movement” conservatives actually do is jog along behind History’s juggernaut calling out: “Would you mind slowing down a little, please?”

james+wilson
james+wilson
Reply to  John Derbyshire
6 years ago

It is in the nature of most men to fix things, which is what conservatives do. Progs invent the kind of things that fail immediately unless they are “fixed”. Progs currently are undergoing an alien experience–conservatives are not fixing Obamacare. They really really want to, but suddenly there are so many bad thinkers holding them back.

Teapartydoc
Member
6 years ago

Yankee power is now dependent on skimming operations of various sorts. Keeping those alive which it can and creating new ones are necessary to be able to project that power. The shock of the last election was due to the failure of the money from the skimming operations to elect the Yankee choice.

One of the keys to success for non-yankees, or cowboys, if you will, is to undermine the abilities and institutions of the Yankees to make cowboys pay for their own subjugation.

Matt
Matt
6 years ago

A fantastic weekend piece. Well done Z.

JerryC
JerryC
6 years ago

Interesting theory, but what you call Yankee Progressivism is even more dominant in much of western Europe than it is in the northeast US. Places like Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. There is something going on that is rooted in something that goes beyond American history, or even English history, some impulse towards extreme universalism and xenophilia. European nations that took many hundreds of years to build are being undone in a few generations of mass immigration. It begs, in my mind at least, for a deeper explanation than American regional differences.

Tykebomb
Tykebomb
Reply to  JerryC
6 years ago

After WW2, the Yankee Empire rebuilt Europe in its image through institutions like NATO and the Marshall Plan. Come on now, this is NRx 101.

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  JerryC
6 years ago

Post WW2 came decades of jewish Frankfurt school propaganda that has held sway in the west. The best intentions of egalitarianism spawned the fruits we see before us today, quickly destroying us. Will we see a strong white man turn things around? Nigel Farage and Geert Wilders are out there, trying… Anyone here in U.S., besides Trump (who is held to some degree by jews/Israel)? Paul Nehlen? Roy Moore?

Andy Texan
Reply to  Ursula
6 years ago

Jews did not undo Western Europe after WWII. Europe was Judenfrei. If progressive ideas promulgated by Jewish academics took hold in Europe (and the US) as they did, it was the Europeans who carried the torch and still do.

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Andy Texan
6 years ago

Yeah, but look at the U.S. We’re falling apart just as badly as the EU. We don’t see, YET, our hidden country enclaves of immigrants in Idaho, New York, Minnesota, Connecticut. When we do, what will happen?

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Andy Texan
6 years ago

Get real, white Euros are too passive. That’s the sad story of our time.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Andy Texan
6 years ago

Retaining 80% of their population, ruling the Soviet Union, creating the BIS, UN, Bretton Woods, owning much of the Euro media (and all of Hollywood), “advising” Mao and half the governments of Africa and Latin America, creating and leading the 60’s radicals and the Diversity Cult- that’s not judenfrei, not by a long, long ways.

Spherical_Cube
Member
6 years ago

I doubt that the establishment will ever want you to think of the next civil war as a civil war, it’ll be a random string of shootings (like, say, Las Vegas) and waco-type events. Civil unrest, etc.

BTW, that’s how the start of the Soviet Union collapse happened – there were some regional squabbles on the periphery and the central government started to demonstrate an inability to govern and it just kept degrading until they downsized to a level where they could govern again.

Richter Rox
Richter Rox
6 years ago

to paraphrase Andy Warhol who was the first to realize that the movies(and the extended media ) are the main force that controls the culture and runs the country . we all know who runs the movies .

They are the new yankees and unlike the old yankees they dont give a shit about this country.
Not making excuses for yankee folly but at least they thought what they were doing was proper .

David+Wright
Member
6 years ago

My God Dabney was prescient. In 1897 (year before his death) he described perfectly the role conservatism has in our political life, even more so to this day.

“the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition.”

STB190
STB190
6 years ago

I will agree with this to an extent, with the modification being that regional disputes are likely to remain small in scale – even down to a neighbourhood basis. There is too much state directed military power in the US for it to escalate beyond this. In my limited view, from afar.

Unless you consider that opposing groups obtain access to material high grade weaponry is possible.

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
Reply to  STB190
6 years ago

Yes and no. If conflicts remain contained and local, yes. If widespread, then those blue lines are pretty thin, particularly if the operating areas go beyond geographically compact cities.

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  STB190
6 years ago

STB; Like Saml, I have to disagree. If the disputes are local, then yes. If regional, then maybe no. Like at the start of the last civil war, there is plenty of military power available to regional political forces in the various National Guard bases and armories that are under each state governor’s command. Even the considerable federal reserve forces that count (Army and Air Force) are regional in composition and so susceptible to local takeover.* The difference then was that the active duty federal forces were miniscule and so had very little ability to stop the armories being taken… Read more »

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
Reply to  Al from da Nort
6 years ago

Even behind enemy lines here, the reservists and National Guardsmen I’ve know over the years represent almost exclusively the right side of the spectrum. Ditto for PD outside of the large cities. It would be an interesting question, though one I’d prefer not to see answered empirically. Have also known a couple ex Yugoslavs that were around for the Sarajevo “fun”. Another case study in how fast things can go from fine to shit.

Al in Georgia
Al in Georgia
Reply to  Saml Adams
6 years ago

The ex Yugoslavs can confirm that “Diversity was their Strength.

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  Saml Adams
6 years ago

Yeah, a mass-scale Principles vs. Pension dilemma with very little time to decide may be in their future. This would be the sort of historical hinge-of-fate moment like when the Cossacks in St. Petersburg decided not to ride down the demonstrators nearly exactly 100 years ago eventually giving the world the USSR. I completely share your desire to not find out empirically. The Russian Civil Way that followed in train from that unfortunate incident of elite incompetence in St. Petersburg ‘only’ killed about 20 million over the following four years. And that happened in a much more thinly populated land… Read more »

Member
6 years ago

What do you think of the “party system” interpretation of the political history of the US? The “fifth” system was the New Deal hegemony that started in 1932 (which ended the “fourth system” that had prevailed since 1896). The concept of the successive party systems was made popular with a book from 1968, and nobody seems to know what exactly the “sixth system” is. I’d say that the election of 1980 was a “turning” point in that it crushed the old New Deal consensus, but it didn’t really establish a new consistent pattern of voting. I’d also suggest (perhaps with… Read more »

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Saurons_Lazy_Eye
6 years ago

The problem with the 1980 election was similar in some ways to the 2016 election. A President was elected who sought to remake the system, within the rules, but he was largely alone in his quest. Reagan hoped to set the philosophical and political example for the future, for others to pick up and run with, but it never came to pass. This is likely, in large part, because Bush I had no interest in perpetuating the movement, and also that the powers-that-be tied Reagan up in knots with the Iran-Contra thing. A similar playbook is in operation to neuter… Read more »

Epaminondas
Member
6 years ago

It has always seemed to me that Northerners are divided over their allegiance to Lincoln or to Freedom of Association. So far, Lincoln keeps on winning.

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Epaminondas
6 years ago

“Freedom of association for me, but not for you”. That has always been their marching orders.

cerulean
cerulean
6 years ago

As we focus on “the shadow that follows radicalism,” it’s worth paying attention to the radicalism itself.

https://www.scribd.com/document/337535680/Full-David-Brock-Confidential-Memo-On-Fighting-Trump#from_embed

The first few pages are no surprise, but are worth reading, I think.

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  cerulean
6 years ago

Cerulean;
I read this document more as trolling for additional, non-Soros money. I can’t be the only one that gets stuff like this in the mail on a nearly daily basis from DC Post Office Boxes purporting to be on our side.

One could only wish that Brock’s descriptions of us deplorable’s capabilities and organization were accurate. That it is idiotic doesn’t make it harmless, however.

Member
6 years ago

Here’s where I’m stuck. After the last 11 months of Hillary stooping even lower than Gore did in his 2000 loss and the all-out effort to undo a election, by hook or by crook.. how can the half of the country that voted for Trump EVER accept a prog / Democrat win going forward? I mean, think of 2024.. their best chance.. The left and the media have crossed a line. The last administration clearly politicized large swaths of the Government. The Trump administration has 7 years to attempt to hold folks accountable and assure us nommies out here that… Read more »

Ensitue
Ensitue
6 years ago

Southern conservatives allowed the die hard democrats to define them with their own KKK racism as well as southern hatred of the Republican Party

Glenn
Glenn
6 years ago

Z-man, I am a regular reader of your website and enjoy many of your articles. You have often touched on the topic of the difficult problem of attracting people to the alt-right and what that involves. This article touches on some themes that will definitely make me think twice about outright joining the movement. I understand that you are a southerner (Southron) and that is where your heart is but to keep hitting on the idea that the South is good and the North is bad puts off a lot of non-Southerners. I grew up in the West (Colorado before… Read more »

LFMayor
LFMayor
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Bloody Bill Anderson. That mess in Missouri was almost beyond belief, real mad dogs off the chain and running. It didn’t get wrapped up until the Federal government took it with proper seriousness and sent some hardened units West.

Issac
Issac
Reply to  Glenn
6 years ago

If being conservative meant anything, you Americans wouldn’t be in this mess.

trackback
6 years ago

miniscule

The current bazaar deals posses copious {abstruse|buried|clandestine|cloaked|close|clouded|concealed|covered|covert|cryptic|dark|disguised|eclipsed|esoteric|herme

Warmongerel
Warmongerel
6 years ago

“Those dark blue areas are where Lefty walks the streets unmolested”

Well, except for Hollywood and Washington, DC. They seem to be molesting everybody!

Mr Galt
Mr Galt
6 years ago

As a Michigander, I take exception to some of the coloration of my state. True, that Detroit, Lansing, and Saginaw/Bay City are deep blue, but the U.P., the central to northern portion of the southern peninsula, as well as the western areas around Grand Rapids are in NO WAY deep blue commie-topia. This isn’t just a “little spot here-and-there” nitpicking. This is really not even close to accurate. I suspect there are many other locales where the author got it wrong.

Dav
Dav
6 years ago

Southern Conservatives just watched helplessly while Southern Progressive Socialists tore down Southern Historical Monuments and labeled you all Racists. Southerners have no intestinal fortitude. Probably why you lost the War of Southern Slavery.

Tykebomb
Tykebomb
Reply to  Dav
6 years ago

Southern Cities aren’t inhabited by Southerners. They are Yankee colonies filled with techie carpetbaggers drawn in by Republican policies. See Houston, Charlotte, etc. We have no control over those town councils and mayors.

Matt(Tx)
Matt(Tx)
Reply to  Tykebomb
6 years ago

Dallas, Houston, and Austin are all deep blue areas.

Heartlander
Heartlander
Reply to  Matt(Tx)
6 years ago

Matt, you’re right, except that if compare individual precincts/districts/neighborhoods within those metropolitan areas, you’ll see many pockets of bright red.

DiogenesLamp
DiogenesLamp
Reply to  Dav
6 years ago

I think the being outnumbered 4 to 1 had a lot to do with it.