"... sleepwalking into secession"

"Then there is the possibility that federal authorities would use force to suppress secession or that violence would spontaneously erupt. Missouri, a closely divided state featuring bloody guerrilla warfare, was an outlier in 1860. If the country splits and things turn violent today, there will be many Missouris. Moreover, in most of the country, the barbarity of the Civil War was mitigated by the predominant use of regular armies following the laws of war, and by the common moral and religious underpinnings of the combatants. A modern version would look more like Bosnia than Gettysburg. 

If we were lucky, things would not devolve into open war. But terrible consequences would still follow. There would be millions of refugees flowing in both directions, though more out of the blue zones, which will be afflicted by Portland-style disorder or insufferable progressive power unconstrained by the Bill of Rights. Continental commerce would be interrupted and basic security endangered. 

The west coast would reach for international allies, and we might eventually find Chinese troops on North American soil. All of the reasons for union recited in Federalist #1-10 would come back to haunt us. And there would be other difficult issues to resolve, such as how to divide the national debt and the nation’s nuclear arsenal."  Andrew Busch

---------

"No one wanted war, but war came."

TTG thinks (or hopes) that war will not come.  I am not so sure.

Where I sit in Alexandria, I see the ties that bind in; culture, sentiment, shared history and societal goals being systematically dismantled by a majority population of newcomers and minorities.

The same thing is happening all down the I-95 corridor all the way to Richmond where the dismantling is proceeding rapidly.

This is occurring without regard to the opinions and wishes of the rest of the state. "And here's to brave Virginia, the Old Dominion state..."  No more.  No more.

This pattern of potential division is repeated on a grand scale across the country.  We are a federal republic and by that very structure we are  built for dissolution as a united country.  The UK can split along national lines; England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the United States is made up of 50 potential countries. Or, perhaps more if other states divide internally as Virginia might.

If such  a process of dissolution began, how would the forces of order fare?  The National Guard?  The Regular forces?  The police?  If you think you know the answer to that question, you probably do not.  pl 

https://americanmind.org/essays/sleepwalking-into-secession/

Comments

[The Twisted Genius]

KH and pl,

I started downhill skiing in grammar school. I raced giant slalom on my high school club. Our town hall procured night skiing tickets at nearby Mount Southington. Every Friday night we could ski for a dollar. It was an affordable pastime. On the last Friday of the season of my senior year, I broke a ski and couldn't afford a new pair. When I got to college, I decided to start XC skiing since I could get a set for $35 and I wouldn't have to buy lift tickets. I fell in love with the sport and the freedom of the winter north woods. I honed my skiing skills in 10th Group and went to the Austrian Army Mountain Guide School. That was a true hoot. We wore Austrian uniforms and used their equipment. A Spetsnaz team, using the same uniforms and equipment went through at the same time. The Austrians made sure we were never on the same ridge line. But we did wave at each other.

The antennas at VHFS were mostly gone when I was stationed there. We were located on a small fenced compound within a larger fence line that one surrounded the antenna fields. I was also lucky enough to be stationed at Augsburg and Devens and spent a hell of a lot of time in Berlin. The Augsburg antennas were still there when I passed through. The Berlin site at Teufelsberg was abandoned by then.

[turcopolier]

fred

He was a WW2 correspondent and friend of Hemingway, Ernie Pyle, etc. Wrote for the Chicago Tribune then. He was editor of the Sunday newspaper of the Manchester Union Leader when I knew him. His son was a college classmate and since my parents were in California I was invited several times to spend holiday leave at their colonial farmhouse in Candia, NH. Many a night sitting in the kitchen talking and drinking good Scotch while my classmate and the young Joe, now editor of the Union Leader, watched TeeVee in another room. We went to ski at places like Sunapee. He said I had an unusual mind both analytic and synthetic and offered me a job if i would not go in the army.

[turcopolier]

TTG

You would have enjoyed the Mountain and Arctic Warfare course at Fort Greely in Alaska. the graduation qualifying event was a 100 mile cross country event with AKNG Eskimos as Aggressors.

[Keith Harbaugh]

Regarding Field Station Berlin: What prompted a lot of good-humored chuckling was the appearance of its antennas. You can Google its name, then switch to Images, and see their resemblance to the most distinctive part of a man's anatomy :-)

When I visited there circa 1977, its CO was, IIRC, Col. Stubblebine. Perhaps some of you knew him? He subsequently expressed some rather controversial views.

[turcopolier]

Keith Harbaugh

Is this the one who used to try to walk through walls?

[Keith Harbaugh]

I would think so, based on the name and service record.

His name stood out to me.
I spent two weeks at Field Station Augsburg, installing a computer system. No one mentioned the name of the field station commander.
OTOH, I only spent maybe two days at FSB, talking with their staff about the computer support they desired to counter the GSFG. During that time they made sure to emphasize the name of their commander, "Col. Stubblebine", whjch they uttered with something resembling reverance.

In any case, former INSCOM CG MG Stubblebine caught my eye for his remarks, not those on paranormality, but those on 9/11.

[blue peacock]

"Keeping infrastructure critical business functioning is hardly Marxism..."

Eric,

I've read Solzhenitsyn several times. The big takeaway is that ideology is just a fig leaf for an elite group to acquire absolute power and the systematic subjugation of perceived enemies to retain the stranglehold of power.

So, in your view a private "infrastructure critical business" that keeps borrowing money to buy back stock so that its top management who are issued a lot of stock continually can become incredibly wealthy, must be provided funds by the government, so that top management does not get diluted by issuing stock to private investors, is "hardly marxism". What is it? This is exactly what American Airlines, and United and Boeing and so many other big corporations did. They didn't build up reserves nor invest in their businesses.

Should "infrastructure critical business" be owned by the state? Why not? Should all "infrastructure critical business" be able to access government funding or only a select few like those with the right political connections? Do these "infrastructure critical business" who need government bailouts be held to a different standard?

What is "marxism" in your view?