Steven Rosenfeld — Congressional Radical Right-Wingers Relive Confederacy Fantasies

II have been saying for some time that the US is now engaged in a civil war reminiscent of the run-up to the Civil War. Steven Rosenfeld draws the historical parallels.

I don't see this as one side being right and the other wrong. It's two very different visions for America that were in conflict from colonial times owing to different temperaments, cultures, and institutional arrangements that make federation difficult — as is clear from American history, e.g., as recorded in the Federalist papers. Without Alexander Hamilton America would almost certainly be a confederation now and world history very different, possibly with Germany as hegemon since WWI. While Hamilton prevailed, it was at the cost of a Civil War that has not yet been resolved and is in the process of being revisited.

For this reason, the attempt to force a strong political union is often unwise and premature. If America has still not been able to agree upon a common vision for a strong union, how could the EZ ever hope to chiefly on the basis of a currency union?


AlterNet — Tea Party And The Right
Congressional Radical Right-Wingers Relive Confederacy Fantasies

Steven Rosenfeld