[Peace-discuss] Message from Redneckia

Sun Sep 14 18:55:22 CDT 2008

Here is an interesting play on how the term 'redneck' can be perceived.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain

On Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 9:52 AM, Ron Szoke <r-szoke at illinois.edu> wrote:

>
> Why rednecks may rule the world
> By Joe Bageant
> Author of Deerhunting With Jesus
>
> During this US election cycle we are hearing a lot from the pundits and
> candidates about "heartland voters," and "white working class voters."
>
> What they are talking about are rednecks. But in their political
> correctness,
> media types cannot bring themselves to utter the word "redneck." So I'll
> say it
> for them: redneck-redneck-redneck-redneck.
>
> The fact is that we American rednecks embrace the term in a sort of proud
> defiance. To us, the term redneck indicates a culture we were born in and
> enjoy.
> So I find it very interesting that politically correct people have taken it
> upon
> themselves to protect us from what has come to be one of our own warm and
> light hearted terms for one another.
>
> On the other hand, I can quite imagine their concern, given what's at stake
> in
> the upcoming election. We represent at least a third of all voters and no
> US
> president has ever been elected without our support.
>
> Consequently, rednecks have never had so many friends or so much attention
> as in 2008. Contrary to the stereotype, we are not all tobacco chewing,
> guffawing Southerners, but are scattered from coast to coast. Over 50% of
> us
> live in the "cultural south", which is to say places with white Southern
> Scots-
> Irish values - redneck values.
>
> They include western Pennsylvania, central Missouri and southern Illinois,
> upstate Michigan and Minnesota, eastern Connecticut, northern New
> Hampshire…
> So when you look at what pundits call the red state heartland, you are
> looking
> at the Republic of Redneckia.
>
> As to having our delicate beer-sodden feelings protected from the term
> redneck; well, I appreciate the effort, though I highly suspect that the
> best way
> to hide snobbishness is to pose as protector of any class of folks you
> cannot
> bear. Thus we are being protected by the very people who look down on us -
> educated urban progressives.
>
> And let's face it, there's plenty to look down on. By any tasteful
> standard, we
> ain't a pretty people.
>
> Uppity and slick? Not us...
>
> We come in one size: extra large. We are sometimes insolent and often quick
> to
> fight. We love competitive spectacle such as NASCAR and paintball, and
> believe
> gun ownership is the eleventh commandment.
>
> We fry things nobody ever considered friable - things like cupcakes, banana
> sandwiches and batter dipped artificial cheese…even pickles.
>
> And most of all we are defiant and suspicious of authority, and people who
> are
> "uppity" (sophisticated) and "slick" (people who use words with more than
> three
> syllables). Two should be enough for anybody.
>
> And that is one of the reasons that, mystifying as it is to the outside
> world, John
> McCain's choice of the moose-shooting Alaskan woman with the pregnant
> unmarried teen daughter appeals to many redneck and working class
> Americans.
>
> We all understand that there is a political class which dominates in
> America, and
> that Sarah Palin for damned sure is not one of them. And the more she is
> attacked by liberal Democratic elements (translation: elite highly-educated
> big
> city people) the more America's working mooks will come to her defence. Her
> daughter had a baby out of wedlock? Big deal. What family has not? She is a
> Christian fundamentalist who believes God spat on his beefy paws and made
> the
> world in seven days? So do at least 150 million other Americans. She
> snowmobiles and fishes and she is a looker to boot. She's a redneck.
>
> American ethos
>
> The term redneck indicates a lifestyle and culture that can be found in
> every
> state in our union. The essentials of redneck culture were brought to
> America by
> what we call the Scots Irish, after first being shipped to the Ulster
> Plantation,
> where our, uh, remarkable cultural legacy can still be seen every 12 July
> in
> Ireland.
>
> Ultimately, the Scots Irish have had more of an effect on the American
> ethos
> than any other immigrant group. Here are a few you will recognize:
>
> ~  Belief that no law is above God's law, not even the US Constitution.
>
> ~  Hyper patriotism. A fighting defence of native land, home and heart,
> even
> when it is not actually threatened: ie, Iraq, Panama, Grenada, Somalia,
> Cuba,
> Nicaragua, Vietnam, Haiti and dozens more with righteous operations titles
> such
> as Enduring Freedom, Restore Hope, and Just Cause.
>
> ~  A love of guns and tremendous respect for the warrior ideal. Along with
> this
> comes a strong sense of fealty and loyalty. Fealty to wartime leaders,
> whether it
> be FDR or George Bush.
>
> ~  Self effacement, humility. We are usually the butt of our own jokes, in
> an
> effort not to appear aloof among one another.
>
> ~  Belief that most things outside our own community and nation are
> inferior
> and threatening, that the world is jealous of the American lifestyle.
>
> ~  Personal pride in equality. No man, however rich or powerful, is better
> than
> me.
>
> ~  Perseverance and belief in hard work. If a man or a family is poor, it
> is
> because they did not work hard enough. God rewards those who work hard
> enough. So does the American system.
>
> ~  The only free country in the world is the United States, and the only
> reason we
> ever go to war is to protect that freedom.
>
> All this has become so deeply instilled as to now be reflexive. It
> represents
> many of the worst traits in American culture and a few of the best.
>
> And that has every thinking person here in the US, except perhaps John
> McCain
> and Sarah Palin, worried.
>
> Very worried.
>
>  --  Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-
> /today/hi/today/newsid_7600000/7600592.stm<http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/today/hi/today/newsid_7600000/7600592.stm>
> Published: 2008/09/06 09:39:12 GMT  (c) BBC MMVIII
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20080914/6d5152d4/attachment-0001.htm