Thursday 17 June 2021

The Confederate Manifesto

Source : Cornerstone Speech, 1861, Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens

“The prevailing ideas entertained by most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away.

A fair and accurate assessment. It is true of Racism today - an evil we know not well how to deal with, but which we trust will pass away.

The events of the 40s show that such passing may have to be assisted by means up to and including the use of nuclear weapons on organised Racists. Or conventional weapons in suitably horrific quantities. Hamburg. Dresden. Rostock. Tokyo.


Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the "storm came and the wind blew."
Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition.

This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.



The first, but alas, not the last. Hence Auschwitz. Hence Hamburg, Dresden, Rostock, Tokyo and other cities not completely razed by Firestorm, just gutted.

Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well, that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. Those at the North, who still cling to these errors, with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind — from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics; their conclusions are right if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just — but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails. “

Bottom line: the Might Makes Right Racists lost. Twice. Once at Appomatox Courthouse, once at Luneburg Heath. Don't punch Nazis, eradicate them. Hopefully by education rather than incendiaries.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

No two people are equal not even twins. You yourself changed your gender because you believe people are not equal. Nature has no human rights only survival of those that can in the environment. History shows lower I.Q. people do not live as long as those that can handle the environment.

In this age of limited resources and finite ability to create resources the population must not increase beyond what is sustainable. Many low intelligence species do not survive without others sacrificing their survival for them. Much of the world is run by employment by the hour, which is a form of slavery selling one's time of their life. When things get out of hand such as limited resources in Rwanda people fight for survival. Welcome to reality.

Lisa

Zoe Brain said...

Equal does not mean identical.
Different people have different talents and abilities. Their product is valued by society in different ways. I'm fortunate in that in my millieu, many of my own abilities have moderately high value. Rocket Scientists are seen as more intelligent and valued than short order cooks, though not as highly valued as merchant bankers.
Values can change - epidemiologists are currently seen as much more valuable than they were 3 years ago.
To me, knitting is a black art. How anyone can take 2 sticks - or just 1 in crochet - and some string and fabricate cloth is beyond me. I've tried. Yet many 8 year olds with little education can do it. It's not valued highly, because it is not scarce, yet ability to visualise orbits is.
Getting to short order cooks - they handle dangerous tools, hot oil etc, and if they screw up, they can poison dozens or hundreds of people. Rationally, that highly skilled work should be valued highly. Yet it is not, through artificial distortions of the market.

Daniel said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Does it get to the point that the limited resources force a showdown to survival of humanity? Will those that can depend on human water and not sacrifice for those that can not?
R v Dudley and Stephens

Lisa