How does civilization survive w.o. the "Sublime".

[MiddleAgedKen]

As for the Rebellion, thank you for making my point for me. The Confederacy was an evil state, based on evil, dedicated to preserving evil, led by a class of very evil men. In the course of their evil, they forever discredited by association many otherwise good and vital principles in American political thought so they are now lost (to our great and lasting harm). Well Done!

Put another way, "I'd like to thank the Slave Power for giving a bad name to resistance to the centralizing tendency of federal authority."

[Darrell]

But does evil recognize itself when it looks in the mirror? I'm sure Jeff Davis saw no such thing, nor did Hitler. Of course, Hitler supposedly said, "conscience is a Jewish invention" or something to that effect. Would a lack of conscience make one amoral, or immoral?

[Greg]

As for the Rebellion, thank you for making my point for me. The Confederacy was an evil state, based on evil, dedicated to preserving evil, led by a class of very evil men. In the course of their evil, they forever discredited by association many otherwise good and vital principles in American political thought so they are now lost (to our great and lasting harm). Well Done!

Put another way, "I'd like to thank the Slave Power for giving a bad name to resistance to the centralizing tendency of federal authority."

Thanks, that's probably better.

[Windy Wilson]

:jacked: I forget the exact reasoning, but one of my attempts to get through a literature class included a class on American literature before the Civil War. This included a study and discussion of the "Romantics", and I came to the conclusion that we lived in a romantic age; among other reasons was the desire to mount the barricades for a "better world". That and the respect for other's traditions and customs but never respect for YOUR family's traditions and customs.

As for the American Civil War, yes, having the slaveholders attempting to uphold "states rights" did forever poison the idea of a limited Federal Government in the minds of all those who can't separate the message from the messenger.

The Civil War was more about slavery than it was ever about states' rights, as Dred Scott established that the northern states had no intrinsic states right to keep a particular form of property right out of their territory. The discussion of states' rights before the war focused solely on states' rights for the slave holding states, and by eliminating states' rights as to the northern states, brought the election of a canny appellate lawyer from an abolitionist political party to the presidency, which resulted in secession and the war. The proof is in the fact that the secession movement came even before Lincoln was inaugurated and before he said anything about legislation he intended to bring, and every act of secession passed by the slave states included language about their way of life and specifically mentioned slavery.

The Confederacy was an evil state, based on evil, dedicated to preserving evil, led by a class of very evil men.

The rank and file southern soldier, not a slaveowner, however, fought for the much simpler reason, "we've been invaded and our families, fields, livelihoods, and lives are in danger!"
They may have thought of blacks as inferior, but they weren't so interested in fighting to preserve some rich man's right to keep slaves. Losing their livestock to a bunch of Yankee bummers, now . . .

[arctictom]

The war between the states , was poorly handled by Lincoln, and left us a poorer nation.

What might be a more interesting question around inspiration is our collective views on what inspires us. I'll start ,
A beautiful mountain , a good horse , personal integrity , a usefull and beautifull peice of engineering in the form of a firearm, tool , or auto, family , and loyal friends.

[Highspeed]

What might be a more interesting question around inspiration is our collective views on what inspires us. I'll start

OK, I'll bite.

Country living in a beautiful place where people don't intrude into your life and are self reliant ( but still sometimes turn up unannounced with a bottle of wine and a bag of seasonal fruit from their garden as a gift )

A cat or two and a hunting dog

A dirt bike and somewhere good to ride it

Jimi Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Delta Blues, Johnny Cash and a bottle of wine

A government bureaucrat hanging from a tree with a sign round his neck that reads ' Don't tread on me '

[Jericho941]

No matter how noble the motivations of individual soldiers might have been, as the losers, they will forever historical burden of being the bad guys. Which is why you can do whatever you want to Germans in WW2 games and movies and not feel bad about it. You are, after all, killing' gnat-zees. Like it or not, as every German was a Nazi, every Confederate was, um... A Confederate. Heh.

As for art... Art's what you can get away with.

[Greg]

The Confederacy was an evil state, based on evil, dedicated to preserving evil, led by a class of very evil men.

The rank and file southern soldier, not a slaveowner, however, fought for the much simpler reason, "we've been invaded and our families, fields, livelihoods, and lives are in danger!"

Well that explains who fired the first shot, who first invaded the other side's territory, etc. Heh. Later on that may have been a great motivator, but it is somewhat ironic that when the danger got really close to home, Southern soldiers had a powerful tendency to desert, to rush to their own homes.

IMO the South as a whole was high on a fantasy. A powerful, seductive fantasy, but about as closely rooted in reality as fantasies usually are (as in, not at all). Sherman was detox. People who talk about how awful Northern aggression was tend to overlook the magnitude of pure loathing that that Southern fantasy ideology inspired. That fantasy, and the resultant loathing, led to a lot of really bad results.

[Greg]

What might be a more interesting question around inspiration is our collective views on what inspires us.

I like this. I tend to have a very cynical view of humanity and human nature.

In the general sense I'm inspired by things that, to borrow a phrase 'restore my faith in humanity'. Even little things like individuals doing the right thing or the good thing when they don't have to, is enough.

Things like this are enough to make my entire week. (And yes I know it's not entirely a selfless act, you can't buy publicity that good, but still.)

[Highspeed]

I'm also a cynic ( there is a reason I have 'Fuck The World' tattooed on my stomach ) who admires random acts of kindness.

Regarding your link I reckon Marvel could have probably gotten the same value of publicity from just writing a nice letter to the kid, they didn't have to get an artist on it to create a couple of characters. So my bullshit detector didn't bleep even once
Thanks for sharing that...