The Right to Freedom

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I'm not really talkin' 'bout Starmen and Fire Bars.

Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA-05) is running for the special Senate election in his state of Massachusetts, thanks to now-former Senator (and failed presidential candidate) John Kerry becoming the Secretary of State. This guy is a damn dinosaur and has been in Congress since the 1970s.

So he tried to hold a fundraiser with Georgia's Ben Jones (a fellow Democrat and famous person), which got canceled by Markey because the Congressman is offended by the Confederate Flag, and Mr. Jones is an avid defender of that symbol.

So why am I writing about this? Because I'm offended by Ed Markey being offended! Mr. Markey stated,

 Confederate relics are highly offensive and should not be displayed in public settings, period.

Mr. Jones replied,

So rather than having a serious discussion about the use of symbols, and the context of symbols, and the meaning of symbols, the argument has been boiled down to something like this: “Rebel flag bad. Racist! Me good. Not racist!” [...]  And doesn’t the Klan also use the American flag? And the Christian Cross? Wouldn’t that make them equally as noxious? And don’t they wear bedsheets? Does that mean we should stop sleeping on them?

Mr. Jones is, of course, absolutely correct. The standard approach by mis-educated people like Ed Markey is something like, "Well the Confederacy stood for slavery, and the Union and President Lincoln went to liberate the slaves! Why, if it weren't for Abraham Lincoln, African-Americans would be enslaved to this very day! So the Confederate Flag is racist!" The man is just like a certain red-hatted menace: Taking down flags he doesn't agree with!

Markey's common sense is in another castle.

By corollary, that means that people like Ed Markey also believe the American Flag is a symbol of freedom and goodness. (Although he's perfectly fine with it being burned, I guess?

So let's go over just some of the really bad things done in the name of the Confederacy, and some of the really bad things done in the name of the Union/United States of America. That means government or government-sponsored only.

The Confederate States of America:

• Held slaves

The United States of America:

• Held and transported slaves
• Invaded the Confederate States of America, killing hundreds of thousands and wrecking the infrastructure of the country
• Forced the relocation (resulting in the death) of Native Americans
• Treated many Irish immigrants horribly horribly
• Treated even worse many Chinese immigrants
• Interned American citizens of Japanese origin into prison camps
• Maintained strict immigration quotas that prevented hundreds of thousands of German-Jewish refugees from fleeing the Holocaust, leaving them to die in Germany
• Persecuted the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-day Saints
• Targeted IRS audits on the Tea Party Movement and other groups across the political spectrum
• Arrested journalists for speaking out against the government, as well as harassed them
• Suspended habeas corpus against political enemies
• Looted holdings of gold from the citizens
• Anonymously killed civilians in the Middle East by drone strikes
• Prevented Asians, Indians, Italians, and Eastern-Europeans from entering the country, many of which were persecuted by their home governments
• Holds sustaining anti-Catholic sentiments, including abjuration of the Pope for citizenship
• Forced deportation of legal American citizens of Mexican descent
• Annexed and took over the Kingdom of Hawaii
• Annexed and suppressed the Philippines

This ain't a complete list, of course. I'm just saying. You know, with all this bad stuff that America has done in the past, present, and future at the time of the making of the Confederacy, it's no wonder they wanted to secede from this kind of reputation! (Let's not forget that some in New England wanted to secede from the Union first, though, during the Hartford Convention.)

So my point here is that it's shallow to associate the Confederate Flag with racism and slavery, yet not do the same for the American Flag. It's a double standard.

As for the point that there would still be slavery today if President Lincoln didn't invade the South to "keep the Union together" (which is code for: The South is important to the US economy and we must politically enslave them and force them to increase our GDP even if they want to be their own country), it's a terrible argument. If you want me to elaborate on why, ask in the comments.

On the note that the South was politically enslaved, this is a great article on how Northern protectionists lobbied for tariffs on the country to be raised, which benefited the Northern-based economy and threatened to decimate the Southern side. Lincoln was actively working to destroy the Southern way of life...but it's immoral for the South to want to quit this parasitic relationship?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. [Emphasis added]

Now, I personally associate the Confederate Flag with State's Rights, and the American Flag with freedom and liberty. I don't demonize either symbol. The Confederate Flag is an emblem that illustrates that the South's forefathers took the Declaration of Independence to heart and actually did something about an abusive and out-of-control government that was destructive of the ends of the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of the population. They're HEROES.
 
The founding fathers of the Confederacy were men of ACTION, not just of fancy words like the politicians of today who say they'll make great change yet do nothing. Like the Founding Fathers of the United States, they put their lives and reputation on the line for a principled cause. This deserves respect! The gaming industry can learn lesson here, too. If you take principled risks, you can amass a cult following!

I don't hold a grudge against America at present for stopping the secession, and I don't hold a grudge on any group of people, like Ed Markey does. As Herman Cain once said,

I believe that one of America’s greatest strengths is its ability to change.

(Whether it's heading for a change for the worse is another story.)


If you friend Ludwig on Facebook, you can see him try to cow-tow to people in Alabama who have no idea who he is.


Ludwig is talking about stars and firebars a day later, though.
You could also read this article as “You should take down both Confederate and American things because they're both bad.” That's what is happening in 2020.
Ludwig eventually wrote nice things to Senator Ed Markey because he's an ally in Ludwig's quest to abolish biannual clock changes.