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Originally Posted by Azure
Great post.
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Well thanks; the Civil War is one of my favorite historical subjects, so I always feel I should chip in on the rare occasions it gets brought up. It is perhaps the most stark example of how the agrarian power of landowners was broken by the new power of the industrialists and capitalists; a violent realignment that allowed many of our modern attitudes and social structures to develop.
I personally think the symbolism of the Confederacy exerts such a pull for three reasons: one, it fought against unwanted change and for an ancient concept of class that still fascinates many today; two, despite being terribly overmatched in almost every material and advantage of war, it nearly managed to win; three, its war destroyed what it hoped to save and thus we are relieved from the burden of admiring men like Lee or Jackson as victors in the cause of slavery, but can instead see them as men who did what they saw as their duty, and did it brilliantly.
Whether or not such thoughts go through the mind of someone with a rebel flag in the back of his truck, I don't know and somehow doubt, however. I suspect it's more of a lame attempt to come across as a "rebel" without understanding what exactly one is rebelling against.