I was listening to some Warren Zevon the other day and Renegade came on (see below). Zevon is one of my favorite artists and I've always loved this tune, have heard it a million times at least but hearing it the other day got me to thinking. The song references and pulls heavily from the Lost Cause mythos surrounding the South's loss in the US civil war in 1861-1865 that is ingrained into much of southern culture and history even now.
This got me to thinking about the parallels and differences between the run up to that civil war and recent events here in the states. (You can usually find parallels in history if you look hard enough but circumstances are rarely similar enough to draw more than the most general of conclusions safely, so make of this what you want) The steadily increasing polarization, the 'other-ing' and dehumanization of the opposition all seemed quite familiar. In years past I'd be reassured by the lack of major organized paramilitary organizations but last year kinda put paid to that.
On the flip side, we're nowhere near approaching the level of violence seen back in Bleeding Kansas and the like, despite the increases in the firepower walking around. Still, that's faint reassurance with how quickly that can change. In a lot of ways the situation now reminds me more of the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33, which was something of a false start for the conflict that eventually erupted in 1861.
People say that those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. Historians like to joke that those who do know their history are also doomed to repeat it as well. Whether history truly repeats itself is a whole other debate but I'm curious to know what y'all think, whether the United States is in the process of repeating history and about to have (or narrowly averted having) an uncivil war (how is 'civil war' not an oxymoron?) or if something else entirely is in the works.
All these photos are from Derby Day last year, September 5th, when several hundred people showed up with guns in Louisville. The first and third photos are of some of the Three Percenters and Oath Keepers (the same groups involved in the storming of the Capitol on Jan 6th) that marched into downtown Louisville to confront protesters. While that encounter went ultimately went fairly peacefully, the nearness with which it came to more violent outcomes made 'civil war' seem less of an abstract and intellectual concept.
On a lighter note, if you liked the Zevon song, check out Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
