The author does reasonably well in advocating a course of action that
would increase the polarization that plagues our Nation and People today. If one favors a future for our Nation and Republic that is rooted in separatism and parochialism, well here's a plan that would get you well on your way down that road.
I found it curious that someone who is advocating a return to something akin the form of government we had under the Articles of Confederation would quote from Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was, of course, one of the primary architects behind the overthrow of the Articles and the implementation of the Constitution.
But then I suppose that was so the author could quote from the "Federalist Papers", doing so seems to be a firm and fast rule for theorists of a certain ilk. And of course the "Federalist Papers" are much like the "Prophecies of Nostradamus", one can pull a quote from them and make them appear to say just about anything under the sun.
The author could have found better quotes to bolster his call for the Balkanization of American by quoting from the likes of Franjo Tuđman (former president of Croatia), Milan Kučan (former president of Slovenia), Todor Gligorov (former president of Macedonia) - - architects of the Balkanization of the Balkans.
Simply insert state for country in the following quote and you are well on your way to describing the future of America under the author's plan:
"
Why should I be a minority in your country when you can be a minority in mine?"
-- Todor Gligorov
Anyway, it could be that I'm missing something . . . But I don't see anything suggested in this article that would actually lessen the problem of polarization confronting our Nation and People today. I don't see anything in this person's argument that would bring Americans to think in terms "us". And thinking in terms of "us" - finding common ground seems to me to be the only way to counter polarization.
This article seems to me to be conducive to heightening the "us" and "them" mindset that fuels the divisions fracturing our nation. I'm uncertain how advocating parochialism could do anything but add to polarization.
In my mind, this is "us" - these are some of the people who help make our Nation what it is:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIA...asualties/When I look at their faces, see their names, and think of their diverse backgrounds . . . What I see "us".
I don't see conservatives or liberals . . . pro-lifers or pro-choicers. I don't see newcomers/immigrants or native born . . . the privileged or the disenfranchised. I don't see Democrats or Republicans . . . Montanans or North Dakotans. I don't see folks standing on either side of line drawn in the sands of some so-called "culture war" -- what I see is "us".
I am at the same time proud and humbled that our Nation has citizens such as these. I wonder where do they come from . . . do we deserve them? How do we continue to do whatever it is that compels these people to step forward when we need them? I think / hope that they come forward because of the common ground that they (and we) share.
Where do we find this common ground?
As this author suggests in wedge issues? . . . in advocating separatism? . . . in calling for parochialism?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Edward S. Herman, "
The Propaganda Model: A Retrospective,"
PROPAGANDA, POLITICS, POWER, Volume 1:1-14, December 2003.
http://human-nature.com/r...erman.htmlEdward S. Herman, "
Propaganda System Number One: From Diem and Arbenz to Milosevic,"
PROPAGANDA, POLITICS, POWER, Volume 1:1-14, December 2003.
http://human-nature.com/r...erman.html