Edit for Feelings, Not Accuracy

It’s quite a curious country in which we live.  Over the past decade, or so, we have witnessed the protests – and subsequent removal – of most things related to the American Civil War.

Firstly, the American Civil War was anything but.  Better to call it the War Between the States, it involved the absolute massacre of soldiers fighting for a complex mix of political issues and states’ rights.  Hundreds of thousands of combatants, approaching 1,000,000, died.

Secession from the United States over slavery was a major part in this battle that began in 1861, and lasted four years.  It ended by proclamation that brought about dissolution of the Confederate States, end of slavery, and the beginning of the Reconstruction Era.

The slavery portion of this official melee played an important part in buoying the country, the South in particular, and its economy.  The invention of the cotton gin in 1794 helped more efficiently process the South’s largest cash crop.

Unfortunately, Eli Whitney’s invention was too efficient.  It took too much time to pick the cotton for processing, thereby opening the way for slavery.

Slaves would be used to pick this crop en mass thereby allowing the quick and efficient harvesting of this boll plant.

Those brought to America as slaves were bought and sold as property rather than free people.  Both their travel and existence in bondage was horrible, often resulting in death or cruel punishment.  It is the darkest part of America’s history.

History is the story passed on to descendants written by the victors.

Upon the fall of the United Soviet Socialist Republic – USSR – its history of brutality of mass killings, secret police, and nuclear military threat, has been erased by rewriting its history.

Today, the newly-renamed Russia, would lead people to believe they had no history prior to the 1940’s.  All the mass killings, amounting to roughly 100,000,000, under their repressive Communist regimes, are now forgotten by younger generations.

All this does nothing to remind people world-wide of the atrocities committed in the name of saving the country.

Equally disturbing was the demand to summarily remove the Confederate flag from public display.  This effort was brought about by whiners who are not forward thinking.  Their instant gratification may result in a recurrence in slavery.

Please don’t poo-poo me for such a statement.  Many American high school and college students are demanding the introduction to American politics a Communist-style form of government.  Add to that a Socialistic medical system and “free” college education, and you have re-created the USSR.

Now those Confederate flag whiners are demanding the editing of our history to include the removal of Confederate States monuments, for the sake of hurt feelings.

As an example, a great majority of today’s teenagers cannot identify Dr. Martin Luther King, or state what his role was in America’s racial struggles.

Countless statues and monuments have been – and continue to be slated for removal – are resulting in the crime of sanitizing the past of the Unites States.  All these historical figures are displayed to remind, not honor, American citizens of the horror of an internal war.  Their removal alters our nation’s past.  And this is not good.

While all this hyper-reaction makes its way through the “news,” it allows our newer generations to forget-through-omission. 

EasternShoreFishAndGame.com freebie:  Mohammed, the Muslim Prophet, was a slave owner, too.  He is still revered.  Neato, eh?

Spanish Philosopher George Santayana, is most notably known for his profound statement, “Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.”

Pay attention.