First Southern National Congress

I did not ignore all the email in my box on this subject - I was just negligent in bringing the issue up, a situation I will now correct.

December 9, 2008 – Over one hundred Southern men and women, from all walks of life and from fourteen States, gathered near Hendersonville, NC December 5 through December 7 to convene the First Southern National Congress (SNC). This historic meeting at the Kanuga Conference Center in the shadow of the Blue Ridge was the first all-South congress since 1861.

In the words of Dr. Thomas Moore:

The U.S. Government no longer represents the people’s interests; it represents the interests of the highest bidder, the big corporations and money power. We Southerners have been among the most loyal and patriotic Americans, but in sadness we must acknowledge that Washington, DC has forfeited its moral authority by its folly and its unlawful acts. Now the people of the South who still love liberty and justice have no choice but to withdraw their consent from this corrupt Regime.

As the little boy on the playgroud says, "those are fight'n words". I have stated often that many men of principle in the US have very legitimate grivances and a lot of justifiable anger.

In keeping with its mission to speak for Southern interests, the SNC debated and passed a number of resolutions called “Remonstrances and Petitions for the Redress of Grievances.” These resolutions petitioned the Federal Government to cease its abuses, usurpations, and unlawful acts in the following areas:

· Failure to secure the borders and promoting of mass immigration that threatens to overwhelm our communities;
· Just law, protection of liberty, and the threat of rogue government;
· Just war and lawful defense, including proper (Constitutional) declaration of war;
· Southern agriculture and the rights of smallholders vs. corporate agribusiness;
· Sound money, economic policy, and Government crimes against our livelihoods;
· States’ sovereignty over their natural resources, especially along the Gulf Coast;
· The individual citizen’s unalienable right of armed self-defense.

Of this event eminent historian and South Carolina Delegate (and my hero) Dr. Clyde Wilson said:

“The SNC will reclaim the political legacy of great Southerners like Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John C. Calhoun. That legacy is individual liberty and a small central government limited to its enumerated powers; and which is the creation, the servant, and the agent of the sovereign people acting through their respective States. But these principles enacted in the Constitution of 1789 have been violated. The Federal Government today is engaged in ‘a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evincing a design to reduce us under absolute Despotism,’ to borrow the words of Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.”

May God lead, guide and direct men of wisdom and principles in these dark days and darker days yet to come.

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Paul on Lincoln's War

Tim Russert asked Ron Paul last Sunday on Meet the Press about Mr. Lincoln's War to which Paul said: "No, [Lincoln] shouldn't have gone, gone to war. He did this just to enhance and get rid of the original intent of the republic."

Anyone that is honest in their study of history knows that Lincoln did not declare war on the Confederate States to end slavery and that he himself never freed a single slave while president. These are facts. What he did do is redefine (by force) the original republic and to do so inaugurated slavery of another sort (the draft). He started the war and invaded the South for the same reasons nations have always invaded other nations - power, control and economics.

What an asinine thing of Russert to attempt, what a brave and noble answer from Paul.

AOL wants you to speak on the issue, go here to express your opinion (vote) on the issue. They ask a simple question "Ron Paul says Lincoln was wrong to fight the Civil War. Do you agree?"

I am amazed at the results - the failure of our civics education is obvious. I am more disturbed at the numbers coming in from the South. Obviously a lot of morons have voted in this poll thus far.

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Irony

Earlier today my family and I began our journey from my home in South Carolina to the foreign Republic of California to report for my next assignment. I mentioned in an earlier post my frustration with the changes that have occurred over the last two years in my home and my disappointment with the pace at which ordinary, otherwise good people have accepted - lock, stock and barrel - the lifestyle of the empire. By that I mean of course the live for now consumerism that so defines "American" culture. The sort of thing that allows a person to be happy selling their soul for a mortgage in a subdivision, commuting a hour or more to a job that keeps them away from the important things in life, i.e. home and family. I am talking about the sort of attitude that sees nothing wrong with blind loyalty to an institution that no longer follows its own rules or serves the people that it was created to serve. Yes I am talking about a people forsaking wholesale the legacy their ancestors bequeathed them in in turn accepting the lifestyle and values of their conquerors.

Look, I am a realist. I know that the South no longer exists anywhere but in small, scattered pockets and even in those enclaves the influence of a foreign value system in obvious. I hold out no real hope or dream of a free or independent South in my life time. At the same time I am not a defeatist. I do believe it is possible for a people to reclaim their heritage and live true to their historical heritage.

I mentioned previously how disheartened I was during my visit when I tried to discuss issues of culture, values and priorities with otherwise good people in my home. I moved my departure date up by a few days in part because of my disillusionment. Therein lies the irony - and here is the story.

I was supposed to finally meet, face to face, my compatriot on this blog - IKANTSPEL. My early departure and scheduling difficulties made this impossible. Thus, my family and I packed up the truck and headed north for a quick visit with relatives in North Carolina and then on toward California.

As we traveled through a town called Traveler's Rest I noticed a store named "Dixie Republic" and simply had to perform a u-turn and investigate. There was a tremendous amount of activity - they flew several flags out front. I thought it would be a grand opportunity to pick up a couple of items with my beloved Palmetto tree and crescent moon. I also hoped they would have a book or two I have not read that I could add to my collection.

I found the Palmetto trinkets I sought, I enjoyed a bowl of brunswick stew while listening to a live bluegrass band and I found a couple of books I have not read. I also had the the distinct pleasure of meeting and talking with Dr. Clyde N. Wilson who was there signing books and enjoying himself. The thing about this gentlemen is that I agreed with him before I knew of him or had read anything he has written. I defer to his age, his experience, his "letters" and his intellect but my agreement with him is not a mere acolyte arrangement. I consider him one of my living heroes his voice and ideas but my admiration is not hero worship.

I must admit, however, I was a bit nervous when I first met him. My nine year old daughter remarked on that fact later. I am not certain as to why - but I was.

I found him to be as interesting in person as on paper. Our conversation was easy and natural. I honestly felt as if I knew him and had known him for some time. It was as if were had been singing from the same hymn book for years previous.

Other folks of note were there as well. I was privileged to meet again Robert Hayes, chairman of the SC LOS. I also had a lively discussion with Walter Brian Cisco, author of War Crime Against Civilians. This is of course not to mention all the good folks perusing the store, eating stew and listening to the band.

The North Carolina border is just a few miles north of the store. As I pulled away and out of my home state I was struck with the irony of it all. I began my journey disillusioned. I left when I did because of the disillusionment and because of that I happened up this store at that hour. Life is strange.

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Confederate Inflation Then - Southern Ignorance Today

We all know of our country's early experience with the "continental dollar". Some have even claimed we've "learned" something everlasting from it. I don't think so. My evidence is the southern people share no common memories of even their own currency becoming worthless, again the Yankee has them in bondage to a new paper money of their creation. It's apparent that g-granddaddies did not weave stories of horrific loss of their wealth to their descendants. If they did, my observations are that those stories never stuck as there's an equal amount of ignorance - even more - in the South about commodity money than in the North. In a community the size of Charleston, easily over 250,000, there is NOT ONE retail coin dealer. While southerners may spin their yarns of Yankee Reconstruction plunder and other atrocities, few have made preparation for the next occasion when the dollars they hold will impoverish them just as their ancestors discovered. Yes, history is to be repeated and southerners are condemned to repeat it. You know their ancestors given another chance would know better, and grab up every double eagle & silver dollar they could find. So, when you run around shouting "Freedom!" realize full well that with freedom comes individual responsibility, and that means caring for yourself and not looking to a nanny state as your agent to steal the savings of others more responsible than you.

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The Confederate Inflation

Figure 4 plots the Grayback price of a gold dollar during the Civil War. Large movements in Grayback money prices are labeled and associated with important military, fiscal, and political events to determine events important to contemporaries of the Civil War. Grayback prices depreciated following battle defeats at Antietam and Gettysburg/Vicksburg. The gold premium also rose following the passage of the US Conscription/Finance Bill that increased the North's ability to finance the war and draft soldiers. A final breakpoint occurred in late spring 1864 when the Confederate government repudiated one-third of the money supply with a currency reform act. The monetary legislation's positive effect on currency prices was short-lived, however, as the Confederacy cranked up the printing press again in the fall of 1864. Graybacks renewed their depreciation and continued to actively trade until early February 1864. At this point, many Richmond bankers and gold traders packed their wagons and left the besieged capital (Weidenmier, 2002a).

Lerner (1954, 1955, 1956) used the quantity theory of money to analyze the Confederate inflation. The quantity theory of money can be described by the following equation:

M = K*(P*Y), (1)

where P is the price level, Y is real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) output, and M is money. Equation (1) assumes that people hold some fraction, K, of their nominal income, P*Y, in the form of money. For example, if your income was $10,000 per year and K=1/5, then you would hold $2,000 in the form of money. To study inflation, it is useful to express equation (1) in growth rates, using equation (2):

p = m - y - k (2)

Lerner decomposed the influence of changes in money, velocity -- the number of times a dollar bill turns over in a year (mathematically velocity is the inverse of k) -- and real output on the inflation rate -- the rate at which prices rise. Lerner showed that the Confederate money supply increased 11.5 times between January 1861 and October 1864 while commodity prices increased 28 times in the same period (also see Godfrey, 1978). Rising velocity contributed to the runaway price level as people reduced their holdings of money balances and purchased commodities and non-monetary assets. Lerner also inferred from periodic Treasury reports that the South experienced a forty percent fall in real output during the war.

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Southern National Congress

Scotland in recent years was able first to reconvene her parliament and then demand that certain powers be devolved and returned to the Scottish people. Why not the same for the Southern People?

My man Dr. Clyde Wilson believes it to be a good idea.

SNC Committee Executive Council member and noted historian Dr. Clyde Wilson said, “The SNC Committee came together around the proposition that we Southerners are a separate and distinct people, rooted in kinship and place, with a common culture and history. In other words, we are a nation. We respect the rights of other national and ethnic communities to self-preservation and self-determination, and we demand the same for ourselves. But we Southerners won’t restore our rights unless we assert them.”

Dr. Wilson, the country’s leading authority on John C. Calhoun, noted, “The SNC Committee is reclaiming the political legacy of great Southerners like Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John C. Calhoun. That legacy is individual liberty and a small central government of checks and balances, limited to its enumerated powers; and which is the creation, the servant, and the agent of the sovereign people acting through their respective States. But these principles enacted in the Constitution of 1789 have been irretrievably violated. The Federal Government today is engaged in ‘a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evincing a design to reduce us under absolute Despotism,’ to borrow the words of Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.”

To what end you say. Thomas Moore explains:

The SNC Committee believes the courts and especially Congress have not provided the necessary checks on the growth of the centralized state and the threats to our liberty and prosperity. Thomas Moore said, “Congress no longer represents the people’s interests; it represents the interests of the highest bidder, the big corporations and money power. Through oppression, greed, corruption, incompetence, and imperial folly, the central state is forfeiting its moral authority. The result is increasingly harsh measures against the people as the Regime senses its loss of control.”

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Robert E. Lee's Birthday - Jan. 19

I will be otherwise engaged on the 19th so I have posted this a bit early.

January 19 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of a great man and a great American. We certainly could use a few men like Robert E. Lee around today - folks that understand faith, humility, loyality to what matters, duty and honor.

Chuck Baldwin recently posted a wonderful piece regarding two great men of honor and integrity with birthdays in January.
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by Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

Robert E. Lee, a man whose military tactics have been studied worldwide, was an American soldier, educator, Christian gentlemen, husband and father.

Robert E. Lee said, "All the South has ever desired was that the Union as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth."

Tell your children that Robert E. Lee was born at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. The winter was cold and the fire places were little help for his mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee, who was also suffering from a severe cold.

Ann Lee named her son "Robert Edward" after her two brothers.

Robert E. Lee's love for his country undoubtedly came from his close association with those who had lived during the American Revolution. His father, "Light Horse" Harry Lee, was a Revolutionary War hero, Governor of Virginia and a member of the House of Representatives.

Lee was educated in the schools of Alexandria, Virginia. In 1825, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He graduated in 1829, second in his class and without a single demerit.

Lee was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of the United States Engineer Corps. His first assignment was at Cockspur Island, Georgia to supervise the construction of Fort Pulaski.

Robert E. Lee wed Mary Anna Randolph Custis on June 30, 1831. Robert and Mary grew up together. Mary was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. George and Martha Washington raised him as their own son.

Mary was the only child; therefore, she inherited Arlington House, located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. where she and Robert E. Lee raised seven children.

In 1836, Lee was appointed 1st Lieutenant. In 1838, with the rank of Captain, Robert E. Lee fought in the War with Mexico. His service in the war began under Gen. Wool but he was later reassigned to the staff of Gen. Winfield Scott. Gen. Scott wrote that Lee was "the best soldier I ever saw in the field."

Robert E. Lee was appointed Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1852.

Lee had served in the United States Army for nearly 32 years when he was offered command of the Federal Army at the outset of the War Between the States.

In a letter to his sister on April 20, 1861, Robert E. Lee said: "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty as an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I therefore, have resigned my commission in the army and save in the defense of my native state, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed".

Gen. Lee and his family left "Arlington House" at the beginning of the War Between the States. Lee served as advisor to President Jefferson Davis, and then commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia beginning on June 1, 1862.

After four years of death and destruction, Gen. Robert E. Lee met Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia on April 9, 1865, that ended their battles.

Robert E. Lee was called Marse Robert, Uncle Robert and Marble Man.

Lee was a man of honor, proud of his name and heritage, After the War Between the States, he was offered $50,000 for the use of his name. His reply was: "Sirs, my name is the heritage of my parents. It is all I have and it is not for sale."

In the fall of 1865, Robert E. Lee was offered and accepted the position of president of troubled Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The school was later renamed Washington and Lee College in his honor.

Gen. Robert E. Lee died of a heart attack at his Washington College home at 9:30 on the morning of October 12, 1870.

Lee is buried at the school's Chapel near his family and favorite horse "Traveller."

A prolific writer, Lee wrote his most famous quote to his son Custis in 1852: "Duty is the sublimest word in our language."

Sir Winston Churchill once remarked, "Lee was the noblest American who had ever lived and one of the greatest commanders known to the annals of war."

Lest We Forget A Great American Hero!

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But forget him we do - Not only did Lee never own slaves (he freed those he inherited from his father-in-law) He also never attended a communist rally and as far as historians can tell never cheated on his wife or in his school work.

We have other folks with national holidays that we cannot say the same for. Even in the South the tradition of celebrating this man and his life is falling out of fashion.

A society is judged by its heroes!

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Come Down and Take it Down Yourself Big Man

The headline reads "Biden Wants Confederate Flag Off Grounds", the article is referring of course to the South Carolina Statehouse grounds.

My reaction - who in Hades cares what somebody from Delaware thinks about what is or is not on the statehouse grounds. I know of nobody in or from SC that is concerned with telling Delaware what they should or should not do.

You see, I full well realize that my home, my state, my country in effect, has a history that stretches back over 400 years. The period between 1861 and 1865 is but a flash in the pan compared to such a rich legacy. Four years cannot and do not define a people.

I realize something else, every time some trouble-maker tells us that we have to forget, and be sorry for ever daring to assert our independence the symbols of the period from 1861-1865 have a greater significance.

In our society it is perfectly ok to celebrate each and every culture; unless that culture is Southern. White Southern culture is viewed as backwards, oppressive and evil, black Southern culture is considered stupid and unenlightened - the smart blacks left the country for work in the cities don't you know (or so the folks in the urban 'dirty south' would tell you).

How can those that worship at the altar of multiculturalism sleep well at night - knowing full well they are nothing but hypocrites?

Biden's words were intended for the worst sorts of the polity - RASCIST. Defending one's culture and history is one thing - so long as that defense is based upon truth. Wrapping your entire identity into the color and tone of your skin is simply racism. The flag on the statehouse grounds belongs to all South Carolinians -black and white, for we all lost and suffered in that war. It represents our history, a shared history, and our proclivity to stand against others telling us what to do.

Biden aspires to be President of these united states and one of the first tactics he unveils is race-bating and catering to racist. The multiculturalist of the world should be ashamed of their silence. The folks I grew up with in SC, black and white, ought to be outraged.

Sins of the past are certainly something all cultures and people share - none of us are completely innocent of some historical wrongdoing. My question is, just who in hell is Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd and to tell South Carolina what is right and what is wrong?

The flag on the South Carolina Statehouse grounds does not stand for past oppression - it stands for resistance to other people trying to dictate and meddle in affairs that are not their own. It also represents fallen anscestors that stood up against oppression. I guess Biden and his ilk are just too stupid to actually understand that.

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The South Was Right

About most things prior to 1861. This assertion often becomes bogged down in straw-man arguments over slavery. Slavery was not the only cause of the war - there were in fact issues of profound importance at play in that conflict.

It is relatively safe to say now that the south was indeed right in terms of her view of the federal compact, the role and power of the Federal government and the importance of the local versus the centralized and distant.

As such it is important to mark significant days for remembrance. We mark July Fourth as the day that thirteen sovereign colonies declared their independence from Great Britain - seceding in effect.

It is important to remember the anniversary of Secession Day as well.

Wise men have described true conservatism as taking from the past and applying that to the present to preserve what is good for the future. The good folks in Alabama seem to understand that.

This year Alabama will celebrate their Secession Day (11 January) with speeches and a viewing of Aaron Russo's film "America: Freedom to Fascism".

I cannot imagine a more appropriate way to remember the stand that our forefathers took than to look hard at where we are now and where we ought to go and what we ought to do. Remembering history is worthless if we are unwilling to learn from it and keep true to the principles we find there.

If you are in Montgomery on 27 January 2007, go to the State Capital Auditorium at 9:30 am and support this effort - you just may learn something. If you have already seen the film, go there to show your support.

Keynote speakers for the event include: Dr. John Eidsmoe, Professor of Constitutional Law and Philip Davis (Ret) Attorney in Alabama State Attorney General's Office.

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Dum Spiro Spero and the Rising of the South

Joshua points us to an article by Erik Curren that should warm the hearts of all Southrons -

Perhaps the best-known prophet of peak-oil doom is James Howard Kunstler, who predicts that America will suffer decades of economic hardship and political unrest after peak oil hits. In his 2005 book The Long Emergency, Kunstler writes that "it would be reasonable to wonder whether the United States will continue to exist as a unified entity, and what kind of strife the Long Emergency could ignite region by region."

I spoke about just such a scenario in a recent post.

Kunstler goes on to describe one possible response to this emergency.

The suburban development that has powered the economic engine of the New South for the last 50 years in places like Atlanta will grind to a halt. High-gas prices will make long commutes too expensive; cul-de-sac developments and McMansions will lose their value almost overnight; jobs will evaporate as businesses go bankrupt; and tax attorneys, neurologists and bond traders and their families will find themselves suddenly destitute.

Angry suburbanites - being Southerners, many of them own guns - will join with angry Crackers (Kunstler's word) in riots and rebellions directed at local and federal authorities, who will be increasingly powerless to respond as government starts to break down.

Well Kunstler is from New York for goodness sakes so I will allow him a few errors in his assessment - I shall also correct them here.

First, those people that move to subdivisions have pretty much ceased to be Southrons at all - to be certain many of them were born in the South, they may have a semblance of the dialect, they may even like to hunt and fish but they are not Southern. No real southerner could ever be happy living door-step to door-step with a bunch of other people on a piece of property that just a few years ago was probably prime pasture land.

Don't get me wrong, I know and I am friends with some of those people, but despite some trivial common interests, their very decision to fore-go freedom in exchange for convenience and "things" makes them something other that the heirs to the Southern tradition I live and enjoy.

Kunstler is right however, these people in their consumer driven cul-de-sacs are a potential problem when and if things turn bad. I have expressed my concerns related to the one subdivision within a reasonable distance of my farm in SC. Of course these people may have the numbers but they do not yet own the country side. They have not occupied by greed and consumerism each little town. They are incapable of sustaining themselves for long in bad times - let them eat cake.

Curren sees the flaw in Kunstler's assessment too -

Indeed, might the South, with its small-town and agrarian values, be better off in an energy-starved world where we have to make more of our stuff and grow more of our food close to home than many places in the North that have always relied heavily on trade and manufacturing?

While the twin evils of suburban sprawl and factory farming are indeed huge threats to a sustainable future, they have not yet entirely snuffed out the traditional Southern way of life that, in many aspects, remains a model for a re-localized society elsewhere.

[...]

Perhaps Southern towns will be slower to adopt written peak-oil plans or formal re-localization efforts than places in New England or California. But the flip side of this intellectual conservatism is that the South was also slow to give up the small-town life and vibrant communities that such activist efforts attempt to rebuild.

Like Staunton, hundreds of other towns across the region have embraced (or never abandoned) farmer's markets, revamped their downtowns and nurtured the best of the South's values - family, community and stewardship of the earth.

He continues with a wonderful description of what the South and her people are and are not and concludes with-

If Southerners choose carefully from their diverse heritage - discarding racism, violence and know-nothing jingoism while embracing community, family and stewardship of the land - the rise of Dixie could be a good thing for everybody.

It is really hard to disagree with this conclusion - racism was something I never knew in my part of SC - it was something I encountered first-hand in other parts, but not at home (meaning my community).

Vindice majores aemulamur

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Mr. H.K. Edgerton

Just a few of the wonderful words of Mr. H.K. Edgerton (if you have never heard of him you should acquaint yourself with him):

"Our President speaks volumes about freedom , honor , democracy and the will of the people, yet stands idly by as this nation's finest schools continue to inculcate into the thinking process of our children and adult citizens a brand of hatred against the bravest men and women who built the very foundation of this nation , and whose prodigy like them are proud to be called Southern; no matter their caste."

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