http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031020&s=moser
Editor:
Bob Moser's piece ("Endangered Species of the American South," October 20) supports what I have been thinking for some time - that fighting the Civil War was the Lincoln presidency's biggest mistake. Had the South seceded, the Union would be like today's Canada, a mildly progressive state with a terrible neighbor to the south. Instead the conquered South spilled its poisonous social relations all over the seemingly victorious Union and eventually captured its soul.
The lesson for today is that the progressives should realize that progressive empire is an oxymoron and stop wasting their limited resources on capturing the imperial presidency. A better strategy is striving for a secession of progressive states from the imperialist entity. A secessionist movement can not only make the implementation of progressive ideals attainable, albeit on a geographically smaller scale, but also attract support of many political undercurrents, from the libertarians to the states rights crowd.
Wojtek Sokolowski