Divided States of America: 'US is multiple nations, good idea to break it up’
I think it is excellent that we have this split. I think it is showing everybody that this notion about one nation and so forth is just nonsense says Lew Rockwell, Editor of LewRockwell.com. Code Pink activist Tighe Barry joins the discussion.
Days after his inauguration, Donald Trump continues to face a wall of resistance. Protesters have been gathering outside the Capitol buildings in Washington and Salt Lake City.
'We're actually 222 nations'
Lew Rockwell, Editor of LewRockwell.com
RT: Mr. Rockwell, today we see America’s divided into two camps by Trump. After the inauguration, the hype doesn’t seem to vanish. What are these people hoping to achieve by the protests?
Lew Rockwell: Well, they want to advance the left-wing agenda. Of course this is, I don’t want to say this is two nations, American novelist John Dos Passos some years ago said we’re two nations. We’re actually probably 22, or 222, or whatever. The US is far too big; it’s actually a good idea to break it up. So the fact that these fissures are showing, I think it is telling the truth…
So the people who want to live in a Communist society, more power to them, go right ahead just don’t have anything to do with me and the people I care about; the businesses and taxpayers, and so forth who are the actual producers in American society. So I think they just should go their own way. The rest of us should just ignore them to the extent we can. If they are violent, if they are breaking store windows and beating up people in a typical Communist fashion, then, of course, there has to be a defensive reaction.
I think it is excellent that we have this split. I think it is showing everybody that this notion about one nation and so forth is just nonsense. This is not one nation, it is multiple nations. The South, for example, has never been fully integrated into the US, because the central government doesn’t like the South; doesn’t like the Midwest either. They only like New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The government loves those areas – sort of the power elite.
So we’ll see whether Trump is going to do what he has promised to do. I certainly hope he does. If he does, whether it is about immigration or any other issue, it is going to strengthen the divisions; it is important to strengthen the divisions. We’re not all the same people. We don’t have the same ideas; we don’t have the same goals. Each one of us is a unique individual, and as groups, we differ, as well. So people who are living in Iowa are quite different from people who live in Massachusetts. By the way, that’s okay. People in Massachusetts, the sort of New England controllers, have run the US since the 18th century. The people who think that the power elite in the North-East joined by the West Coast think they should rule everybody in this country; they think they should rule the world. It is about time for some radical changes.
'Need to take to the streets'
Tighe Barry, Code Pink activist
RT: Mr. Barry, today we see America’s divided into two camps by Trump. After the inauguration, the hype doesn’t seem to vanish. What do the activists expect to achieve by the protests?
Tighe Barry: Well, we definitely need to take to the streets. We need to explain to this president, who seems to be unable to be aware that there are norms in our society; there are norms in our democracy. This is not an autocracy – he is not the ruler and king. He can’t make statements about women’s bodies, about other people’s races; about deporting 11 million people; about shutting down whole industries like our media that is very important – it is one of our actual protections in our Bill of Rights. So the people are taking to the streets to protect their rights and to advance the causes that they have fought for over the many, many decades in our past century. And fought wars over.
RT: One RT guest said society is divided into those who live off the government and those who pay for the government. By the first ones, he meant the anti-Trump protesters. Do you agree with that?
TB: Not at all. I hope my president succeeds, to be honest with you. But I think success should be defined in that he helps all Americans’ rise to be a better America, to be a better country, and not to be an isolated autocracy that oppresses the poor, jails its people of color, denies women their right to reproductive health care – things like this. We can’t start wars overseas and extract resources from other countries that we invade. This is not the America that I grew up in and was told what we’re supposed to be. The people are divided into two different camps. They want to have a country that belongs to the wealthy, and a group that believes that it should belong to all people. But all Americans want the best for this country. Some people think that the wealthy can run the country better than a democracy – this is a struggle we’re seeing today.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
