Readers: this blog is set in the future (sometime after the year 2020).  Each entry assumes there has been a 5th revolution in the US — the Revenge Revolution.  More about the Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1.  List and general description of entries to date.

Note: most entries are formatted as conversations.  Characters appear in a number of entries, with many entries building on previous conversations.  Profile of characters (see link at top of page).  You’ll catch on quickly.  Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.

Scene: Jordan’s office, Washington, DC.  Conversation about “culture” starts Entry #262

JC:  “We ready to start the discussion again?”

Jordan:  “Yes, but still waiting to hear back from Rock Man about his perspective on black culture.”

Greenie:  “OK, in the meantime, I’ve got a culture we might want to explore…or at least I think it qualifies as a culture.”

Jordan:  “And that is?”

Greenie:  “Well, we’ve talked about how much of a culture should blend into US melting pot and how much should not.  Most of the subjects so far could be defined either as an ‘ethic group’ or an organization…the military.  But what about non-ethnic group cultures?  Say regional cultures in the US?”

JC:  “You mean how much should regional cultures sorta blend in versus how much should these regional cultures should stay specific to the geographic area?”

Greenie:  “Yes, but more importantly, how much did regional cultures contribute to the Revenge Revolution?”

Jordan:  “Do you really think regional differences might have been a contributing factor?”

JC:  “Do I think so?  Yes.  And Jordan, sometimes I wonder what world you live in.  You, of all people, should know about regional cultures.”

Greenie:  “JC’s right.  Think about it, Jordan.  You’ve lived all over the country – East Coast, Midwest and both nations of California…Northern and Southern.  Plus, haven’t you spent time in just about every state?”

JC:  “So now what’s your take on regional cultures, Mr. Expert?”

Jordan:  “I’m hardly an expert.  My take is there are marked differences in cultures among East, Midwest and West and even differences within a region – the Northeast is a good example.  As for Hawaii and Alaska…different still.  But to me these differences seem more cosmetic than substantive.  Yes, some areas are more liberal or more conservative than others but the differences don’t seem to alter the fundamental principles in how the region or the country should be governed.”

Greenie:  “Okay…but one region was conspicuously absent.  What about the South?”

Jordan:  “The South is a different animal.”

JC:  “In what way?”

Jordan:  “Underneath all the phony niceties is deep resentment.”

Greenie:  “JC, meet Mr. Diplomat, himself.  Resentment of what or about what?”

Jordan:  “Having lost the Civil War…excuse me the War of Northern Aggression…and having the economy being dominated by outsiders…excuse me carpetbaggers.”

JC:  “C’mon.  I know you’ve got a cynical streak but do really think there’s that much resentment?  The Civil War was over 150 years ago.”

Jordan:  “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn what you think.  Actually, the resentment is probably much greater and deeper than any of us can understand.”

Greenie:  “If I get your take on the South…not everyone, of course…there is some percentage still reeling over the Civil War?  I’m with JC.  That seems like ancient history”

Jordan:  “When we first moved to Charlotte, which like most of Florida is not considered the real south by the hard-core, I viewed as jesting the snide remarks about being a Yankee and being the wrong religion.”

JC:  “Then something or someone changed your mind?”

Greenie:  “Let me guess what changed it.  The election of the Donald.”

Jordan:  “Spot on, Greenie.  His election and his rhetoric as president made perfectly acceptable any type of public display of resentment or even hatred of ‘non-true Southerners’.  Look back at Trump’s public support of hate groups in Charlottesville.”

JC:  “Then he claimed statues of Confederate generals were part of American heritage.  Excuse me Donald, in case you didn’t know it, General Robert E. Lee fought against the Union.  Like he was a traitor.  Not a stock trader like you might think but one of those ‘t-r-a-i-t-o-r-s’.  Remember when you claimed all the Muslims in the US were traitors?  Robert E Lee was one of those kind of traitors.”

Greenie:  “You know what I find ironic about ironic about the hard-core Southerners supporting the Donald?  Many in the South still blame the North for lots of problems…and they really dislike people from New York.  So who do they support?  The Donald who was born and raised in NY.  The Donald who dodged the draft, claiming bone spurs.  The Donald who proposed policies as president that hurt rather than helped his supporters.  The guy should have been despised by the people in the south.  But no, they adored him.”

JC:  “To the hard-core Southerner, he must have been considered a born-again Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee rolled into one.  His supporters believed he was going to overthrow the very establishment that the hard-core blamed for destroying the Old South.”

Greenie:  “Maybe even more ironic – the Donald was the ultimate carpetbagger.  He took campaign donations from his supporters and then managed to enrich himself at the expense of his supporters.”

JC:  “Until he got taken out.”

Greenie:  “So why didn’t the South finally turn against him when all the shenanigans came to light?  Forget the financial stuff.  The dealings with Russia were like treason.”

Jordan:  “The hard-core Southerners stuck with him for the same reason they still refuse to acknowledge the facts of the Civil War.  Hard-core Southerners still blame Lincoln when they should be thankful he was nice to them.  Lincoln could have tried for treason and then executed each southern general.”

JC:  “Lincoln tried to set the stage for the country to heal.  He might have been too accommodating.  The hard-core Southerners still don’t understand and still can’t get out of the blame stage.”

Greenie:  “So now, I guess the next question is ‘Now that we’re past the Revenge Revolution, will the south continue to deny reality and blame the north…or finally join the rest of the country?’”

Jordan: “Listen, I need to call it a day.  Could we continue this conversation over coffee tomorrow morning, please?”

Greenie: “Of course.  JC and I are outta here.”

First-time readers, this blog is set in the future (sometime after the year 2020).  Each entry assumes there has been a 5th revolution in the US — the Revenge Revolution.  More about Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1.  List and general description of entries to date.  Annual assessment whether Revolution plausible.

Note: most characters appear in a number of entries, with many entries building on previous conversations.  Profile of characters.  You’ll catch on quickly.  Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.

Scene: Jordan’s Washington office.  Conversation begins Entry #204.

Greenie:  “Back from the break.  Let’s see if we can wrap up reviewing your friend’s list of ‘Reasons to vote for Trump.’”

Jordan:  “We can try but there are seven (7) more to go.”

Greenie:  “Alright.  I’ll be patient.  What’s the next reason?”

Jordan:  “#7 on the list, ‘Culture: Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

Greenie:  “Culture, culture.  What do you suppose they meant?  Culture can be a ‘way of thinking or behaving.’  Wonder if that’s what they meant?”

Jordan:  “I’d say ‘yes.’  When Trumpsters said Constitution and Bill of Rights they usually meant ‘let’s go back to the 18^th Century.’”

Greenie:  “So even though the Bill of Rights were not part of the original Constitution…and were added as Amendments #1-#10, the Trumpsters really meant that Amendments #11-#27 were added later and therefore should not count.  Right?”

Jordan:  “Probably, except the 2^nd Amendment, which should be considered in today’s terms.”

Greenie:  “They want to revert to the 18^th Century except for the 2^nd Amendment.  But for the 2^nd Amendment the definition of the right to bear arms should (i) ignore the original meaning of a well-regulated militia, which we now have with a standing military and police forces and (ii) include allowing almost anyone to easily buy and own a near replica of all weapons used by today’s infantry, whether Army or Marines.  I’ll give credit to the Trumpsters for one thing.  At least they were consistent.”

Jordan:  “How so?”

Greenie:  “Trumpsters would consistently pick an interpretation of a law that fit their need.  The logic of the interpretation could vary from one law to the next and sometimes even for the same law, depending on circumstances.  But they were consistently inconsistent.”

Jordan:  “You mean like the first 10 Amendments should count as part of the Constitution but #11-#27 shouldn’t count?”

Greenie:  “Especially exclude the 14^th Amendment since ‘those people’ have never deserved to be citizens.  The 22^nd Amendment applied only if there was a Democratic president.”

Jordan:  “Greenie, are you being overly cynical?”

Greenie:  “I can understand some of the individual statements about why to vote for Trump.  But you start to combine 3 or 4 of them, the approach is so out of whack it would not pass the first test in Logic 101.”

Jordan:  “That’s because you think through issues and understand how the different issues are linked.  When your decisions are based solely on emotion, logic does not matter. Think about the Rushman and talk radio.  Logic just gets in the way.”

Greenie:  “OK, what’s #8?”

Jordan:  “And, #8 is, ‘Drug free: Mandatory drug screening before and during welfare.’  I guess that means…”

Greenie:  “Guess?  No reason to guess.  Blacks, of course, are the cause of most of the drug problem in this country.  Blacks also dominate the welfare rolls.  Blacks won’t give up drugs.  Therefore reduce the welfare rolls through drug tests.  Plain and simple solution.”

Jordan:  “But whites make up the majority of people on welfare.  And whites make up a majority of people using illicit drugs.”

Greenie:  “Doesn’t matter what the facts are.  Blacks don’t deserve the same treatments as whites.  Get blacks off the welfare rolls and a major spending issue solved.  Get with it Jordan.”

Jordan:  “You’re starting to sound like a Trumpster.  What’s happened to you?”

Greenie:  “I’ve seen the light.  Seriously, you know I don’t support what I just said.  But I agreed to write a series of articles about the causes of the Revenge Revolution.  At least I need to understand all perspectives, especially the extreme right…and the extreme left.”

Jordan:  “Now I’m the one getting confused…and frustrated.  You really think the logic behind a drug testing program for welfare was to exclude blacks?”

Greenie:  “Absolutely.  When this list was written in 2016, blacks on welfare tended to be concentrated more in urban environments and those states leaned more toward Democrats.  Whites on welfare were concentrated more in rural areas and many of those states leaned toward Republicans.”

Jordan:  “You’re suggesting states with higher concentration of whites could circumvent any Federal law re welfare?”

Greenie:  “Of course.  Look at how Republican governors tried to circumvent the Affordable Care Act, even to the detriment of many tax-paying citizens in the state.  Look at how Republican legislators tried to circumvent the SCOTUS ruling on abortion rights.  And your wonderful state of North Carolina…”

Jordan:  “Please, that’s where I live.  I’m considered an illegal alien by many natives.”

Greenie:  “Look how NC led the attack on legalizing discrimination against the LGBT community.  The legislators and governor did not care how much money it cost the citizens or the state in lost revenue.  The NC legislators had to uphold 18^th Century principles.  Legislators in red states are so predictable.”

Jordan:  “Make that red-state legislators were predictable.  We’re seeing some change since the Revenge Revolution.”

Greenie:  “What’s #9?  I thought we could zip through the rest of these but I guess not.”

Jordan:  “#9 is ‘Freebies: None to non-citizens.’”

Greenie:  “I guess that means no welfare, no education for children, no ER treatment at hospitals…even if you have a green card, paying taxes and following all the rules to become a citizen.”

Jordan:  “You think the Trumpsters meant to exclude people with green cards?”

Greenie:  “I just interpret what I read.  The term ‘freebie’ is not defined, of course.  I just hope the Trumpsters never get ill and have to visit a doctor or hospital while travelling outside the US.”

Jordan:  “Reciprocity would be a good lesson for the Trumpsters.  ‘Sorry you’re ill but you need to return to the US for treatment of your appendicitis.  Our government does not allow treatment of people who are not citizens of this country.  Good luck on making it back.”

Greenie:  “Now you’re being cynical.  But I do like the idea of the Trumpsters getting the one-fingered salute.  Should we try to tackle the rest of the list?

Jordan:  “No.  This looks like a good stopping point.”

(Continued)