• Tak@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Many of them still have privately held slaves. As you can be forced into slavery as punishment for a crime and all but Louisiana, North Carolina, and Arkansas have private prisons.

  • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    state’s rights

    wanted the federal government to override the rights of free states

    made slavery mandatory rather than leaving it up to the states

    tried to flat-out steal entire states using violence

    Like every conservative, when they talk about freedom they’re only talking about their freedom to do what they want, and their freedom to make you do what they want using violence.

  • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Ok, I know Marx was a contemporary of the civil war and wrote about it but every time I see him with a sensible take on it I’m just like “aren’t you in Germany then and it’s a massive pain in the ass to cross the ocean at the time. Why are your takes so sensible”

    • culprit@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Marx sent a letter to Lincoln, and Lincoln’s staff responded via Ambassador Adams. It’s a really interesting moment in history that’s been buried by US Red Scare ideology.

      from wiki on Adams:

      Part of his duties included corresponding with British civilians, including Karl Marx and the International Workingmen’s Association.[7] Adams and his son, Henry Adams, who served as his private secretary

      https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1864/lincoln-letter.htm

      • Asafum@feddit.nl
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        1 year ago

        Oh man that would be a fun tidbit for conservatives when they try the old “accckshully Lincoln was a Republican who fought to free slaves so it’s the Democrats that are the racists!”

        “Ok, so how do you feel about Lincoln working with Karl Marx, you know, Mr.Communisim?”

  • Pharmacokinetics@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I am not American so I never understood that phrase. A state’s rights? Who gives a shit about a state? Isn’t everything about human rights like it always have been?

    • 🍔🍔🍔@toast.ooo
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      1 year ago

      well, i think the idea is generally that Americans like issues to be decided at a state level rather than federally due to general “small government” principles, like they can trust their state level government to be more specifically beholden to their interests. this is usually in a right wing context, but not always, like famously California has much stricter environmental regulations than the rest of the country.

        • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Federalism is a complex topic. Some things are done better In a central way, and some are done better distributed.

          Uniform regulation of commerce and military protection is really efficient.

          At the time, there was no practical way for one body to make meaningful policy to manage both new York and south Carolina at the same time.

          You can basically look at what the EU is doing and that’s why the states did it too, just starting with “shit we need money, a navy and soldiers” rather than "can we all just agree on food standards and currency?”

    • DeepFriedDresden@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      It’s the 10th amendment. All other 9 amendments and many thereafter are in relation to human rights.

      And states rights and human rights can actually go hand in hand, as seen by state legislatures that have passed assisted suicide, same-sex marriage, and legal cannabis laws. It has also been used to ensure electors cast their vote for the nominee or candidate who received the most votes from the people.

      Unfortunately it’s also been co-opted as a racist, misogynist dog whistle.

    • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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      1 year ago

      I tend to consider him right in basically all his criticisms, misguided in formulating the solutions.

      Presumably he ran into the trouble a lot of generous, intelligent, and honest people have, they assume everyone is basically like them other than circumstance and stress.

      And, obviously you can trust a fellow socialist to run the vanguard states, right?

      Or perhaps he was simply, like everyone, merely a product of his time. The workers of his day were barely literate, every state other than America and France (depending on what exact year we’re talking) were absolute monarchies, etc etc etc.

    • Patapon Enjoyer@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      “We have no compassion and we ask no compassion from you. When our turn comes, we shall not make excuses for the terror.”