Welcome to plantation America

This article  by Sara Robinson nails it, "Conservative Southern Values Revived." It explains how the US civil war between the north and south is still ongoing, and the south is now winning. Since it's inception our country has had two kinds of wealthy elites. The northern strain was the Puritan communitarian, who were part of the culture of noblesse oblige, those who felt their wealth demanded of them using it for the betterment of all though a democratic system. The southern plantation strain though detests democracy and human rights, instead feeling it should rule by divine right. Civic rights are to be thwarted, as well as education or Unions, since this might provide impetus to challenge their hierarchy.

There is also a world of difference on how each defines liberty. The northerners see it as residing with the community governing itself though civic participation.  granting an individual the chance to prove himself through merit. They see it as a duty to pay taxes, tithe to churches, invest in hospitals and schools, all of which empowers an individual to reach their potential through a hand up. The southerners see liberty as their rightful place in the social hierarchy, their liberty meaning they had the right to impose upon, or eliminate altogether, lower-class liberties. This of course places them outside any laws that demand equal treatment, since divine law is a higher order than that of humanity. Their wealth was instead used for lavish mansions, fine attire and social galas. And of course, literally owning other human beings.

The shift from northern to southern leadership started changing with Goldwater and was epitomized with Reagan. There was some back and forth and then Dubya Bush "proceeded to run the country exactly like Woodard's description of a Barbadian slavelord." Robinson though thinks Obama has done little to counter the effects of this worldview, still in place. She says: 

"Torture and extrajudicial killing have been reinstated, with no due process required. The wealthy and powerful are free to abuse employees, break laws, destroy the commons, and crash the economy -- without ever being held to account. The rich flaunt their ostentatious wealth without even the pretense of humility, modesty, generosity, or gratitude. The military -- always a Southern-dominated institution -- sucks down 60% of our federal discretionary spending, and is undergoing a rapid evangelical takeover as well.Our police are being given paramilitary training and powers that are completely out of line with their duty to serve and protect, but much more in keeping with a mission to subdue and suppress."

And he goes on with more examples, all of them exemplifying this southern plantation way of life now becoming the dominant political power structure, from Wall Street to Main Street, and predominating in the Republican Party. All backed by tremendous wealth now unleashed to buy even more power though Citizens United. The south has been planning and implementing this strategy ever since they were defeated in the Civil War, and they are back with a real vengeance and plan to turn America back into a plantation culture with the rest of us as its slaves. And they are succeeding with a near complete takeover unless we do something about it.

Update: voter purges and ID laws are rampant and initiated by whom in every single instance? Republicans. Here's an article on how the new PA voter ID law could disenfranchise up to 10% of its population, no surprise mostly registered Democrats. And all due to about 13 credible cases of individual voter fraud between between 2000 and 2010.