On Sun, 11 Jun 2000, Spike Jones wrote:
> James Rogers wrote:
>
> > The U.S. has had more than one civil war, but most people only remember
> > the Big One. We haven't had a civil war in this country in a long time,
> > but there are regional issues in this country that are serious enough that
> > they could go critical given the right conditions, IMO.
>
> Has not the interstate highway gone a long way in erasing regional
> issues, by mixing people from all over? The faceless shell stations
> and minimarts at every freeway exit all look alike and are manned
> by pretty much universal Ahpu-like employees.
The problems aren't always inter-regional. Not to re-hash my favorite
example, but northern Nevada gets along very well with other people; it is
the Federal government towards which they a severe and deep-seated hatred.
Unfortunately, the Feds often taken on the appearance of another regional
culture, in this case, New England (literally -- many of the agents there
are from New Jersey and similar and have nothing in common with the
locals). So to that extent, it kind of looks like a regional/cultural
issue.
Not to get off on a rant, but the Federal govt engages in some really
despicable behavior in northern Nevada. The current game has been to
revoke all leases (federal leases being required to make a living up
there), and then only reinstate them if you "inform" against your
neighbors. Its kind of like the DMV only granting you a drivers license
if you turn in your friends for speeding first. It is a lot more complex
than it sounds as well, since living up there pretty much requires that
you violate regulations somewhere, even if what you are doing makes
perfect sense in that locale. For example, many of the roads in northern
Nevada, including most of the ones everyone uses are illegal in their
existence and are illegally maintained and repaired (the fines are very
expensive, starting in the five to six figure range). There are towns to
which the only access is via "illegal" roads. For obvious reasons, this
is usually overlooked by the Feds. However, if you have a disagreement
with them, they will suddenly charge you with dozens of regulatory
violations -- unless, of course, you turn in a few of your neighbors for
similar violations. It is no wonder that people up there view the federal
government as a sick and vile entity when you consider what their
experience has been. People up there are continually bullied,
threatened, harrassed, and generally have a very unpleasant impression
that the government has become a police state where its agents exercise
their authority in arbitrary and capricious manners. Average people up
there discuss things that haven't been talked about by the citizens of
this country in a long time.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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