perfidy

Via a whole slew of links I followed comes this 2001 CNN article about the isolation and mistrust of government in the hills of North Carolina.

Historians say that if western North Carolinians have chips on their shoulders, they have a right. "People in that area have been cheated out of everything, starting with the Indians and continuing with the white settlers," said Jane Brown, an instructor in history and anthropology at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

Read on: it's a good point. Let's also not forget that the region has a long history of armed rebellion against various authorities such as the Regulators of the late 18th century rebelling against the English Crown, and a great many hill folk opposing the Civil War and the Confederacy. It's a region that has long chosen its own path.

Buckethead-- when are you ever on your meds?? Haw!

On visceral distrust of the government: when's the last time you were stopped by the cops and didn't wonder for a minute if you were going to be harassed this time? Happens to me every single time, even though I've only been harassed once. It was a bogus traffic stop for what we used to call "country line dancing" when the cop thought my hippie hair looked suspicious.

[Moreover] The history of tax rebellions in British America and the USA is a long and fascinating one that I need to read more about. Anyone know a good text on this subject? I've read most of the major histories of frontier rebels in the US, but not all tax rebellions were frontier rebellions, and vice versa, and the frontier stuff doesn't cover any of the great revenuer/moonshiner battles of the 19th and 20th centuries.

[Moreover, once over] I love NASCAR racing. Love it. Don't watch it as much as I should, but love it. Did you know stock car racing in the South got its start because the best moonshine smugglers liked to find out who was the fastest driver among them? In a way, tax rebels and rumrunners are indirectly responsible for one of the most popular and lucrative spectator sports of our time. Nifty! History at work! And it's loud, too!