Every once in a while, we like to go back in history and see how things were. We all know what happened in the news 50 years ago. But there was something that happened 100 years ago, on March 8th, 1915, that shows the utter bankruptcy of those who are stuck in the past.
You see, the State of Delaware, in its fervent desire to uphold conservative values that made our country so great, voted down a plan to abolish the whipping post, as noted in the New York Times editorial page (Page 8, Column 4). As the NYT Editorial Board of that time noted:
In voting by a large majority against the abolition of the whipping post, the House of Representatives in Delaware has shown how conservatism can degenerate into stupidity. Delaware's archaic whipping post law can justify itself only by pointing to its lineage from the Middle Ages.
In the minds of certain twisted police state apologists, facts don't matter; the only thing that does matter is ideology. After all, crime and wife-beating must be deterred, never mind the fact that objective observations made at the time showed that it only served to harden the people who were unfortunate enough to get the whipping post. Back when the whipping post was common, crimes were conceived of as an attack against the state; therefore, the state had to make an example out of people. Public whippings were frequently held on market days, in which the price of eggs doubled as spectators buy eggs to throw at people.
It is very appropriate that red is a perfect symbol of authoritarians of this stripe. On the very same editorial page, the NYT holds forth on the effects of the color red on the nerves:
The noted effect of a flaunting red upon a bull makes the observations of neurologists and decorators on this color, as more than usually disturbing to the human emotions, seem probable enough...Crazy persons manifest a self-torturing fondness for the color -- as we know from the letters sent by them to the newspapers, decorated with elaborate pen flourishes in tints of which red predominates.
Quoting the well-known preacher at the time, William Sloane Coffin Sr. (father of the antiwar preacher of the 1960's):
In time of business depression, Mr. Coffin recommends that storekeepers stock up in colors of restful green, blue, or the peaceable Chinese yellow; for of all colors yellow is the great unifier, typifying the sun and laughter, warmth, and comfort.
As quoted, Coffin recommended that a husband and wife whose marriage was in jeopardy get rid of the red in their house and switch to more peaceable colors. "To 'see red' would be dangerous," the editorial concludes.
The last whipping in Delaware was not conducted until 1952 and the law itself was not abolished from the books until 1972. But we see this sort of absurd logic every day from police state apologists and people whose sole aim in life is to extract as much profit from people as possible.
Climate Change is a perfect example. The scientific facts on it are abundantly clear; however, certain politicians, in the name of ideology, have decided that facts do not matter. After all, if we were to make a concerted effort to mitigate the effects of Climate Change, the whole Free Market system would collapse and we would all have to live under some form of Communism.
One thing has not changed in the past 100 years. We are still engaged in a battle between those of us who want to move forward and realize the ideal of our Declaration of Independence of all people being equal and those who are stuck in the past and who, like George W. Bush, want to Stay the Course (TM) no matter what. And we are still engaged in a battle between those of us who want to follow our hopes, and those corporate, political, and governmental interests who want us to follow our fears.