I’m wondering how many Pride flags the guy has actually sold.
No. Freedom, as a moral and political concept, includes granting to others the freedom one claims for oneself.
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain it.” - Abraham Lincoln, letter to H.L. Pierce, April 6, 1859
Another Lincoln quote: “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is not democracy.”
Had that on my bedroom wall growing up.
Don’t underestimate the cultural influence of them Duke boys.
Lincoln’s pious views notwithstanding, it is the Confederate theorists’ views that are under examination ( and of course, had they won, their views would have become the orthodoxy — and Lincoln Lassalle to their Marxism, or Trotsky to their Stalinism ).
However I should caution against instant facile identification of pro-slavery to racism: apart from those gloomy gus’es who went around talking ponderously about ‘The Curse of Ham’, many of these people were as willing to enslave their own poor as any modern libertarian or Soviet/Nazi. Much is made of Jefferson mating with his slaves, and keeping the children enslaved, but Sally was nearly as white as he was.
[ EDIT: Of course he was also one of the fathers of scientific racialist theory, but that was separate from his being a slave-owner: he had a remarkable gift for compartmentalization. ]
Whilst George Fitzhugh, the outlier here, owing much to Carlyle’s riveting beliefs in the happiness of work, and enforced work, insisted that 19 out of 20 people of all races should be enslaved for their own good.
That’s a fair question. I’m frankly surprised that he makes any money, since his location is right at the junction of two arteries in drive-through industrial/commercial territory (Winnipeg and Sask Drive, 74westy - don’t know if you’ve seen him?)
Wouldn’t have thought there would be many people stopping there.
Used to take my car to Rudy’s but I’m not in that part of town often lately. I’ve seen others on Vic east by the Pump and Albert and 5th or 6th or so. I’m always driving by and thinking who the hell is flying that big rebel flag and realizing he’s just selling a bunch of stuff.
I’m sure he sells lots of pride flags too. Lots of rednecks here but lots of us are fabulous too.
“I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor or degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that ‘all men are created equal.’ We now practically read it ‘all men are created equal, except negroes.’ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.’ When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].” - Abraham Lincoln, letter to Joshua Speed, August 24, 1855
Makes sense to me. The Confederate Flag has had a lot of bad publicity lately. I’m sure many in Canada did (and do) use it just to mean “rebel.” But now people know the other meaning, and this guy, at least, doesn’t want to be associated with it. So he picked pretty much the opposite flag to replace it.
Marlon Brando said, “Whaddaya got” in the movie “The Wild One.”