Redneck Manifesto: a review someone put up on the Net
Redneck Manifesto is part humor, part serious, a
little arrogant, but a whole lot of truth. I recommend it to everyone on
MAM if you want to see some of the economic ‘footprints’ left by the elite
in their past manner of dealing with America’s poor; the ever-present
‘white trash’. His style is designed to shock and provoke, but the
importance of his message justifies such tactics to get the necessary
attention this book deserves. I assure you, the media will do its damdest
to ignore him. I pray they fail.
I hate to do it but I will go chapter by chapter, highlighting some of
his best points, and noting a few shortcomings.
Chapter 1: White Niggers have feelings too.
Here Jim states the obvious that gets no time in our pop culture
anymore, which makes his telling the obvious so much more painful. We
realize the truth of what he says while at the same time wondering how we
could be so blind? Why is it suddenly OK to trash white trash? Why do we
find so much sensitivity to various minorities while its open season on
anyone with a chaw of tobaccow? A very good chapter, and funny as hell,
even if a bit profane.
Chapter 2: Feudal Existence: The roots of Eurogarbage:
Here Jim looks at the history of exploitation that white poor have
endured for millenia and how it was transferred onto our shores. This
chapter is full of interesting tid-bits, like the fact that fewer than 3%
of Englands population was listed as free in 1086, the rest were slaves
known as peasants. He shows how the good ole boy stereo-types actually are
rooted in the mideaval images of Piers Plowman, and the French Jacqes
Bonhomme. The peasant slaves were ruled for their own good, and they were
happiest when ruled by the educated who knew what was better for him.
Sound familiar yet?
Chapter 3: A Quick History of the American White Underclass and the
chapter 4: ‘The View from the Outside: How Rednecks Became Aliens’ is right
on target. The vast majority of early Americans came to this continent as
indentured servants, around 400,000 or more, and another 50,000 came as
convicts of various trivial laws designed to get as many to the colonies
as discretely possible. Some crimes had capitol punishment so that the
unruly of England could be compelled to sign up for indentured servitude
in America. This servitude had a very high mortality, in some cases the
colonial masters had around 85% mortality rates in the first five years
and necessitated the shift to negroe slaves. The white ones just died too
fast. Also some advocated the use of slaves, because, as one wag put it,
the task masters were gentler on their own property than to those in
temporary servitude. As the secret got out that America was not all it was
cracked up to be, some still chose to hang by a rope than go to America as
indentured servants. It was a cleaner death. Altogether, these are two
very good chapters.
Chapters 5-7 are called ‘Workin Hard’, ‘Playin Hard’, and ‘Prayin Hard’
and Jim goes into a bit of cultural analysis of why rednecks are as they
are; so repulsive to the elite of our times. Great material here, but Jim
does give religion a short shrift here. While acknowleging the importance
of faith for some to survive and even excel, he then turns and discards
the whole idea as merely for the weak and cowardly. He does have just
claim that the religious structures of our society have helped to keep the
poor down, but he throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. One
can easily keep to those elements of christianity, or any religion, that
is beneficial without subscribing to the entire hierachical claim. Jim
seems too disapointed with what he has seen to even give it a try; I can
hardly blaim him. But things won’t change without faith, and he does do
the working class a diservice by demeaning the beneficience of Faith and
God’s Revelation. Still on the whole, excellent chapters, especially the
various slices of working class life he so weaves into his story. Good
stuff.
Chapter 8, ‘What’s so bad about Hatemongers, Gun Nuts, and Paranoid,
Tax-Resisting Extremists?’ a must read for milita sympathisers. Here he
makes so many good points, I can’t go into them enough to do him justice.
But I’ll mention a couple. One, he points out that so many distrust the
government for essentially one reason that the guvmint can address
speedily; the guvmint lies its fucking ass off. He lists case after case
of not only right-wing issues the guvmint has lied about, but cases where
other factions have accused the guvmint of lying as well. It is hilarious.
Also he makes the point that the ‘militia-chasers’ are some of the biggest
sycophants, liars, money makers (Dee’s SPLC is one of the wealthiest
charity orgs in the country), and hypocrits in the whole debate, and he
sceweres them without mercy. This is probably, IMO, the best chapter of
the book.
Chapter9 ‘Me and Blacks’ addresses the inter-racial subject, and does
so with wit and an incisive perception as well. He has many points, but
among them is this main one: blacks and poor whites could rule the
democratic roost against the rich if we simply got together and voted
together, and worked together politically. But we are at each others
throat over racial squabbles and perceived injustices. But who has
benefitted from our division? Who has continued to amass greater and
greater wealth while the rest of us sleep in fear of losing what little we
have? In other words, Jim asks when are we going to stop playing the fool
to this racist dichotomy and put the boot in some pampered, rich butt? Jim
shows the history of this process, how it almost succeded in the Populist
movement in the 1890’s, and how the elites put us back on the plantation.
Chapter 10 ‘Several Compelling Arguments for the Enslavement of All
White Liberals’ is funny as hell. He skeweres the Liberal POV again and
again and leaves you wondering, ‘How can so many otherwise intelligent
people, keep falling for this none sense?’ Jim explores the White
Liberals guilt and his craving for cinematic pain as recompense for his
misdeeds, and of his class. Ha, Jim wants to give it to him for real. I
think he is kidding, but the almost Marxist POV Jim sometimes slips into
is disconcerting. I am sure his suggestion is Swiftian, but one gets the
sense that Jim could go along with a little payback.
All in all, I can only politely suggest:
READ THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT TO BE EVEN HALF EDUCATED ON THIS SUBJECT!!
Jim has put so many original arguments and perceptive comments into this book, I
can honestly say that I think he has written a potentially landmark tome.
It all depends on how well the rich-owned media can ignore it.
