Author: lukewarm source: official account: lukewarm studio has been authorized to reprint
one
In May, 2022, there were a lot of shootings in the United States.
At 2:30 p.m. on May 14, in Buffalo, New York, an 18-year-old white young man named jindelun, wearing a black helmet and a bulletproof vest, entered the parking lot of a supermarket in the local black area after stepping on the spot in advance and four months of careful planning. He killed black people when he saw them with an AR-15 assault rifle. He killed them all the way from the parking lot to the supermarket, shooting and using the camera on his helmet to broadcast live online.
The security guard of the mall was a retired black police officer, Salter, who shot jindren, but failed to penetrate the bulletproof vest, and was killed by jindren.
While killing people, kingdren replenished his gun to the fallen, but when aiming at a white man crouching behind the cash register, he said sorry, didn’t shoot him and walked away.
After the police arrived at the scene, jindelun aimed his gun at his neck to commit suicide. After being persuaded by the police, he surrendered and was arrested. He is currently in custody and cannot be released on bail.
Kim Dylan shot a total of 13 people, including two white people, but the last 10 people killed were all black people.
European and American media generally do not use the word “black”, but use the word “African American”, mainly to dilute racial conflicts. However, in Chinese, black and white are neutral words, and there is no such strange racial conflict in China. Therefore, I will insist on using the word “black”, mainly to facilitate Chinese readers to understand things.
Kim later admitted that before he started, he had published a 180 page crime Declaration on the Internet, admitting that he was a white supremacist and wanted to kill as many blacks as possible.
Only ten days after the case, at 11:30 a.m. on May 24, a young Hispanic named Salvador Ramos, who was also 18 years old, shot his grandmother at his home in yuvardi, Texas. Wearing bulletproof vests and carrying a legal rifle he bought on his 18th birthday, he came to rob primary school, where 90% of Mexican children were nearby. He shot from classroom to classroom, Finally, after entering a classroom, he locked the door and wantonly slaughtered students and teachers aged 7-10. His attack was very cruel. He directly shot some children in the face, eventually killing 19 students and two teachers. The gunman was then shot dead by the police.
After the occurrence of the two cases, the US president and senior political officials made some comments. We listened to the platitudes of decades, such as “I’ve had enough”, what “must change the status quo to prevent the tragedy from happening again”, and what “shock and sadness”, followed by the traditional process of lowering the flag at half mast, sending flowers, lighting candles, and so on. Then, the shooting case would be brought to an end, and no one would care what to do next.
Next year, the shooting will happen again in a certain place in the United States. Civilians will still fall in the blood pools of supermarkets and schools, and then mourn, lower the flag at half mast, light candles, and cycle in turn.
In fact, the most serious shooting incident in these years was that on the evening of october1,2017, a 64 year old white gunman padoc shot and killed 30000 spectators of the Las Vegas Music Festival from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Hotel, killing 59 people and injuring 851 people.
The massacre was so tragic that I always remember when I was shocked in front of the TV when I watched the news. However, such a serious shooting case has been investigated for many years, and the motive of the crime has not been understood. So far, it is a muddle headed account. Only the hotel lost 800million dollars later, and no one has mentioned it since then, as if it had been erased from the memory of the media.
The racial hatred, gun control and the government’s ambiguous attitude involved in the US shooting case must be read together to clarify the context. If one thing is mentioned separately, it is difficult to explain its strange behavior logic.
Why are there so many shootings in the United States, but this problem can never be solved?
Because the source of all this comes from the environment when the United States was founded. It is a special phenomenon formed in a special growth stage. To understand this phenomenon in the United States, we must trace the source and find out the growth path from the earliest formation of their country, childhood to adolescence.
What we need to understand now is not only the prohibition of guns, but also the entire United States.
two
For a long time, we have been influenced by the western culture on the construction history of the North American continent. We often regard the arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth as the beginning of the United States. In fact, this is a misunderstanding caused by someone deliberately misleading us.
Mayflower was a small group of people who traveled from Europe to North America at that time. It was not the beginning of everything, but just a small branch.
Many of the historical knowledge we have learned now comes entirely from the perspective of the western colonists. Even the wording of Columbus’ discovery of the new world is inaccurate.
After the Vikings occupied Greenland in 1003, they tried to reach the North American continent. However, they had only a few hundred bandits with cold weapons. They could not cut down many powerful Indians. They could only touch Newfoundland, Canada every summer to cut down some wood and steal some resources.
It has been stolen for 300 years. In the 14th century, the weather became cold. In 1424, after the Vikings sent their last letter to Iceland, they could not stand the cold. They evacuated from the island and disappeared in the long river of history. At this time, it was 68 years before Columbus arrived in America.
To be exact, 1492 was not the discovery of the new continent, but “the beginning of the successful colonization of America by Europeans”. It had been discovered long ago, but the colonization was unsuccessful.
It has been robbing the resources of America since the 11th century, but it has not achieved much before.
This time it’s different. This time they have guns in their hands.
With the help of military force, the robbery became much easier. Columbus’ friends took European gadgets to the local people to exchange for gold. The local people turned their backs on the spot, directly slaughtered the village, set fire to their village, raped Indian women, and the Indians had to flee or commit suicide.
The so-called discovery of a new continent is from the perspective of European colonists. That continent has always been there. There are also indigenous people on it. You didn’t find it. People live a good life. Europeans go to kill people and set fires, and they want others to thank them for bringing civilization. This is a kind of cultural slavery and emotional charity of the colonists. We can’t sympathize with the colonists.
That year, Europeans were acclimatized to the conditions in black Africa, and it was difficult to live for a year. When they went to Asia, they were blocked by Osman. They saw that Spain found a large new continent. This place is better than Africa. The land is fertile, the land is sparse, the weather is manageable, the survival rate is high, and they have gone to colonize America.
At that time, Spain was a prosperous country, so we had to let him choose a good place first, because South America produced silver. Spain wanted to use silver to buy silk, tea and porcelain from the Ming Dynasty. It was mainly engaged in South America. Therefore, today’s South American countries believe in Catholicism and speak Spanish and Portuguese.
Spain also took Florida, Texas and New Mexico in North America, and later spit them out. In North America, Britain and France were mainly fighting for territory, while the Netherlands and Sweden also robbed a small piece, but they were soon beaten away.
Although France has become a joke now, it was a real hegemon in Europe at that time. After Spain was defeated, Britain and France were fighting for the sun and the Empire. It was originally possible for France. In 1607, Britain began to operate Virginia along the Atlantic coast, and in 1608, France took Quebec. At that time, China was in the Wanli period, 37 years before the Manchu people entered the customs, and Britain and France had already robbed the world of territory.
In 1682, France took another large piece of land in Louisiana in central North America and began to operate in Canada.
At the beginning, Britain and France were at peace with each other. France’s territory in North America was better than that of Britain. However, in the seven-year war 70 years later, France was badly beaten. Britain knew that it could not beat France on land, but it had 156 foreign warships, and France only had 77. It stared at France’s overseas colonies and launched the Paris Peace Treaty of 1763. France gave up India, Canada and the East Bank of the Mississippi River, Out of the global competition.
The beautiful legends we hear about the United States today all regard the Mayflower in 1620 as the beginning of the United States. In fact, the orthodox American history all counts 1607 as the first year of the formation of the United States.
In that year, 105 Britons took the king’s Charter and sailed from London for 144 days. In May, they arrived in a swamp in southeast Virginia and settled down. When they came to North America, they mainly grabbed territory from Spain first and looked for gold by the way. They were a group of money fans, The history of the American people, written by Americans themselves, even called these people “lazy people who are forced by poverty to have nothing”.
The first step after landing was to spend 20 days building a Caotai team Castle called Jamestown to prevent Indians from attacking. However, half of the people were killed in the heat. Fortunately, the London company kept sending reinforcements to keep the first stronghold. However, two years later, due to the severe cold, 500 people starved to death 440, leaving 60 alive. In the middle, there was a man eating tragedy.
After a hard time, the Indians came to attack the stronghold again. 350 people were killed in 1622 and 500 people were killed in 1644 (the year the Manchus entered the pass).
After settling down in Jamestown, the British began to cultivate tobacco. Of course, they didn’t grow tobacco themselves. Growing tobacco tired people. They all brought black slaves from Africa. In 1619, Jamestown’s black slave business opened for the first time, importing the first batch of black slaves from Africa. In the same year, the first Legislative representative meeting of the North American colonies was held here.
Jamestown later became the capital of Virginia, but it was razed to the ground due to civil strife, and the river was flooded decades later. It was rediscovered in 1994. However, it is recognized that Jamestown shaped Virginia, and Virginia shaped four of the top five presidents of the United States: Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. This is the true origin of the United States.
The Mayflower, which was advertised as the spirit of the United States and widely publicized, was in 1620. At that time, the black slaves and tobacco business that James had been hoarding had already started. The meeting had already been held. A supporting actor had to become the protagonist. In order to facilitate the publicity in the later stage, he wanted to publicize the Mayflower Convention as the spirit of contract, which was the foundation of the founding of the United States and added Romanticism to the creation of the United States.
In fact, agriculture, slavery, and cannibalism at the beginning of the city were the real beginning of the United States.
After decades of fighting with the Indians in the marshes, the British finally drove them all out. In 1629, the British Masson established a New Hampshire colony along the piscataqua River, and the thirteen states in North America had a second piece of land besides Virginia.
With more and more people sent by the British king, after more than 100 years of cultivation, by 1732, 13 states along the eastern coast had been built bit by bit.
At this time, the territory of the United States was still very small (don’t argue, I know it hasn’t become independent). It was also a pure agricultural country, but its population was larger than that of other regions. In 1760, there were 1.2 million white people, 400000 black slaves and uncountable Indians in the thirteen states. The white people were mainly composed of English, Irish, Scots and Germans.
These 13 states all rely on agriculture and fishing. Black slaves work in the fields from dawn to dark every day, growing cotton, tobacco, rice and sugarcane. They cut trees, hoe, plough, raise farms, and work as cattle and horses. James, Kobe, Jordan, Kanye and so on you see today are the descendants of these black slaves.
In fact, no matter how white people catch black slaves, they just sell them. It is their local black chiefs who catch black uncles. Black slaves are captured prisoners of war, or sell their tribe’s children who sell themselves because of poverty to white people. They exchange things for money from white people. White people can’t stay in black Africa for a long time that year. They can’t carry tropical diseases. Few people who have lived a year will die one by one.
White people set up some trading stations in Africa to collect black slaves. The largest black trade center, from the Gold Coast controlled by Britain to the bay of bifra, some white people who collected black slaves did not go ashore, but traded on the deck for fear of malaria.
The white people dared to go deep into the interior of Africa. After they invented the malaria drug and the rifle, the destruction of African countries came.
Those black chiefs have been selling slaves for hundreds of years, and their business is very prosperous. In the past, they were mostly sold to Arabs. Even there were black eunuchs in the Ottoman court. Arab businessmen brought some of them to China, namely “Kunlun Slaves”. Later, they were sold to the British and French, and the customers changed. The business is always going on. These chiefs are poor and crazy. They really have nothing to sell. There is only one way to sell people in bulk international trade.
Of course, this is not to whitewash the western colonists, but to state the historical facts. The colonists’ attack on the black slaves is also inhuman.
These black people were sold from Africa to the United States. They had a long way to go. During transportation, they often died of dehydration due to poor environment. The death rate was about 15%. In order to reduce the death rate, after the black slaves were captured, the traffickers had to lick the faces of the black slaves with their tongues to see if their faces were salty (disgusting). They licked them salty and had a high sensitivity to salt. They were not easy to die during trafficking, So black people in North America tend to eat salty food.
But this constitution is prone to heart disease, so the proportion of African Americans suffering from heart disease is 50% higher than that of whites.
After arriving in the United States, these black people began to work at dusk every day. If it was the cotton picking season, they had to get up at four or five in the morning and go to the field to pick cotton with a big bag. A group of 15 people began to work.
At seven o’clock in the morning, the white master would ask someone to take the breakfast to the field, eat some tortillas or bread, finish it in ten minutes and then dry it.
At noon, the white master would give them some bread and salted pork to supplement their physical strength. There was no table for them to eat. The black slaves always stood or squatted in a cool place with basins. Sometimes the master would be kind and reward them with fried chicken and watermelon. This stem has been spreading all the time. When you say that you invite black Americans to eat fried chicken or watermelon, he will follow you. That is an insult to them.
The stingy farmer would only give the slaves corn and bread for lunch, plus a bowl of pumpkin soup.
There was only 15 minutes for lunch. After finishing his work, he went to the fields to pick cotton. The supervisor watched them on horseback. Whoever fell behind would be whipped. He had to do it in front of everyone to make an example.
The slaves worked until dusk, and then they could have dinner in the fields. They had to work until it was completely dark.
You can drink a spoonful of water in front of the bucket every hour during work. You are not allowed to rest at other times.
Black slaves have been living a life inferior to that of pigs and dogs. They work for more than ten hours a day. During the peak cotton picking season, they usually work for 18 hours a day.
Since the first day of the founding of this country, white people and black people have been two classes that cannot be dealt with. Black people have been oppressed for hundreds of years.
three
There are special reasons why the thirteen states of North America are crowded in a narrow position on the map.
Because there is an Appalachian Mountain in the west, which blocks their expansion, they can only curl up in the eastern coastal plain to make a living. At this time, we have to draw a topographic map. We can understand it at a glance.
The first wave of people to disembark in North America settled down in the eastern coastal cities and gave birth to famous cities such as Portland, Boston and New York.
Later, there were more and more people. Americans who arrived late went west until they reached the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. They were blocked by the mountains and could not walk.
Pay attention to the following content. Few people have mentioned it in the Chinese online world.
The Appalachian Mountains, about 3000 kilometers long, have brought a special geographical phenomenon to the East.
There is a height difference between the eastern plain at an altitude of 200 meters and the Appalachian Mountains. The terrain drops abruptly. Rivers rush into the plain from high mountains, forming many waterfalls and rapids, which are called Waterfall lines.
The first group of people who came to the United States only used water power, so they settled along the waterfall line, built water carts and mills by the water power of the waterfall, grinded flour, sawed wood, and spun cloth by the water power textile machine.
In addition, when the cargo ships arrive at the lower reaches of the waterfall line, they have to unload and land, transport them to the upper reaches of the waterfall line, and then ship them again. Along the waterfall line, villages and towns gradually form. These towns gradually grow into Washington on the Potomac River, Richmond on the James River, and torenton on the Delaware River.
The capitals of the eastern states of the United States are all located along the waterfall line, which is the best proof that geography shapes humanity.
Today, New York, the wealthiest city in the United States, and Washington, the national capital, are formed from east to west.
New York became richer and richer and became the economic and financial center of the United States because of the construction of the Erie Canal.
This canal, which has little sense of existence now, is a river that changed the fate of the United States in its early days.
In 1783, Britain, which was defeated in the war of independence, in addition to the 13 states in eastern North America, recognized that the land west of the Appalachian Mountains, south of the Great Lakes and north of the Mississippi River belonged to the United States. The territory of the United States finally crossed the Appalachian Mountains and doubled its territory.
In 1803, the United States spent only $15million to buy 2.14 million square kilometers of Louisiana from Napoleon. In just 20 years, it suddenly became a big territorial power of 5million square kilometers. At this time, Americans have a lot of land to reclaim in the west, they also need to transport materials from east to West, and they also need to move a large number of people westward (see the history of American national transportation for details), which cannot compress the American economy in Pennsylvania Massachusetts and New York.
At that time, there was no train. It would cost US $120 to transport a ton of goods by land from buffalo to New York. In order to connect the Great Lakes with New York, the United States decided to build the Erie Canal.
When the Americans built this canal, they were a pure agricultural country, and there was no qualified civil engineer in the country. The governor of New York State, with lawyers, math teachers and amateur engineers, took eight years to build the 584 km canal.
This river passes through the Great Lakes and the Hudson River region, and the Hudson River flows into the Atlantic Ocean through New York port. It is like a highway connecting the Great Lakes with the central and western plains.
The total investment of the Erie Canal was as high as $7million, which was almost equivalent to the price at which the United States bought Alaska. At that time, it was a sky high price. In order to raise funds, the Erie bonds were issued on Wall Street in New York. As a result, the Erie canal made a lot of money. European investors came to invest in canal concept stocks, and Wall Street gradually became the world financial center.
After the canal was built, the transportation cost of a ton of flour fell from $120 to $6. New York port has since become a logistics center. In 1800, only 6% of the goods in the United States passed through New York. In 1860, it rose to 62%. The population of New York also rose from 120000 to 1.08 million, surpassing Philadelphia and Boston and becoming the first city in the United States.
The Great Lakes region also benefited a lot from the Erie Canal. In addition, a number of canals were successively built to connect the Great Lakes and the tributaries of the Mississippi River. The Northeast Great Lakes region of the United States formed a dense network of waterways, similar to the geographical environment of Jiangsu, China, which made the iron mines in the Great Lakes and the coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains circulate smoothly. Therefore, the Northeast Great Lakes region became the earliest Industrial Zone in the United States, including Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland Pittsburgh and other cities thus rose.
The rise and fall of Detroit is closely related to the underlying logic of American society. We will continue to mention it later.
The Erie Canal not only decides the fate of New York, Chicago and Detroit, but also has to be mentioned.
We often make fun of the “Canadians burning the White House” in the United States.
Before the Erie Canal, the outlet of the Great Lakes was the St. Lawrence River in Canada. The United States had no outlet, which greatly restricted the economic development of the Great Lakes region of the United States.
In order to seize the estuary of the St. Lawrence River, in 1812, the United States sent 1500 militia to attack Canada. At the beginning, the fight was very smooth. In April 1813, the United States captured York, the capital of Canada (today’s Toronto), and even set soldiers on fire, killing and looting. Unexpectedly, Napoleon was defeated in Europe, and the British moved to deal with the U.S. Army. 12000 British troops fought back, and even Washington attacked, burning down the Capitol and the White House.
The burnt White House
In that year, Washington had only 8000 residents, 1300 of whom were slaves. In fact, it was a small town. The British army had little interest in staying for a long time. After occupying it for 26 hours, they withdrew.
It was precisely because they could not beat the British forces in Canada and could not decide on the access to the sea that forced the United States to build the Erie Canal. Since then, New York and the great lakes have flourished, which also made the United States start to think about the territory of Mexico. Since then, the United States has stopped expanding north and turned to bullying Mexico in the southwest.
four
When you read this, you must feel very strange. The title clearly talks about the prohibition of guns. Why did you talk for a long time about the 13 Eastern States, slaves, waterfall line, New York and the Great Lakes industrial zone? This has something to do with the prohibition of guns?
Don’t worry. We need to know the whole picture of things. The issue of guns is only a branch of the special circumstances of the founding of the United States. The history of the United States is advancing slowly from east to west. The history in the middle has laid the foundation for the gene of the United States. As long as we understand the formation of the United States, we can not only understand the issue of banning guns, but also understand a complete United States.
When the Americans finally crossed the Appalachian Mountains and opened the Northeast corridor with the Erie Canal, they still need to continue to move westward and complete the development of the Mississippi River.
If you unfold the basin map of the Mississippi River, you will find that it runs through most parts of the United States. Almost all the Midwestern cities built later are related to the main stream of the Mississippi River. Kansas City is at the intersection of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, Sacramento is at the intersection of the americana and Sacramento rivers, and Memphis and Vicksburg are built on steep banks that are difficult to be submerged by the river.
The same is true in China. Luzhou is built at the intersection of Tuojiang River and Yangtze River, Wuhan is built at the intersection of Hanjiang River and Yangtze River, and even dashaoyang is built at the intersection of Zijiang River and Shaoshui river.
In this sense, the importance of the Mississippi River should be equal to that of the Yangtze River to China.
However, the Mississippi River, which runs through the United States and has a total drainage area of 3.32 million square kilometers, is far less important than the Yangtze River, which runs through China from east to west and has a total drainage area of only 1.8 million square kilometers.
The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are one of the richest regions in China, while the lower Mississippi states are bubbling with poverty in the United States.
Source: Map emperor, I think the height difference is slightly exaggerated
Because the United States is high on both sides and low in the middle, the middle and lower reaches of the Mississippi River are even more flat, unable to stop hurricanes from the Gulf of Mexico and the cold current from the Arctic Ocean rushing down from the Hudson Bay.
Indians simply could not develop here. After the arrival of Europeans, they began to engage in agriculture here. Today, Mississippi is still a poor state, and Louisiana, which sells roasted wings, is better. In 1850, New Orleans (that is, the one who sells roasted wings) could share the world with New York. It relies on the geographical location at the mouth of the Mississippi River to transport cotton by boat.
In addition to New Orleans, there is another once very important city on the Mississippi River: St. Louis.
Once St. Louis, equivalent to Wuhan in China, was located at the center of American rivers and railways.
On the waterway, it is located at the junction of the Missouri River and the Mississippi River. On the railway, it is the junction of the east-west and North-South railways in the United States. The north-south railway from Chicago to New Orleans and the East-West railway from New York to Los Angeles just meet here.
In the process of westward movement, Americans relied far more on the railway than on the Mississippi River.
In those decades, many new immigrants from Europe came to the United States. There were too many to fill the East. They had to expand to the West and ask them to find a large area of land in the west to make a living.
Since 1842, at least 100000 people have come to the United States every year to make a living. From 1847 to 1857, 1.2 million Irish hungry people came to the United States with deep hatred for the English people. From 1852 to 1854, another 500000 Germans came to the United States to avoid civil strife. Together with the French and Italian immigrants who avoided the local revolution, the United States has borne more than 2 million immigrants in a short time.
The most miserable people here are the Irish. After Ireland was conquered by England, the English have been guarding against them. In 1845, the production of potatoes, Ireland’s staple food, was reduced due to the late blight, and a famine broke out. More than one million people died of starvation. England not only refused to save their lives, but also took the opportunity to buy Irish houses and fields at a low price. The Irish were forced to flee all over the world, most of them went to the United States. Today, 40million Americans are descendants of Irish, Including the ancestors of Clinton and Obama, who were also victims of the disaster.
These Irish people who went to other places almost died. One fifth of them died of disease and malnutrition. After arriving in North America, they were so poor that they went crazy. They were willing to do all kinds of dirty and hard work. They were known as “the untouchables among whites”. They were humble enough to the plantation owners in the south to cherish their black slaves. The most dangerous job was to let the Irish do it for the black slaves. It was cheap and easy to use. In addition to being free, the value of life of the Irish was not as good as that of the black slaves.
White people also have white chains of contempt. First-class white people are Anglo Saxons, second-class white people are French and German, third-class white people are western, Italian and Portuguese, and fourth-class white people are Dalits, Irish and Eastern Europeans.
Later, there were two major white gangs in the United States. One was the Mafia in Sicily, Italy, and the other was the Irish gangs. The two gangs came out because they came late and didn’t grab good resources. The other was that they were born in the poorest places in the region and had no capital, so they had to make a living.
The American films “the godfather” and “the Irishman” are about the past of Italian gangs and Irish gangs.
With so many people coming, there is no room for them in the East. Where should we relocate?
The United States waved its big hand: Go West!
But now only water leads to the Great Lakes. How can we get to the west?
The United States waved again: build a railway!
The west of the United States used to be a desolate world. France ruled it in name, but it was actually the territory of Indians and wild animals. After opening the Erie Canal, the United States tried to immigrate to the west by steam boat. The population in the West increased from 290000 in 1810 to 3.3 million in 1840, but it was not enough. Thousands of miles of fertile fields were waiting for a large number of new immigrants to reclaim.
To connect and develop the west, there must be railways.
In 1828, Americans learned from the British to build railways in Baltimore. At that time, they did not steam the locomotive, but planned to use the horse to pull the carriage (it is true). Two years later, the West Point foundry in New York built the first 35 mile per hour train locomotive, the “best friend”.
Although the cast iron technology in the United States was still quite backward at this time, and it was necessary to buy steel from Britain, the cost of the railway was still far lower than that of the canal, and the cost per mile was only 20000 US dollars.
The main obstacles to the development of the railway are the difficulty of financing and the dispute over land acquisition rights. By 1846, the railway mileage in the United States was less than 5000 miles. Since then, a steady stream of new immigrants came to force the great development of the railway. Newly arrived Irish, a small number of Germans and a large number of Chinese were arranged to build the railway, which gave the foundation for the great development of the railway. In 1857, the railway mileage in the United States soared to 25000 miles.
Huang Feihong once described that Americans were recruiting Chinese workers in China. Foreigners stood on the street and preached that the United States was “full of gold”, which was to deceive Chinese coolies into going to the United States to build railways. A large number of Chinese in Taishan, Xinhui and Kaiping, Guangdong went to the United States, working 12 hours a day, six days a week, and spent four years trying to get Americans to build the Pacific Railway. A large number of Chinese died under the railway tracks, just building Cape Horn in Nevada, 300 Chinese workers died. After the completion of the railway, the workers recovered and buried the bones of their fellow countrymen. A total of 20000 kilograms of Chinese workers’ bones were collected.
However, when the Pacific Railway was opened to traffic, none of the Chinese workers were present. They said in their celebration speech that the completion of this miraculous railway crossing the snow capped mountains of Nevada was due to the blood of the four great nations flowing in the veins of the people of California, including the bravery of the French The wisdom and firmness of the Germans, the indomitability of the British, and the uprightness and truthfulness of the Irish.
Americans do not regard Chinese as human beings at all. From the past to the present, their status is still inferior to that of Indians and blacks.
Irish and German immigrants who had found a chance to survive stayed in the United States. After establishing a firm foothold, because of their different experiences, the Germans made money and bought land. The Irish people have been hurt. They prefer to be industrial workers and screw up in factories. The Chinese like to open shops and restaurants and often stand aloof from the world.
The Germans came back one after another, and there were three waves of immigration. Now there are 58million German Americans, which is already the largest ethnic group in the United States, even more than British Americans.
The Germans originally wanted to keep their own language and culture. However, in World War I, the United States declared war on Germany. The Anglo Saxons cleaned up the German people and asked them to pursue “100% patriotism”. They smashed the German stores, took the German people to the streets and filled them with feathers to criticize, banned the German people from speaking in public, carried out the cultural revolution against the German people, and scared the German people to hold their tails and become human beings. They no longer taught German to their descendants and spoke English instead.
The predecessor of former US President Chuanbao came from Germany in 1885. In his generation, Chuanbao could not speak German at all. In fact, Chuanbao could not even speak English well. His vocabulary was limited. He often misspelled words when typing on the Internet. He was ridiculed as an illiterate by the American elite.
German Americans and Germans are no longer the same kind of people, just as Singaporeans are not Chinese. Six Star General Pershing of the US Army in World War I, Eisenhower and Nimitz of the US Army in World War II are all German Americans. They command the army and make the Germans scream. They can’t get close at all. Don’t force them to get close. Forcing them to get close will only embarrass everyone.
five
In the process of advancing westward, many of today’s ecosystems in the United States have been frozen down.
In order to encourage the people to move westward, in 1800, the U.S. government stipulated that 320 acres of land in the West would be sold as a starting point at $2 per acre, which could be paid in four-year instalments. However, the people were unmoved. In that kind of wild land, who likes to go, the U.S. government cut prices and promoted them all the way. In 1820, it was changed to 80 acres as a starting point at $1.25 per acre, but people still didn’t want to go there. It was like a savage. In 1832, And the price is reduced to just plant as you like, at $0.50 per mu.
Since January 1, 1863, the US government has been promoting the “double 11” National Congress. Anyone over the age of 21 can get 160 acres of land for only $10. After five years of cultivation, the land is yours.
The $10 in 1863 is equivalent to about $3000 in 2022. It is about 20000 yuan. 160 acres of land is equivalent to 971 mu. When I was a child in rural Hunan, my family only had 1.2 mu of land, which is equivalent to 20000 yuan to give you a village. This kind of land dividend is unique in human history. It is equivalent to being a big landlord.
I’ll go too.
This time, we are encountering a large influx of European immigrants. There is not enough living space. We have to go if we don’t go.
In order to attract people to the west, the U.S. government focuses on infrastructure, building railways and canals, and desperately encouraging people to move westward.
As for the living conditions during the westward March, you can see the earth thunder by the Cohen brothers, the dance with the wolf by Costner, the past of the west by Lionel, the golden three escorts, and the decisive battle in Yuma town by mangaud. The famous game wild escorts tells the story of the end of the frontier.
Americans’ feelings for westerns, that is, Chinese people’s feelings for martial arts films, are freehand gratitude and hatred divorced from the rule of law.
However, China’s Wulin does not exist. The source of American Westerns is really bloody experience.
In the earth thunder by the Cohen brothers, the living environment of the western town at that time is well restored. (I really like this one)
In the film, the Americans who moved westward lived in wooden houses in the town. Most of them lived on cotton. Each one had rotten teeth and worn out clothes. Everyone was so poor that most of them had not read any books. They spoke straight and rude. The dust was flying in the town. They had to discuss any legal disputes. The only thing they could trust was the gun in their hand.
Such a small town must have railway tracks to keep in touch with the outside world. The rule of law only exists within the town. Once a crime is committed, it can go to the wilderness. At this time, you have to hire bounty hunters. The police in the town are only responsible for the affairs of the Town, but you can pay servants to go out of the town and catch thieves.
In ancient China, we have never seen that yamen servicemen were hired to go up the mountain to catch thieves. Yamen servicemen belong to the resources of the national government. However, in the western United States, yamen servicemen are local resources. If they work outside the local scope, they can even work part-time.
Once you leave the town, there will be a vast natural scene in the west, including river valleys, grasslands, mountains, heavy snow, bandits, Indians, poisonous insects and beasts. There is no rule of law and a sense of security at all. After leaving the town, the little woman in the film fought with the villains several times, was bitten by a poisonous snake, and lost an arm.
The pioneering work of the Americans during their westward March laid the foundation for the survival of a large number of Americans, made them unforgettable for generations, and cultivated the tough character of the Americans.
When the Americans moved westward, they almost killed the Indians (infectious diseases must be accounted for by them). In order to cut off the livelihood of the Indians, they killed the North American bison they often prey on from 60million to only 100.
As we all know, steak originated in Europe, but only a small number of people in Europe can afford it. Before, no country in Eurasia could afford to eat beef. Americans killed bison crazily in North America. In addition to their fur, they ate beef. Because bison are thick and strong, and there are many tendons in their tendons. Americans do not have the cooking skills of Chaoshan people. They can’t cook tendons, so they choose to eat the meat without tendons on bison, that is, beef tenderloin, Later it was called filet mignon.
Later, I found that the tongue of an ox was more tender, and I loved cutting it to eat.
This is why Americans like to eat steak. It is because they are used to eating bison in North America. It is costly to breed bison in the future. They can no longer eat steak in such a luxurious way, leaving unsavory meat to make beef patties. Therefore, McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken from the United States have beef patties.
All this comes from the North American bison, from the massacre of Indians.
The United States has always been like this. Since its founding, it has been mixed with light and darkness, vast and bloody, cruel and majestic, advanced and barbaric, freedom and slavery. It has always been multifaceted and complex.
The previous story in the East told about American slaves and industrialization, and the westward movement strengthened American guns and local autonomy.
The United States is a country where people rely on guns. Guns go deep into the blood. They can’t leave shooting.
When they first set foot in North America, Americans needed guns to bully Indians and beasts and set up outposts. Later, they needed guns to beat the British away. When they entered the west, they needed guns to invade and defend themselves. At this time, there was no perfect law and law enforcement agency. Only guns could bring a sense of security to Americans.
In 1787, the constitutional assembly of the United States stipulated that citizens could hold and carry weapons, but they were obedient to public opinion. Americans’ guns were never used to defend any freedom. From the wild era, guns were only used to protect their private property and life safety.
When Americans arrive at the western frontier, they often have no neighbors hundreds of miles away. It takes hours to ride out and buy a spoon. The police in the town don’t care about their life or death. In such a sparsely populated environment, what can be trusted except guns?
Gun possession has been handed down from generation to generation. It has been spread to today that 330million people in the United States have 400million guns. Whenever they encounter a little racial hatred and psychopathy, people often come to the campus to wash their blood.
I came all the way from Europe. I just took a break in the 13 eastern states. Encouraged by the U.S. government, I set out again with a gun. I went all the way to the west to occupy the land. I have been slashing and burning for decades. I couldn’t find a village in front of me or a shop in the back. I was in company with poisonous snakes and beasts. I chased the Indians and took my family’s life to reclaim the wasteland into fertile fields. My family lost half their lives. Who dares to touch my private property, I will play with anyone.
Anyone who wants to move my power and wealth must first ask about the gun in my hand.
land
What coexists with guns is American local autonomy.
In fact, the so-called autonomy means a sense of insecurity about existing property and a fear that the private property they have fought so hard for will be infringed upon by government authorities.
When Americans began to build this country, they did not trust the federal government.
They would rather constantly patch up the existing social system and build a society from bottom to top than hand over power to the central government to mobilize and distribute social wealth and avoid stabbing the bottom.
In the final analysis, they are afraid that the central government will use their private wealth.
At the beginning, the thirteen Eastern prefectures were like a big and disorderly town in the “thunder of the earth”. Everyone had to negotiate on something. The establishment of the Federation could only add to everyone’s common interests, not subtract. It was necessary to ensure the separation of the national treasury and the state finances, and never move the interests of the States.
According to the records in the Federalist anthology, Americans believe that “the high cost of maintaining the army requires taxes, and taxes are a kind of oppression”. If it were not for the commercial exchanges between the States, the establishment of a standing army to protect the interests of the States, and the later construction of a flood dike on the Mississippi River, they would not even want the union.
Martin Doyle described the original intention of the Americans to establish the Union in the river and the great powers: in 1787, when the framers thought about the government structure, the biggest challenge they faced was to “balance the needs of the centralized national government and the desire for state and local autonomy.”
What people say is: if we get a free hand, we will form a federation. If we don’t, we will become autonomous.
So up to now, the power of American States is amazing. They have their own legislative power, executive power, and the command of the National Guard.
Twenty years ago, the Chinese Internet was full of “the army can only fight against floods and provide disaster relief outside the country, not inside the country”, which was specifically used to ridicule China’s sending troops to fight floods and provide disaster relief. In fact, the central government of the United States wanted to do so, but their federal and state powers were separated. They hated the central government sending troops to local areas to provide disaster relief. They had a national guard.
When Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans in 2005, a large number of robberies and murders occurred. Even under such circumstances, the state government refused to let the federal army take charge of public security, and only allowed the National Guard to maintain public security. Even if the management was not good, the central government was not allowed to intervene.
Because each state only cares about its own interests, there have also been strange incidents in which New Orleans disaster victims went to neighboring states and were driven back by the guards of neighboring states with guns.
It would be unthinkable for all this to happen in China.
The reason why the United States can still hold together is because of the result of the civil war.
The Great Lakes industry in the North has developed. They want to protect their own industries with high tariffs, while the cotton textile industry in the South needs low tariffs to reduce cotton prices, increase market competitiveness, and buy black slaves at low prices. The industrial development in the North needs free labor and opposes slavery. Therefore, the two sides fought in the dark, killing 750000 people. Finally, the industrially powerful North beat the south.
With regard to the relationship between the Federation and the local governments, the Lincoln Administration set down rules: in peacetime, each state plays its own game, and you legislate, administer, and organize the National Guard. However, paragraph 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution states that when suppressing rebellion and repelling aggression, Congress may authorize the president to directly call up the National Guard under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
It turned a loose confederation into a slightly closer Confederation, and at the same time, it also made the black slaves free.
We finally return to the topic of Chapter 2. What happened to the freed slaves in the United States?
What else can we do? We are still the group of people who have suffered the most.
After the civil war, there were more than 4 million black people in the United States, accounting for about 20% of the total population. At the beginning, the freed black people were ecstatic and crazily sprawled in the fields or on the city streets.
After celebrating for a while, he was stunned and found that he had no property or production tools. Some black people didn’t even have a piece of clothing and wandered naked in the streets.
Suddenly, there was no master, no oppression, but no one cared about their lives.
The U.S. government sold the land of the former slave owners to big business owners and planters, and also intended to rent some land to blacks. However, the blacks had no money. After a round trip, they came back to sign labor contracts and continue to work in the manor. However, the wages were pitifully low, which was no different from before. In addition to less beating and torture, there was no change in the economy. Therefore, there are still a large number of blacks in the Mississippi Delta.
At that time, the U.S. government gave black people the benefit of free riding in the car, allowing them to choose their own jobs across the country. Some black people followed the westward flow to the West. The skills they learned in the southern plantations came in handy. They became black cowboys and made a living by running pastures. The film “liberated ginger” tells the story of black cowboys.
Of course, some black people were also brought over when white people moved westward. In western movies, we often see white women in Victorian costumes and a black slave standing next to them.
There were also some black people who went to the northern industrial zone to find jobs and became the most laborious steel workers and automobile workers. At that time, black uncle accounted for one third of the five Great Lakes steel plant.
In those days, American cars competed with Japanese cars. Everyone said that American cars were too rough, so they couldn’t play Japanese cars. Think about black uncles carrying a big stereo and wearing big earphones in the workshop, listening to hip-hop and working at the same time. Can they not be rough? But only black uncles are willing to do this work for a long time. Just be rough and bear it.
Speaking of cars, we are connected to Detroit.
From 1850 to 1930, Detroit relied on the automobile industry, with a population growth rate of more than 30% every decade. In the 1950s, Detroit reached the peak of its life, with a population of 1.85 million. The headquarters of the three automobile giants and upstream and downstream suppliers moved to Detroit, providing 220000 manufacturing jobs and becoming the fourth largest city in the United States.
A large part of the people who came to Detroit to make a living were black uncles.
At that time, Detroit was a paradise for blacks to realize the American dream.
But the dream was soon awakened.
The United States is a badly torn country. They went to the moon in 1969, but also in the 1960s, blacks had to fight for being on the bus and having to give up their seats for whites.
After the end of the American Civil War, blacks gained freedom in name, but in fact they were still in an unequal state. In 1896, the Federal Supreme Court made a judgment on the “Plessy v. Ferguson case”, which established racial segregation for blacks.
In the 1950s, Martin Luther King called the blacks to stand up and demand racial equality. In 1968, in Memphis, he was directly assassinated by racists who hated blacks.
The blacks themselves are really not good at it. After all these years, most of them are still wandering in a scattered, rough and chaotic state of life. Drug abuse, alcoholism and promiscuity are also the norm for many black Americans.
One year before Dr. King died, the black-and-white conflict was already very serious. On July 23rd, 1967, the police raided an unlicensed bar on 12th Street and clashed with the black uncle who drank the wine. The black uncles thought that the police were deliberately looking for trouble and began to work with the police on the spot.
The incident soon turned into a riot. The black people beat, smashed, looted and burned the whole city, resulting in 43 deaths, more than 1000 injuries, thousands of white women being raped, and more than 2000 buildings being destroyed.
The governor mobilized 7000 members of the National Guard. The president also ordered the 82nd Airborne Division to suppress the riot. He directly drove tanks onto the streets of Detroit and arrested 7200 people before the riot was suppressed.
Because of the nature of local autonomy in the United States, this time the federal army was allowed to come to town. It can be seen how serious the situation is.
Since then, white people have fled Detroit one after another, and the population has dropped to 700000 now. Now black people account for 81% of the city.
Black people tried to run their own cities, but the effect was not ideal.
Since 1973, Detroit has voted democratically, and the mayors and legislators who came up have been controlled by black people. After these people came up, they first changed the black proportion of the police from 20% to 85%. Then they imposed heavy taxes on white people and Chinese, and heavily subsidized black people. White people ran faster and black people gathered in large numbers.
In addition, American cars failed in the competition with Japanese cars, and Detroit’s industry was destroyed. As a result, Detroit also declared bankruptcy in 2013. During the mayoral election in 2017, half of the eight candidates were former felons who had engaged in drug trafficking and murder.
Detroit is just a microcosm of the lack of racial integration, the difficulty of black autonomy and the massive flight of industry in the United States. It has gathered a lot of negative energy in the United States and shaped a destroyed city.
Today, a small number of black people are better off singing rap in the NBA. In fact, the vast majority of black people are no different from their ancestors in the 17th century. They can only do manual work such as road builders, cleaners, waiters and truck drivers, but their productivity has increased. They don’t have to be slaves in the fields. There are both reasons for white oppression and their own lack of efforts.
At present, black Americans account for about 13-14% of the population in the United States, but 50% of the prison population. 75% of adult black people grew up in single parent families. One third of black people are either in prison or on probation.
We often see American police stop black people in the streets, draw their guns when they disagree, and empty their magazines when they shoot.
This is because the United States will never be able to solve the problem of guns, nor will it ever be able to solve the problem of black crime. When the gun problem coincides with the black problem, high-pressure law enforcement is formed, and there will be news that the police have turned black suspects into honeycombs again and again.
seven
When you read here, you had already read 14000 words. I know you are a little tired now.
But wait a minute. Finally, I want to talk about one of the biggest characteristics of the United States: the United States is a country that is constantly patching up.
The concept of “patching” is a word I have repeatedly said in my past articles about the United States.
In 1607, the ancestors of the United States arrived at Jamestown and began to establish strongholds along the coast. Later, the strongholds spread like broad beans along the eastern coast. Villages and towns were established in succession, and cities became states in succession.
Because they are new people and new places, they are all equal when they start. Therefore, no one will disagree with anyone, so they will discuss everything.
Later, when the British saw that North America had developed and was short of money, they wanted to collect more taxes. The colonists in North America became angry and did not want to pay. With the help of France, they beat their superiors away.
Now I don’t want anyone to take care of them. I don’t want the central government to collect their taxes. But some things have to be handled by the central government, so I set up the Confederation.
Then there was a lot of luck. The Eurasian continent was in chaos. No one cared about them anymore. There were more and more unknown territories and more immigrants.
The Americans are engaged in the great development of the West. They repeat the story of the East. In the west, first build villages and towns, then build cities, and then build states.
Because they are new people, they are all equal when they start. No one will accept anyone, so they will discuss everything.
The state government and the federal government can, but we must first ensure that we do not touch my private property, or we will not engage in state and Federal Affairs.
That’s the same sentence: adding is OK, subtraction is not.
When I was working hard in the west, you didn’t worry about it at all. As long as you can guarantee that I have the land to develop and that I can defend my private property with a gun, you don’t have to worry about my life or death. Anyway, I promised not much power to the state and the Federation.
So Xinguan killed 1million people, so I also have my own destiny. I never expected the central government to do anything, and I don’t ask you to be responsible.
The underlying logic of the United States is this: Guns, autonomy, and Federation are all based on the protection of their private property.
Because the core things cannot be moved, we have patched up the social system.
First there is the town, we have the town police; There were schools in the town. In order to protect the students, the school police were given the authority to enforce the law. Later, more and more people outside the town were left unattended, so a sheriff was added to the police system; There is a canal outside the town. Let’s arm the canal again. Suddenly, there is a highway outside the town, and there is a highway patrol; There are more and more cities, and there are a large number of blank areas between each city. So build a state, and then set up a state police.
The grass-roots power has been expanded infinitely and patched one by one.
Just set up a nationwide police system. Do you want to be so troublesome?
No, we must exercise local autonomy. The central government cannot govern the state, and the state cannot govern our town. There is our family’s land in this town, which is my grandfather’s grandfather. You can’t move it with a gun!
The autonomy of the United States is not only manifested in the autonomy of local governments, but also in the autonomy of various groups.
Although the bottom is very broken, the autonomy of the elite is quite good. This autonomy has enabled the United States to fully release its scientific, technological and commercial activities. Therefore, the United States can also go to the moon, build aircraft carriers and lead the Internet revolution in recent years.
The United States is a country with a very high upper limit and a very low lower limit. These roots lie in local autonomy and population autonomy.
What are the core differences between China and the United States?
China has ceded some of its personal power to the central government, which must ensure personal safety. If the central government fails to protect it, the people will be angry.
The United States will never give in to personal rights, but if something happens, such as the new crown, life and death depend on fate, and wealth depends on heaven. I won’t settle with you for the number of people who died, but you can never move my ancestral private property.
eight
Today’s article reviews the history of the United States from east to west.
The United States started from Jamestown, went west step by step, reached the waterfall line, Appalachian Mountains, Erie Canal, the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, and finally reached Los Angeles, forming today’s United States.
Many things that seem to be neurotic in the United States today are the social logic that the United States could not move in the process of its formation.
It is a bit like the “ancestral system” of every feudal dynasty in China. Once it is formed, it cannot be changed.
In fact, the United States has been an agricultural country with serfdom for more than half of its 400 years. Its rise was so sudden and violent that the country did not have enough time to digest and even out social contradictions.
Ethnic conflicts, the issue of guns, the polarization between the rich and the poor, the police system and so on are all part of a whole. We can’t separate them to see any of them. Otherwise, we won’t see each other, and we won’t see any trees.
Only by understanding the process of American development can you understand the overall picture of American social problems. Only then can you understand why there have been so many shootings in the United States, but the United States can never ban guns. African Americans always make big news, but they can never solve it.
These problems cannot be solved unless the United States is leveled and started again.
I have a point of view that the United States is in the first round of its life cycle. Before this round of life cycle is completed, nothing in the United States can be changed.
Countries such as China, France, Britain, Russia and Japan have actually gone through several cycles of national reconstruction. Only the United States has been in the first cycle and has not finished it.
The United States will never ban guns, which is just a branch of the first cycle.
No matter how many more shootings and bloodshed there are, this is the current national capital of the United States and the price of its development. This is a fact that no one can change before the first round of the cycle is over.