A must read for those of you who are interested in the symbolism of the fall of the Confederate flag in the USA these days. John Blake explains that the real reason for the Civil War was not slavery, but the economics of the South that he calls Southernomics. Southernomics was about guaranteeing low taxes and cheap labor in order to attrack capital and businesses (mostly from the Northern states). In order to have cheap labor, it was necessary for the workers to remain submissive because of their being totally dependent on their employer for survival. Therefore: no unions, no free health care, no minimum wage, no free education, no food stamps of course, child labor and prisoners' labor. The author adds that the South does not care about the color of the workers: it's not a racial thing, it's an economic thing, and any color of workers will do as long as they come cheap and remain submissive. This was the economic model of the South before the Civil War and it has REMAINED the economic model of the South to this day. This model clashes with the model of the North ("strong unions, higher wages, robust government spending on education and public employee pensions", public infrastructure, etc). Whence the Republican/Democrat divide in American politics that is not going away any time soon, whether or not the Conferate flag totally disappears from public places in the USA.