Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Gomer Pyle and the Music of Southern Poverty

 

Sometimes, you need to go halfway around the world in order to make a point, especially if the point to be made is not a simple one.  This is one of those times.  Also, it’s probably past time that I should explain the difference between a Yankee and a Northerner.  “Northerner” is a geographic term that refers to anyone not from the South, and not all Northerners are Yankees.  Many times, Northerners and Southerners alike share the same hallowed American philosophy of “leave me alone and we’ll get along just fine,” and I have a multitude of friends who are Northerners, great people, and trusted confidants.  However, “Yankee” is a conceptual term that applies to anybody who can’t stand for people to live differently from them.  Although it’s true that Yankee thinking is most closely associated with Puritans and New England, you can find it anywhere.  Yankees are threatened by anything alien to them, and their whole life purpose is to conquer and force change on everyone else to conform to their “hive” mentality.  The very fact that someone is out there living happily and differently is totally unacceptable to a Yankee, and it must be stopped.  In Star Trek terms, Yankees are like The Borg, and resistance is futile.

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6 comments:

  1. Funny !!! over the past years I've run into "Yankees" born and bred (for many generations) from south of the M-D. I don't think it's all that geographical; they're out there from Bangor to The Keys.

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  2. The first time I heard Gomer sing I was floored in pleasant surprise. He was blessed with that rich, mellifluous voice. And by it we were blessed to hear.

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    1. He was blessed with that rich, mellifluous voice.

      Amazed me the first time I heard him.

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  3. I'll tell ya one thing ya haven't heard in a long time, at least I haven't, is the term, Yankee Ingenuity. It wasn't to connote an affection or affiliation of any place of ideology. It was baling wire and chewing gum and a bit of thinking could fix anything. To make do with what ya got and downright ingenious at times. I reckon 'redneck engineering' has taken it's place.

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    1. I reckon 'redneck engineering' has taken it's place.

      :)

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