I don't understand; why do people defend things such as the confederate flag

[Rev. Rye]

Really, it's much the same way the Republican Party attracts the same working-class people it makes a point of screwing over: appeal to tradition and convince them it's somehow in their best interest that they work to protect the wealth of a small cadre of people. Only this time, the percentage of the wealthy people pulling the strings is a lot smaller.

Yep, the "protect what little we have from the Democrats" voters. Been that way since 1932.

Well, technically, it was "protect what little we have from the Republicans" until Nixon figured out they could take votes from the Democrats by exploiting their racist fears in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

Actually proper folk music sounds nothing like country music.
Does this:



or this



sound like this

Listen to the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music. You can see how the folk music of other countries ended up transformed into a uniquely American idiom, and it's not hard to see how the music on the Harry Smith Anthology (which comes from several sources, from England's Child Ballads, Irish drunken piss-up songs, Native American music [perhaps filtered through the ideas of white folks], French music just starting to turn into Cajun, no doubt a considerable influence from the collective unconscious of Black Africa) becomes the roots of much of the popular music of today. I'd link to a Youtube playlist, but those have a habit of getting deleted or rendered incomplete, but if you can find the tracklist, you will likely find the recordings easily.

And, for the record, the 84 records on the Anthology date from between 1926 and 1933.