vativcs—sliould not be surprised. Capitalism,rnan economic system driven only,rnaccording to its own theory, by the accumulationrnof profit, is at least as much anrnenemy of tradition as the NAACP orrncommimism, and tiiose on the “right”rnwho make a fetish of capitalism generallyrnunderstand this and applaud it. The hostilityrnof capitalism toward tradition isrnclear enough in its reduchon of all socialrnissues to economic ones. Moreover, likerncommunism, capitalism is based on anrncgalitarianism that refuses to distinguishrnbetween one consumer’s dollar and anotlrer.rnThe reductionism and egalitarianismrninherent in capitalism explain its destructivernimpact on social institutions.rnOn the issue of immigration, capitalismrnis notorious for demanding cheap laborrnto undercut the cost of native workers.rnBut it is not merely in contemporaryrnAmerica that it has done so.rnThe agribusiness proprietors of ancientrnRoman plantations imported slavernlabor for much the same reason, with thernresult that, by the end of the first centuryrnA.D., there were virtually no Romans, andrnnot even many Italians, left in Italy, andrnso it has been throughout history. InrnSouth Africa, the main reason for the rejectionrnof Prime Minister Verwoerd’srnproject oi grand apartheid, under whichrnthe black majority would acquire theirrnown independent states, was that SouthrnAfrican and global capitalists neededrnblack labor to exploit and to drive downrnthe wages of white workers. It was for thatrnreason that the South African CommunistrnParty in its early davs actuallv supportedrnapartheid or something like it,rnsince the party was then largelv composedrnof white, working-class members.rnToday, of course, not only does globalrncapitalism demand the importation ofrncheap labor through mass immigrationrnbut also, through free trade, manages tornexport its own production facilities tornwhatever country’ contains cheaper labor.rnThe capitalist Muhammad both goes tornthe mountain and has the mountainrncome to him.rnNor should it be surprising that the Republicansrnwho control the House of Representativesrnin South Carolina bent inrnthe direction of the capitalist wind, evenrnat the risk of their own political careersrnand explicit previous commitments.rnHouse Majority Leader Richard Quinnrnactually burst into tears after voting to removernthe flag. “My vote was ver’ difficult,”rnhe whined to the press afterward.rn”It was the hardest vote I ever east.” AsrnMrs. Frances Bell, state chairwoman ofrnthe Council of Conservative Citizens, remarkedrnafter the vote, “Many legislatorsrnlied.” Caught between the cultural andrnpolitical rock that wanted the flag to bernkept waving over the capitol and the capitalistrnhard place that demanded it bernpulled down so the state could be part ofrnthe new millennium, be brought togetherrnbv technologv, join the global economy,rnand avoid the slighte.st hint of a dividedrnwork force or a reputation forrnbackwardness, the Republicans chosernmodernity —and the betraval of theirrnstate’s traditional identih’.rnThe spat over the Confederate flag inrnSouth Carolina may seem to most Americansrna provincial imbroglio, but twornfacts combine to make it a matter of nationalrnsignificance. First, with the comingrnof a nonwhite majorit)’ in the UnitedrnStates because of mass immigration,rnthere is even,’ prospect that similar batflesrnover other historic cultural symbols willrntake place. Indeed, some years ago inrnSan Jose, California, the local city councilrnauthorized the construcfion of a statuernof riie Aztec god Quctzaleoafl in the city’srnmain square, instead of a statue to thernAmerican soldier who occupied SanrnJose for the Lhiited States during thernMexican War. There are a number ofrnother instances of similar acts of dispossessionrnagainst traditional symbols,rnthough iroue so far has quite comparedrnto the NAACP’s perpetual war against fliernConfederacy.rnSecond, even with the emergence of arnnonwhite majoritv and its hatred of tradi-rnHonal American cidtural symbols, it isrnthe willingness of ostensibly “conservative”rnforces, like the Republicans andrncapitalism (organized religion, in thernfonn ot the mainstream churches, is yetrnanother), to support the war against thesernsymbols that makes the war importantrnand dangerous. In the long rim, ofrncourse, the war will not be confined tornsymbols but will extend to the peoplernwho have historically composed Americanrncivilization.rnThe betrayal of the Confederate flagrnby flic Republicans and by flic capitalismrnwhich so hypnotizes the GOP says plainlyrnthat neither institution can be countedrnon to defend eiflier Southern traditionsrnor national and civilizational ones.rnThere are few traditional Southernersrnwho did not alreadv know fliis, althoughrnmost have supported the GOP since thern1960’s in what was an alliance of conveniencernfor both sides, and most conservativesrnof all kinds have allied with capitalismrnagainst this century’s more militantrnforms of cgalitarianism. But the Republicanrninftituafion with capitalism, and therndisengagement of capitalism from everyrnother social institution in pursuit of itsrnown profits and in antagonism to any institutionrnthat presents an obstacle to profit,rnpitches the usefulness of these alliancesrninto the garbage dump of history.rnWhere No Flag FliesrnDonald Davidson and the Southern ResistancernMark Royden WinchellrnThis seminal work offers a complete narrativernof Davidson’s life with all of its triumphs andrnlosses, frustrations and fulfillments. Drawingrnupon a wealth of previously unpublishedrnarchival material, including Davidson’s lettersrnand diary. Where No Flag Flies provides uniquernaccess to one of the most original minds of therntwentieth-century South.rnAugust, 392 pages, 25 illustrations, $29.95rnAUGUST 2000/35rnrnrn