MartyrMade #22 - Whose America? ep. 1: Rough Extraction
In August 1921, 10,000-20,000 armed coal miners marched on Mingo County, West Virginia to lift the martial law imposed there, free their jailed brethren, and avenge the assassination of one of their local heroes. At least 20,000 more wives, young boys and other civilians followed the army providing medical, logistical and other services. Before it was over, they would storm a mountainside under fire from entrenched machine guns, and while being bombed from the air. It was the largest and most serious armed insurrection in US history since the Civil War. This episode is going to discuss the West Virginia Coal Mine Wars, and The Battle of Blair Mountain.
Here’s the link to Jocko’s company, Origin, that I mention in the intro. Go there and check out the high-end clothing, boots, jiu jitsu gis, hunting gear and more, all hand-made in the United States.
Here’s a link to Daniele Bolelli’s History On Fire podcast (also available wherever you get your podcasts).
MartyrMade #22 - Whose America? ep. 1: Rough Extraction
Darryl, the picture you painted of the Appalachian folk prior to the coal mining really resonated with me. My political philosophy has evolved a lot over the years going from a tow-the-line republican as until two tours in Iraq cooled me off to the global adventures of our elite and then I delved deep into Libertarianism but after several years in the corporate world and all of the greed, corruption, and incompetence I saw there cooled me off to the idea of a completely privatized society, at least one in our modern corporate context. Now I don’t have any political philosophy, but whatever that pre-modern, honor-based, tight knit community you described is called- that’s what I am all about. All of modernity’s projects be damned, I’ll take the village’s rule of custom over the empire’s rule of law any day of the week.
This was one of your best podcasts to date, and you already had a high bar set there. Every time MartyrMade releases a long one, I know, in some small way, it will change me. I was a New England kid, seems like we never got a seriously proper appreciation of what being an "American" is. It didn't carry a real identity with it. But there is such a thing as a real American, and i hope we remember what it was that these men and their families suffered and fought to the death for, it certainly wasn't simple in being "riled up" as you thankfully point out. The person who comes to that shallow of a conclusion isn't so much speaking of those miners, but of themselves. Those "deplorables", "rednecks", "hillbillys", "white trash" have more history here, have more America in their blood than just about anyone else. Their story is so untold, I would think most Americans don't even know that they have real stories like this, this summoned tears to me. Especially with Steve Earle at the end there, thanks for that.