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harvrdguy

Senior Member

24. August 2008 @ 13:45

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Just to throw a bit of confusion into the whole business - my manager sent out something over the 4th of July - "our founders would have been tried as traitors and hung had we not won the war." That is certainly true. "We would not today enjoy the freedoms we have." Now wait a second. That's what we're taught. But is that really true?

I sent back my email, "Well, Dave, I have been reading a little bit of revisionist history, and let's think about it. There are a few former British colonies that didn't have a revolution. Let's take Canada. Most people would consider Canada a freedom-loving democracy. I don't recall that Canada ever had a revolution against British rule. Then there is Australia. Most people would consider Australia a freedom-loving democracy. Did they have a revolution? I don't recall one."

So what is my nefarious point?

First I like boozer's picture.

I think that is the same look as the first time he unloaded the 9 at the firing range, and there was dead silence, and some redneck said "what was ALL that noise." And somebody else said "why is that guy's target completely shredded?" And boozer said "What, me, no I just took a couple of shots!" :P

Ok back to July 4th bashing - not really - I'm just kidding. What I have heard recently is that we really didn't have to throw the tea overboard, and have that big ol' revolution - we would have ended up a freedom-loving democracy like Canada, and Australia, and as a matter of fact, like the UK itself. Right?

I saw a great movie, Amazing Grace, about a year ago, about the British anti-slavery pioneer William Wilberforce in the late 1700s. The British Parliamentary process and democracy was well-established by then. Policially, the crown was more than the figurehead it is now, but Parliament definitely had most of the political power. There was considerable debate about revolution versus evolution. Thomas Jefferson was in touch with Wilberforce, but some members of Parliament considered that relationship suspicious - they weren't too happy about the radical things the colonists were saying, and there was talk that there would probably be an expensive war "over there."

"Expensive war over there." Does that sound familiar to anybody?

Wilberforce gathered together a great petition - the first time that petitioning had ever been done. This movie is well worth watching to observe the political process in play in England just prior to the American Revolution.

We owe our entire parliamentary system to the British, which of course is why the two countries are so close. Those limies can't figure out simple things like which side the steering wheel goes on, but they gave us our entire political system. In my opinion, we would pretty much be the same country we are today, if evolution rather than revolution had been pursued by our forefathers.

As to pride - we are certainly taught all through school that America is the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave. I like to use the word gratitude more than pride. We have a pretty good system, we fought on the right side in two world wars, and then since then things have gotten a bit more complicated.

One low note: under Eisenhower we ousted a democratically-elected leader in Chile in favor of a right-wing military dictatorship that murdered 10,000 members of the political opposition. We were afraid his socialist tendencies would ally him with the Communists, and we were going through our McCarthy red-bashing fear-mongering phase. That Chilean president had visited schools here in the US speaking about his admiration for the American system, before the CIA engineered his overthrow. That did not endear us to Latin America.

Was that a basic part of the thread of our doctrine of fairness, and love for democracy, or something else. Was it a mistake of our leaders during a period of fear, similar to the internment and seizing of property of thousands of Asian-Americans on the West Coast at the start of World War II?

Is it time for us to put all the Muslims in jail? (Well, maybe not all of them, just the ones in Sanford.) And let's not even start to talk about our shabby treatment of American Indians.

We've made our share of mistakes. Anyway, it's a pretty good system. I wouldn't try to argue that it's the very best system in the entire world. Maybe, maybe not. As with any political system there is plenty of room for improvement. It's a pretty good system, with an interesting dynamic of the ebb and flow of political power across the economic spectrum - as in most other democracies. To keep improving it we have to be careful of what we're sold on TV, and of whom we're told to fear. - my 2 cents


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