And today-
Chinese slaves in China working at $1.15 per hour (forced and child labor is OK).
Our slaves in India in the tech sector (white collar slaves)
Or the blue collar slaves (illegals) whom we know are illegal, are dependent on in certain industries, and keep in their status because it serves the bottom line.
This nation has “always” been about greed.
This nation has one god: mammon.”
Yep, evil America, the great Satan, isn't it ?
Don't put your faith in fellow man.
You will end up disappointed.
The US as a nation is exceptional because of the system of government which our Founding Fathers created.
It was unique, yes “exceptional.”
It maximized individual liberty and created a stable government that was essentially confined in its powers/authority.
It accomplished this by creating balances in power, by empowering the individual (Bill of Rights), states, and three bodies of the federal government, building in a democratic process, rules that are easy to read and available to all (US Constitution).
America isn't great because we are genetically superior. It isn't a great place because we figured out how to overcome the basic sins to which all humans fall prey. We do not defy the basic natural or economic principals and as we become more socialist and mismanage our economy we see the same results as in the former East Block...
We just were lucky (or it was divine) to have a bunch of really frigging smart dudes come together that were educated in some of the classical and enlightenment ideas. These dudes create a framework for a government that is supposed to follow these rules and processes described in the US Constitution. We are still just full of lust, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, pride and gluttony like everyone else.
We will murder for money, we will rob, steal, cheat and lie about it all. If you think that's wrong to say, just look at our crime statistics. Look at many of our nations Congressmen that are essentially benefiting from various schemes to enrich themselves. The difference is that we once we a free people, and while a free economy is not necessarily a moral one, a centrally planned and top down one is always evil (it allows for massive corruption, theft, and less people benefit from the fruits of their labor...).
I’m going to take this even further so you understand.
FDR was no better than Stalin.
If he could have shipped off all those that were opposed to him to gulags, he would have. He just couldn’t do it.
You see the difference?
It’s not that FDR was a better man. He wasn’t. He just couldn’t do these things. There were boundaries which he was not able to cross because the legislature, a supreme court, the states, or the people themselves wouldn’t play along. He had to go to extreme measures to get away with what he was doing (like expanding the supreme court) and he faced opposition.
But take a look at us today. We are more centralized today. The federal government is nearly all powerful. And what do you see with Covid? What do you see happening with free speech? What do you see happening economically when everything is run almost like in the Soviet Union where they decide how many electric cars will be on the road in 10 years, what light-bulb you should use, how many gallons of water a toilet may use per flush?
The reason why you were free here, is because the assholes didn’t have the power to run/ruin your life, they didn’t have a say over what you did on your property, what guns you own, what you do with your money, how you save it, move it, spend it, what you write in your news paper, how you slaughter animals, whatever... You were “free.” But in the name of national security, for the protection of our children, for the environment (a thousand different make belief smaller causes), to fight crime, drugs, save some animal or even a tree on the other side of the planet, to be more “fair” between the sexes and races, to create a social “safety net,” we have been able to create a “collectivist” society.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/7/2156 Why?
If my neighbor wants to have cock fights, how does this infringe on my rights? Meaning, he is free to do “WHATEVER” he wants up until it begins to limit my freedom. He can’t steal my cocks for his fights for example... But today we have a collectivist view of what limits freedom and rights, i.e. your use of hairspray causes me to get skin cancer and so the government can regulate it (all bullshit, but that’s how that works). Your lack of use of a seat-belt in a car causes me to pay more for medical care and insurance, so I can tell you what to do... Not the way it’s supposed to be!
The American dream of freedom and liberty is mostly dead. That is what made us “special.” We were once free.
I am a fan of Ronald Reagan (i.e. The Great One).
He is still just a man. He armed folks in Afghanistan that weren't the nicest people.
He lied about arming people in Latin America.
He wasn't perfect and many of his decisions didn't bring the perfect results.
IMHO he was a patriot and guided by the correct greater philosophical approach to governance. Yet in an imperfect world, he was often left making compromises and decisions of the lesser evil. He himself wasn't perfect and he made mistakes or at times even lied, cheated, etc.
Perfect human? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2935230/The-Playboy-President-young-Ronald-Reagan-charmed-50-Hollywood-s-leading-ladies-including-Marilyn-Monroe-luxury-LA-bungalow.html (hardly)
But he had certain ideas about limited government, personal liberty and culpability, free speech, property rights, that made him like Trump a great President.
What made the US great historically was our free economy, the maximization of personally liberty: property rights, freedom of speech, the right to move freely in the country, bear arms, due process, a government that was serving the people (not just buying them off with free cell phones while they commit treason essentially)...
The mistake you're making is believing that somehow we are capable of breaking away from sin, or that we can somehow defy basic human nature and economic forces. We don't. Our scum is just as bad as some German scum, or Russian scum... Listen to Klaus Schwab. I don't need to be a conspiracy theorist. Just listen to the guy he tells you what he believes in! But then realize that most the heads of US corporations and many in US government attend these meetings, they are on board with this!!! But imagine if that scum has limits in what they can do?!?!?