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To: AIG
Like I said, you misunderstand the very essence. You are "looking beyond the mark", IMHO.

Opportunity beckons in America because of the intrinsic values associated with her freedoms, not because people are simply free to make the pursuit.

There are many opportunities that one can seek after to improve ones self, education (which costs money), spirituality (which takes time ... and time is money), etc. These then open the door to opportunity ... an opportunity that is then correctly and virtuosly pursued.

We can go round and round about this all night ... but by making the end game the economic pursuit and achievement ... you have missed the point IMHO about why the nation was formed, why the people came here, and why we are great and have remained so for so lonmg. By so doing, you also underestimate our resolve and to what lengths we will go to maintain it once aroused.

As a visitor to our shores once said,

"America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great"

NOTE: He did not say we were great because we were rich, comfortable, had the best standard of living, drove nice cars, had cool SUV's, invested in the neatest 401K's ... or any other purely material or creature comfort pursuits. It is a critical observation ... and one thankfully, that many, many Americans have not forgotten ... despite what the media, Hollywood, government agencies or our foreign or domestic adversarioes want to think.

142 posted on 07/13/2002 1:03:30 AM PDT by Jeff Head
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To: Jeff Head
by making the end game the economic pursuit and achievement ... you have missed the point IMHO about why the nation was formed

The biggest reason why the colonies declared independence from England in the first place was taxes, which is an economic issue. Do you remember the Boston Tea Party and the slogan, "No taxes without representation!" The colonists declared independence because of the economic issue of taxes!

The colonies were basically trading outposts that grew very large over time and they no longer appreciated the British king interfering with commercial activities anymore. So they declared independence. Did you know half the signers of the Declaration of Independence were engaged in the business of international trade?

So talk about principles all you want, but it was economic issues that brought about the founding of the USA.

Additionally, around that time, the French economic class, the "bourgeoisie," also no longer appreciated their king interfering in their economic affairs. So the bourgeoisie instigated and were the driving force behind the French Revolution.

So modern-day Western republics were born out of economic issues.

143 posted on 07/13/2002 1:14:32 AM PDT by AIG
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To: Jeff Head
The colonists declared independence because they wanted freedom to pursue their economic interests without interference from any meddlesome king.

Thus, "freedom" in America has been closely associated with "economic freedom" ever since America's founding.

The desire for "economic freedom" in particular and not for "freedom" in general is what causes America to be founded.

144 posted on 07/13/2002 1:20:31 AM PDT by AIG
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To: Jeff Head
The purpose of America's declaring independence in the first place was not to give Americans "freedom" in general but to give Americans engaged in the international trade business (who dominated America's economy at the time) "economic freedom" in particular, free from the high taxes imposed by the British King.

So today too, America's freedoms exist not just for the sake of freedom in and of itself but for the sake of giving Americans freedom to pursue economic activities and get wealthy.

146 posted on 07/13/2002 1:31:20 AM PDT by AIG
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To: Jeff Head
Democracy was created to serve the interests of capitalism, not vice versa. If not for capitalism/taxes, America would not have been founded. Business is the reason America was founded in the first place. Business is the core essence and lifeblood of America, not representative democracy. Business gave birth to representative democracy merely as a way to prevent meddlesome kings from ever again interfering in capitalists' activities.
148 posted on 07/13/2002 1:40:25 AM PDT by AIG
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