Woodrow Wilson won election on a fluke (he had no mandate) but once in office he introduced radical change. He started off our policy of world policing, laid the bedrock for the United Nations, premiered the money printing (Federal Reserve) and revived racism as a political force. A horrible, horrible administration - easily the worst in US history and most of our problems can be traced back to his work.
The French Revolution was essentially the world's first try at communism. A lot of the chaos that has occurred overseas started there.
The Reformation opened the doors to the way of thinking that led to the French Revolution.
It might make more sense to start at the beginning. Essentially what happened is this - prior to the 1500s, the primary model was monarchies. Monarchies had their issues but their power was limited. A king is essentially one guy who has to balance the needs of the nobles and the people, or else be overthrown. Kings could not print money, they could not take income tax, they could not conscript soldiers. The bureaucratic footprint was also small. Congress requires hundreds of reps, each with many staff members, whereas a king just needs a security detail.
After the Reformation the model drifted towards socialism. First step was republics. With a republic, suddenly the state has "the consent of the governed" so they were able to commit much larger abuses. For example, the first military conscription in Europe was during The French Revolution. Prior to that, soldiers needed to volunteer and be paid a salary. And again, that money wasn't printed.
It is an uncomfortable truth about history that monarchies are much more peaceful, and much less tyrannical. I'm not sure how the USA is going to square that circle in the future but time and again history has shown that republics are prone to Civil War, imperialism, and unbelievable overreaches. Monarchy is essentially a boogeyman that has never accomplished these sorts of abuses.
You know how we often make fun of communism? With phrases like "it just hasn't been tried yet." Well that's basically how I see republics at this point. When I was younger I believed they could work, but the USA is following the path of Rome to a T. The civil wars, the imperialism, and only ten generations or so before collapse.
I just saw this, absolutely monstrous reply. Thank you very much. SPQR and all that. How do you consolidate that with the birth of this nation? Did issues begin with the magma carts? Curious about your perspective.
The British model was better, but hundreds of years ago it was simply impossible for the King to keep control across an entire ocean. That only works when there is a tremendous gap in competency (like the colonization of Africa, where one side had factories and the other was still in the Stone Age.) It wasn't like that between Britain and the colonies, Britain had only a small advantage in technology.
Independence of the colonies was good and appropriate. It is good for local government to deal with local problems, and it happened at the right time too.
Where the USA "went wrong" is by instituting a republic. Had each colony instead elected their own Lord/King/Governor then we'd live in a very different world right now.
Here's a good example - notice how it was relatively easy for Brexit to happen? Yes, there was a lot of whining, but because the EU does not operate under this illusion of representing some unified body of people, the nations within are largely free to come and go. Compare that to our American Civil War, where secession resulted in the death of 4% of able-bodied men in the country.
And keep in mind, the British Empire ended their involvement in the slave trade in 1807. Sixty years before us, and without a war, and today they don't have the sort of social problems we still experience along racial lines.
We shall see how much longer this accident of history can persist. But basically, the governmental structure of the USA allows for insane overreaches and abuses without providing much benefit to the people living within. The structure essentially exists to allow old money coastal elites to exploit and exert control over the entire continent.
Can you expand in 3 through 5?
Too much to go over here, so I'll be brief.
Woodrow Wilson won election on a fluke (he had no mandate) but once in office he introduced radical change. He started off our policy of world policing, laid the bedrock for the United Nations, premiered the money printing (Federal Reserve) and revived racism as a political force. A horrible, horrible administration - easily the worst in US history and most of our problems can be traced back to his work.
The French Revolution was essentially the world's first try at communism. A lot of the chaos that has occurred overseas started there.
The Reformation opened the doors to the way of thinking that led to the French Revolution.
It might make more sense to start at the beginning. Essentially what happened is this - prior to the 1500s, the primary model was monarchies. Monarchies had their issues but their power was limited. A king is essentially one guy who has to balance the needs of the nobles and the people, or else be overthrown. Kings could not print money, they could not take income tax, they could not conscript soldiers. The bureaucratic footprint was also small. Congress requires hundreds of reps, each with many staff members, whereas a king just needs a security detail.
After the Reformation the model drifted towards socialism. First step was republics. With a republic, suddenly the state has "the consent of the governed" so they were able to commit much larger abuses. For example, the first military conscription in Europe was during The French Revolution. Prior to that, soldiers needed to volunteer and be paid a salary. And again, that money wasn't printed.
It is an uncomfortable truth about history that monarchies are much more peaceful, and much less tyrannical. I'm not sure how the USA is going to square that circle in the future but time and again history has shown that republics are prone to Civil War, imperialism, and unbelievable overreaches. Monarchy is essentially a boogeyman that has never accomplished these sorts of abuses.
You know how we often make fun of communism? With phrases like "it just hasn't been tried yet." Well that's basically how I see republics at this point. When I was younger I believed they could work, but the USA is following the path of Rome to a T. The civil wars, the imperialism, and only ten generations or so before collapse.
I just saw this, absolutely monstrous reply. Thank you very much. SPQR and all that. How do you consolidate that with the birth of this nation? Did issues begin with the magma carts? Curious about your perspective.
The founding of the USA was a fluke in history.
The British model was better, but hundreds of years ago it was simply impossible for the King to keep control across an entire ocean. That only works when there is a tremendous gap in competency (like the colonization of Africa, where one side had factories and the other was still in the Stone Age.) It wasn't like that between Britain and the colonies, Britain had only a small advantage in technology.
Independence of the colonies was good and appropriate. It is good for local government to deal with local problems, and it happened at the right time too.
Where the USA "went wrong" is by instituting a republic. Had each colony instead elected their own Lord/King/Governor then we'd live in a very different world right now.
Here's a good example - notice how it was relatively easy for Brexit to happen? Yes, there was a lot of whining, but because the EU does not operate under this illusion of representing some unified body of people, the nations within are largely free to come and go. Compare that to our American Civil War, where secession resulted in the death of 4% of able-bodied men in the country.
And keep in mind, the British Empire ended their involvement in the slave trade in 1807. Sixty years before us, and without a war, and today they don't have the sort of social problems we still experience along racial lines.
We shall see how much longer this accident of history can persist. But basically, the governmental structure of the USA allows for insane overreaches and abuses without providing much benefit to the people living within. The structure essentially exists to allow old money coastal elites to exploit and exert control over the entire continent.