Does this make sense to you ?

[Ice29]

Does it makes sense to you that you can go from the way things were in the 1700s Pre-Industrial, straight to a gigantic industrial revolution changing the people's entire economic base, and way of life in about 15 or 20 years time, relying on absolutely nothing but manual labor in conditions that are hot, nasty, tough, and dangerous and stressful...
And have a low crime rate at the same time ?


Does it make sense to you that you can make a beverage out of highly addictive narcotic street drugs, advertise it as plain Soda, have no laws to the contrary, and commercialize and popularize it...
Sell it to kids for them to drink it... fuck with their development, and the Adult's brain too, and have a low crime rate at the same time ?

Does it make sense to you, that you can have NO concept of the effects of Racism, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Anti Semitism, Sexism and Ableism...
Commercialize and Popularize Bigotry, constantly send hateful messages to course though society like its Candy...
Have such staunch and unforgiving and Undying, absolute Bigotry and Discrimination be normal in Society, and have a low crime rate at the same time ?

Does it make sense to you, that you can have people come to Ellis Island, and as soon as they get off the ship and look at the "new world"....
That you can just start throwing rocks at them, refuse to hire them, give them NO of sense of direction, no help, No services....
And tell them to go back to whatever it is that they left behind....
And have a low crime rate at the same time ?


Does it make sense to you, that you can have either no laws (or inadequate laws) and Inadequate law enforcement... and just have people rely on SELF DEFENSE PERIOD.
And have a low crime rate at the same time ?

Does it make sense to you that you can just make Alcohol and Guns cheap, and fail to regulate it, and have a low crime rate at the same time ?


Does it make sense to you, that you can people live in squalor, and have no access to POSITIVE entertainment that doesn't provoke or invite crime...
And have a low crime rate at the same time ?

Does it make sense to you that you can reward people with a lack of Education, and place no pressure on exercising the mind...
And have a low crime rate at the same time ?


Does it make sense to you, that you can have a society (legally or otherwise, period)... built on the premise that Jesus is the son of God, that God created the earth, (no concept of the universe abroad), just...
God created the earth...
And God said this, and God said that.....

Have such doctrines NOT be Unique by any stretch of the Imagination....
Create conflicts with it, and have a low crime rate at the same time ?








Because it doesn't make sense to me.

 

[elektra]

One must thank God, we are Americans.

Why is America Exceptional?

Why is America Exceptional?
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.Vice President, American Studies and Director, B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics
B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics



In 1776, when America announced its independence as a nation, it was composed of thirteen colonies surrounded by hostile powers.

Today, the United States is a country of fifty states covering a vast continent. Its military forces are the most powerful in the world. Its economy produces almost a quarter of the world's wealth. The American people are among the most hard-working, church-going, affluent, and generous in the world.

Is America exceptional?

Every nation derives meaning and purpose from some unifying quality—an ethnic character, a common religion, a shared history. The United States is different. America was founded at a particular time, by a particular people, on the basis of particular principles about man, liberty, and constitutional government.

The American Revolution drew on old ideas. The United States is the product of Western civilization, shaped by Judeo-Christian culture and the political liberties inherited from Great Britain.

Yet the founding of the United States was also revolutionary. Not in the sense of replacing one set of rulers with another, or overthrowing the institutions of society, but in placing political authority in the hands of the people.

As the English writer G. K. Chesterton famously observed, "America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed." That creed is set forth most clearly in the Declaration of Independence, by which the American colonies announced their separation from Great Britain. The Declaration is a timeless statement of inherent rights, the proper purposes of government, and the limits on political authority.

The American Founders appealed to self-evident truths, stemming from "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," to justify their liberty. This is a universal and permanent standard. These truths are not unique to America but apply to all men and women everywhere. They are as true today as they were in 1776.

Working from the principle of equality, the American Founders asserted that men could govern themselves according to common beliefs and the rule of law. Throughout history, political power was—and still is—often held by the strongest. But if all are equal and have the same rights, then no one is fit by nature to rule or to be ruled.

As Thomas Jefferson put it, "[T]he mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God." The only source of the legitimate powers of government is the consent of the governed. This is the cornerstone principle of American government, society, and independence.

America's principles establish religious liberty as a fundamental right. It is in our nature to pursue our convictions of faith. Government must not establish an official religion, just as it must guarantee the free exercise of religion. Indeed, popular government requires a flourishing of religious faith. If a free people are to govern themselves politically, they must first govern themselves morally.

Being an American is more than a matter of where you or your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal.– Harry S. Truman
October 26, 1948
These principles also mean that everyone has the right to the fruits of their own labor. This fundamental right to acquire, possess, and sell property is the backbone of opportunity and the most practical means to pursue human happiness. This right, along with the free enterprise system that stems from it, is the source of prosperity and the foundation of economic liberty.

Because people have rights, government has only the powers that the sovereign people have delegated to it. These powers are specified by a fundamental law called a constitution. Under the rule of law, all are protected by generally agreed-upon laws that apply, equally, to everyone.

The United States Constitution defines the institutions of American government: three distinct branches of government that make the law, enforce the law, and judge the law in particular cases. This framework gives the American government the powers it needs to secure our fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The ultimate purpose of securing these rights and of limiting government is to protect human freedom. That freedom allows the institutions of civil society—family, school, church, and private associations—to thrive, forming the habits and virtues required for liberty.

The same principles that define America also shape its understanding of the world. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that the thirteen colonies were a separate and sovereign nation, like any other nation. But America is not simply another nation.

The United States is a nation founded on universal principles. It appeals to a higher standard that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. All nations are answerable to this principle, and it is this principle that makes the United States a truly legitimate nation.

Liberty does not belong only to the United States. The Declaration of Independence holds that all men everywhere are endowed with a right to liberty. That liberty is a permanent aspect of human nature everywhere is central to understanding America's first principles.

Nevertheless, the primary responsibility of the United States is to defend the freedom and well-being of the American people.To do this, the United States must apply America's universal principles to the challenges this nation faces in the world.

Our founding documents proclaim to the world that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few. It is the universal right of all God's children.– Ronald Reagan
July 15, 1991
This is not easy. America has not always been successful. But because of the principles to which it is dedicated, the United States always strives to uphold its highest ideals. More than any other nation, it has a special responsibility to defend the cause of liberty at home and abroad.

As George Washington put it in his First Inaugural Address: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." America's role in the world is to preserve and to spread, by example and by action, the "sacred fire of liberty."

America is an exceptional nation, but not becauseof what it has achieved or accomplished. America is exceptional because, unlike any other nation, it is dedicated to the principles of human liberty, grounded on the truths that all men are created equal and endowed with equal rights. These permanent truths are "applicable to all men and all times," as Abraham Lincoln once said.

America's principles have created a prosperous and just nation unlike any other nation in history. They explain why Americans strongly defend their country, look fondly to their nation's origins, vigilantly assert their political rights and civic responsibilities, and remain convinced of the special meaning of their country and its role of the world. It is because of its principles, not despite them, that America has achieved greatness.

To this day, so many years after the American Revolution, these principles—proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and promulgated by the United States Constitution—still define America as a nation and a people. Which is why friends of freedom the world over look to the United States not only as an ally against tyrants and despots but also as a powerful beacon to all those who strive to be free.

Matthew Spalding, Ph.D., Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation.



Enduring Truths

• The Declaration of Independence
  The Declaration is Thomas Jefferson's timeless statement of America's first principles.
• The Federalist Papers, Essay No. 1 In this essay, Alexander Hamilton introduces The Federalist Papers, which present the case for the Constitution and explain the principles on which it is grounded.
• Matthew Spalding, We Still Hold These Truths, ISI Books, 2009
  Spalding details America's founding principles, shows how they have come under assault, and lays out a strategy to recover them.
• Peter Schramm, "Born an American: Reflections of an Immigrant Patriot"
  Schramm fled Communism in Hungary with his family when he was ten years old. He now teaches the first principles of the United States to his fellow Americans. In this essay, he explains how he came to recognize that it is from these principles that our blessings of liberty flow.

 

[Ice29]

One must thank God, we are Americans.

Why is America Exceptional?

Why is America Exceptional?
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.Vice President, American Studies and Director, B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics
B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics



In 1776, when America announced its independence as a nation, it was composed of thirteen colonies surrounded by hostile powers.

Today, the United States is a country of fifty states covering a vast continent. Its military forces are the most powerful in the world. Its economy produces almost a quarter of the world's wealth. The American people are among the most hard-working, church-going, affluent, and generous in the world.

Is America exceptional?

Every nation derives meaning and purpose from some unifying quality—an ethnic character, a common religion, a shared history. The United States is different. America was founded at a particular time, by a particular people, on the basis of particular principles about man, liberty, and constitutional government.

The American Revolution drew on old ideas. The United States is the product of Western civilization, shaped by Judeo-Christian culture and the political liberties inherited from Great Britain.

Yet the founding of the United States was also revolutionary. Not in the sense of replacing one set of rulers with another, or overthrowing the institutions of society, but in placing political authority in the hands of the people.

As the English writer G. K. Chesterton famously observed, "America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed." That creed is set forth most clearly in the Declaration of Independence, by which the American colonies announced their separation from Great Britain. The Declaration is a timeless statement of inherent rights, the proper purposes of government, and the limits on political authority.

The American Founders appealed to self-evident truths, stemming from "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," to justify their liberty. This is a universal and permanent standard. These truths are not unique to America but apply to all men and women everywhere. They are as true today as they were in 1776.

Working from the principle of equality, the American Founders asserted that men could govern themselves according to common beliefs and the rule of law. Throughout history, political power was—and still is—often held by the strongest. But if all are equal and have the same rights, then no one is fit by nature to rule or to be ruled.

As Thomas Jefferson put it, "[T]he mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God." The only source of the legitimate powers of government is the consent of the governed. This is the cornerstone principle of American government, society, and independence.

America's principles establish religious liberty as a fundamental right. It is in our nature to pursue our convictions of faith. Government must not establish an official religion, just as it must guarantee the free exercise of religion. Indeed, popular government requires a flourishing of religious faith. If a free people are to govern themselves politically, they must first govern themselves morally.

Being an American is more than a matter of where you or your parents came from. It is a belief that all men are created free and equal.– Harry S. Truman
October 26, 1948
These principles also mean that everyone has the right to the fruits of their own labor. This fundamental right to acquire, possess, and sell property is the backbone of opportunity and the most practical means to pursue human happiness. This right, along with the free enterprise system that stems from it, is the source of prosperity and the foundation of economic liberty.

Because people have rights, government has only the powers that the sovereign people have delegated to it. These powers are specified by a fundamental law called a constitution. Under the rule of law, all are protected by generally agreed-upon laws that apply, equally, to everyone.

The United States Constitution defines the institutions of American government: three distinct branches of government that make the law, enforce the law, and judge the law in particular cases. This framework gives the American government the powers it needs to secure our fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The ultimate purpose of securing these rights and of limiting government is to protect human freedom. That freedom allows the institutions of civil society—family, school, church, and private associations—to thrive, forming the habits and virtues required for liberty.

The same principles that define America also shape its understanding of the world. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that the thirteen colonies were a separate and sovereign nation, like any other nation. But America is not simply another nation.

The United States is a nation founded on universal principles. It appeals to a higher standard that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. All nations are answerable to this principle, and it is this principle that makes the United States a truly legitimate nation.

Liberty does not belong only to the United States. The Declaration of Independence holds that all men everywhere are endowed with a right to liberty. That liberty is a permanent aspect of human nature everywhere is central to understanding America's first principles.

Nevertheless, the primary responsibility of the United States is to defend the freedom and well-being of the American people.To do this, the United States must apply America's universal principles to the challenges this nation faces in the world.

Our founding documents proclaim to the world that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few. It is the universal right of all God's children.– Ronald Reagan
July 15, 1991
This is not easy. America has not always been successful. But because of the principles to which it is dedicated, the United States always strives to uphold its highest ideals. More than any other nation, it has a special responsibility to defend the cause of liberty at home and abroad.

As George Washington put it in his First Inaugural Address: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." America's role in the world is to preserve and to spread, by example and by action, the "sacred fire of liberty."

America is an exceptional nation, but not becauseof what it has achieved or accomplished. America is exceptional because, unlike any other nation, it is dedicated to the principles of human liberty, grounded on the truths that all men are created equal and endowed with equal rights. These permanent truths are "applicable to all men and all times," as Abraham Lincoln once said.

America's principles have created a prosperous and just nation unlike any other nation in history. They explain why Americans strongly defend their country, look fondly to their nation's origins, vigilantly assert their political rights and civic responsibilities, and remain convinced of the special meaning of their country and its role of the world. It is because of its principles, not despite them, that America has achieved greatness.

To this day, so many years after the American Revolution, these principles—proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and promulgated by the United States Constitution—still define America as a nation and a people. Which is why friends of freedom the world over look to the United States not only as an ally against tyrants and despots but also as a powerful beacon to all those who strive to be free.

Matthew Spalding, Ph.D., Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation.



Enduring Truths

• The Declaration of Independence
  The Declaration is Thomas Jefferson's timeless statement of America's first principles.
• The Federalist Papers, Essay No. 1 In this essay, Alexander Hamilton introduces The Federalist Papers, which present the case for the Constitution and explain the principles on which it is grounded.
• Matthew Spalding, We Still Hold These Truths, ISI Books, 2009
  Spalding details America's founding principles, shows how they have come under assault, and lays out a strategy to recover them.
• Peter Schramm, "Born an American: Reflections of an Immigrant Patriot"
  Schramm fled Communism in Hungary with his family when he was ten years old. He now teaches the first principles of the United States to his fellow Americans. In this essay, he explains how he came to recognize that it is from these principles that our blessings of liberty flow.

1. The "founding fathers" was just as bad as the establishment that it created at that time, in fact there is some evidence to say that "the founding fathers" were criminals, and created a Racket to kickstart their war.... and they got their asses kicked to a pulp at sea... and on land too in 1812.

2. There is no self evident "truths".
3. The USA wasn't the most powerful country in the world until the mid 1940s... and before that, at times... the USA was less Militarily powerful than Brazil, especially in the water.

4. Too much of anything isn't good, and that includes freedom too.

5. The USA was not, and was never built on Christianity or any other religion.

 

[elektra]

1. The "founding fathers" was just as bad as the establishment that it created at that time.
2. There is no self evident "truths".
3. The USA wasn't the most powerful country in the world until the mid 1940s... and before that, at times... the USA was less Militarily powerful than Brazil, especially in the water.

4. Too much of anything isn't good, and that includes freedom too.

Brazil, where did you pick that one from? That certainly shows you do not know a thing about history.

The USA was the most powerful country in the World, on July 4th, 1776

 

[Ice29]

1. The "founding fathers" was just as bad as the establishment that it created at that time.
2. There is no self evident "truths".
3. The USA wasn't the most powerful country in the world until the mid 1940s... and before that, at times... the USA was less Militarily powerful than Brazil, especially in the water.

4. Too much of anything isn't good, and that includes freedom too.

Brazil, where did you pick that one from? That certainly shows you do not know a thing about history.

The USA was the most powerful country in the World, on July 4th, 1776

According to you.
Not According to the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic, or Discovery, or College History courses.

Btw, Just before the Spanish American war, the USA was less powerful at sea than Brazil.

 

[elektra]

According to you.
Not According to the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic, or Discovery, or College History courses.

Btw, Just before the Spanish American war, the USA was less powerful at sea than Brazil.

Link and quote and you will see how your are wrong, until then you are simply trolling in a troll thread.

 

[Ice29]

According to you.
Not According to the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic, or Discovery, or College History courses.

Btw, Just before the Spanish American war, the USA was less powerful at sea than Brazil.

Link and quote and you will see how your are wrong, until then you are simply trolling in a troll thread.

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History | Ken Burns America
That's where I learned about the USA being less powerful than Brazil.

And several Documentaries I have seen about world war 2, Put Britain as the most powerful force at sea early on in the war.

 

[elektra]

Liberty, it does not come easy, and it does make sense, history does not change overnight, but the USA has changed history, for the better.

Why is America Exceptional?

As George Washington put it in his First Inaugural Address: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." America's role in the world is to preserve and to spread, by example and by action, the"sacred fire of liberty."

 

[elektra]

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History | Ken Burns America
That's where I learned about the USA being less powerful than Brazil.

And several Documentaries I have seen about world war 2, Put Britain as the most powerful force at sea early on in the war.

Well, whatever you linked to does not state that, and you did not provide a quote.

 

[Ice29]

War of 1812.

USA 2,200 killed in action
Britain : 1,160 killed in action

USA : 4,505 wounded
Britain : 3,679 wounded

USA : 15,000 (est.) died from all causes
Britain : 3,321 died from disease

- Wikipedia

 

[Ice29]

Liberty, it does not come easy, and it does make sense, history does not change overnight, but the USA has changed history, for the better.

Why is America Exceptional?

As George Washington put it in his First Inaugural Address: "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." America's role in the world is to preserve and to spread, by example and by action, the"sacred fire of liberty."

George Washington was a Racist slave trader.

 

[elektra]

George Washington was a Racist slave trader.

Owning slaves in the 1700's did not make you a racist. What is amazing is that George Washington was a founding father, of the Nation that led the World in the abolishment of slavery.

 

[Ice29]

It doesn't matter what year it is.... Racism is Racism and it has the same affects in society, it doesn't matter whether you recognize it at that time or not.

Some people don't know that they have cancer, doesn't make the cancer any less deadly.

 

[elektra]

It doesn't matter what year it is.... Racism is Racism and it has the same affects in society, it doesn't matter whether you recognize it at that time or not.

Some people don't know that they have cancer, doesn't make the cancer any less deadly.

Slavery was not racism.

 

[elektra]

And nothing on Brazil?

 

[Ice29]

In world war 1, the USA lagged far behind... the USA was one of the minor forces in world war 1.

 

[Ice29]

It doesn't matter what year it is.... Racism is Racism and it has the same affects in society, it doesn't matter whether you recognize it at that time or not.

Some people don't know that they have cancer, doesn't make the cancer any less deadly.

Slavery was not racism.

Yes it was... and it had the same effects.
The only difference was they didn't think of it as racism.

Which is Irrelevant.

 

[Ice29]

George Washington was a Racist slave trader.

Owning slaves in the 1700's did not make you a racist. What is amazing is that George Washington was a founding father, of the Nation that led the World in the abolishment of slavery.

Fact : It was not the USA that lead the world in the Abolishment of Slavery, but Britain, and then Haiti.

 

[elektra]

Yes it was... and it had the same effects.
The only difference was they didn't think of it as racism.

Which is Irrelevant.

Yet, Washington freed all his slaves? Washington was 11 when he became owner of slaves, when his father died. Life is tough, I know a bit about racism, having been born in an Era, and a place where racism did exist.

Did Washington hate black people? Or was Washington born in a time when Slaves were part of the culture, part of society?

"I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it (slavery); but there is only one proper and effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by Legislative authority; and this, as far as my suffrage (vote and support) will go, shall never be wanting." - Letter to Robert Morris, April 12, 1786

Read more: George Washington Quotes about slavery and the new republic

 

[elektra]

Fact : It was not the USA that lead the world in the Abolishment of Slavery, but Britain, and then Haiti.

I did not know that, does Britain have a document that proceeds our Declaration of Independence, stating all men are created equal?