What Made America Great?

Posted by straightlinelogic 10 years ago to History
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The best answer gets a signed copy of The Golden Pinnacle, which has its own answer to that question. Judging is at the sole discretion of straightlinelogic. Contest runs for a week.


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  • Posted by $ AJAshinoff 10 years ago
    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 10 years ago
    Rugged Individualism.

    Rugged in that the American continent was a vast wealth of natural resources that needed to be exploited and to do so took the likes of lumberjacks, miners, ranchers and farmers.

    Individualists of the sort of Rockefeller, Edison, Carnegie, Cody, etc. These sorts of people could see things greater than themselves yet understood that they must take personal action to bring about the vision. They were courageous enough to take the chance.
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    • Posted by Boborobdos 10 years ago
      I agree to much of what you say, but Edison is turning out to have taken advantage of corporate cronyism to advance his causes.

      The best example is his favored position to DC current opposing Tesla who advocated AC. Had Edison won that one America would have been set back decades in the electrification process.
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      • Posted by strugatsky 10 years ago
        And Carnegie influenced the government not to buy better steel from his competitor, which made the competitor go out of business and Carnegie scooped up the factory and the technology for pennies on the dollar and became a billionaire. People will always do what people do; the government will always act as an evil catalyst.
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      • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years ago
        On the positive side, he invested tens of millions of dollars (in today's dollars) into many different technologies. Some went nowhere. Some became things like the lightbulb. (Edison didn't invent it, but made it practical and commercialized it.) So he pour huge amounts of efforts into things that were very risky. It resulted in technologies we take for granted.
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        • Posted by Boborobdos 10 years ago
          Ad he used his position in an effort to corner the market. Florissant lights were popularized because they were used at the World's Fair where Edison spitefully denied the use of his bulb.

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  • Posted by j_IR1776wg 10 years ago
    It was the right of the individual to own property. George Mason Virginia Declaration of Rights June 12, 1776 Article 1 states that "all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights of which . . . they cannot deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety," All other rights rest upon this one.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_D...
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    • Posted by amagi 10 years ago
      Yes, j_IR1776wg, and I am tempted to add the
      words of Judge Loren Smith who not many years
      ago said:
      "Before I came to the court, I thought liberty and
      property were the two fundamental purposes of
      the Constitution, and that they would make the third part of the trinity - life - worth living."

      (He was involved in the Hage case in Nevada
      where federal agencies were working on
      destroying Wayne Hage's cattle ranch/land.)
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      • Posted by j_IR1776wg 10 years ago
        Thanks amagi. I was not aware that judges still exist who believe in the same philosophic principles that the founding fathers did. I plan to read some of his work.
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        • Posted by amagi 10 years ago
          j_IR1776wg, It may also be mentioned that Wayne
          Hage wrote "Storm over Rangelands" which now is
          part of the library of the Supreme Court. Wayne
          died of cancer some years back and his wife,
          courageous and outspoken Congresswoman
          Helen Chenoweth, died shortly thereafter in a
          one car accident.
          She had spoken out against the tyranny of the
          BLM and ForestService on national tv.
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  • Posted by $ MikeMarotta 10 years ago
    What made America great was no one thing, but a combination of factors developing through centuries. And which standard do you apply to "greatness"? Any anarcho-whatever will tell you all about Medieval Iceland, but millions of people did not seek their fortunes there. Moreover immigration to America was always constant and steady but accelerated after 1848 when it was clear that political freedom - democratic capitalism - would not come to Europe.

    But, you have to contrast that with Japan. The Japanese proved able to pivot their culture on a single point of tradition. When Perry opened the doors, they kicked out the shogun and opened up to industrialism. After World War Two they out-America-ed American industrial methods. I do not just mean Demming, but the weakness of the Japanese military-industrial complex versus America's crypto-Nazi worship of weaponry. But no one emigrates to Japan to make their fortune. They come to America.

    I think that the essential statement came in "Atlas Shrugged" when the anonymous workman (presumably Owen Kellogg) told Mr. Mowen that firms are moving to Colorado because of what they DON'T have.

    The key to Galt's Motor was "do nothing."

    Read any constitution from any of 180+ nations and maybe 500 subdivisions. They all promise rights and liberties in glorious and flowery words. But who delivers? The US... Canada... a few more... How? By doing nothing: by not interfering.

    What made American great? Nothing! Laissez faire! Let it go. It is not your problem. Mind your business. Mind your OWN business. Go into business for yourself and mind that. Never mind your neighbors or their religion or how they raise their kids.

    What made American great? Good fences!

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  • Posted by edweaver 10 years ago
    I see this as actually quite simple. It is "people" who made this country great. That is "individuals with only natural constrains" place on them instead of the heavy hand of oppressive governments. Government are simply made up of groups of people that choose to steal instead of create.
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    • Posted by Boborobdos 10 years ago
      Unless they are building the roads, sewers, and other infrastructure that is enabling. The air lines industries wouldn't get very far without government supporters for controllers and airports.

      "We the People" can do a lot together. It's sad that the only thing some seem to appreciate is the corporate "People" who are only in it for their own gain.
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  • Posted by ObjectiveAnalyst 10 years ago
    The wholesale creation of a new form of government, influenced by the age of enlightenment, unlike any that came before it. Though imperfect, it was founded on individual liberty. Where men were free to succeed or fail and government's only legitimate function was to protect one's right to do so, and deriving its limited power from the consent of the governed.
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  • Posted by $ KahnQuest 10 years ago
    Abundance. Until 1913, the phrase "making money" meant something other than printing it. Even today, in America many of us operate from a perspective of abundance (as opposed to scarcity). Whenever we think we're about to run out of something we find a new way to accomplish the goal, whether that be finding new energy reserves or finding a different energy source.
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  • Posted by richvwall 10 years ago
    America was made great because the people of America were free and noble and good and productive.
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    • Posted by ThomasSC 10 years ago
      We have no exclusive on noble, good and productive people. What we have an exclusive on are our constitutionally guaranteed rights which no other people have ever had. Even communists in Cuba have privileges limited though they may be, but no one other than United States citizens have ever had rights.

      Unfortunately people now confuse rights with privileges, considering privileges (I have a right to buy a cake from that guy, and he has a duty to provide it whether he wants to or not) to be rights and rights to be privileges (strip that guy of his second amendment rights, he's a criminal).
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  • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years ago
    A certain type of man from Northwest Europe that didn't like having to bow his head,
    That didn't trust those who counted themselves his better to do right by him and his family for their sustenance,
    An available location to move to with space for those that didn't fit, for those that didn't inherit, and that would dare,
    The freedom and space to move away from,
    A community of trader values that accepted that a man could fail then try again - to make money, and a man's earned wealth was his own,
    A system of law that protected an individual's property and his right to protect that property and defend himself anywhere at anytime,
    Law and a court that was available and affordable to any man locally,
    So much to do that there was nothing extra to spend on other's affairs,
    A time of enlightenment in the relationship between a man and his government,
    And a century of being left alone by other countries.

    Trying to answer the question also leads to 'What has damaged/weakened America's Greatness'.
    Men who sought power for the sake of power,
    Men that wanted a Great country recognized by the historical great countries of Europe,
    The expansion of the concept of equality from 'born equal' to being or are equal after Marx's writings,
    The granting of the vote to newly freed slaves, the suffrage movement, and the Labor movement,
    Changing Senator's to popular democratic election,
    The push for the idea of a democratically elected Federal Government,
    Lincoln's income tax,
    Continuing open immigration after the country was filled,
    The socialist leanings of Eastern and Southern European immigrants,
    The demand for continued 'growth',
    The government's intrusion into business and industrialization,
    Wilson's WWI, the Federal Bank,

    Enough for now.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years ago
    What a great question! Some would argue that is was the rule of law, instead of the rules of men. What made America great was unquestionably our founding. It was the first, and arguably the last, truly constitutionally LIMITED republic. When the limits were put on individuals instead of on the government, America ceased to be a great nation.
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  • Posted by Non_mooching_artist 10 years ago
    Fearlessness. I believe that it is the one trait that set apart the creators and the innovators who propelled this country to the forefront in every conceivable field, weather as a coal, oil or steel baron, or just striking west for points unknown. Just with a vision of doing something because there was no one stopping one, but oneself. Creative genius was let loose, and the results were spectacular. There were no shackles on the creative minds, no mindless oversight by a tax-drunk government, and crony capitalism had not yet completely enmeshed an entire country.
    Fearlessness is what I believe made this country great, once.
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  • Posted by chadcall2012 10 years ago
    The Free Market, in multiple areas...
    Free market of religion: no state-mandated religion. you could choose freely.
    Free market of goods: no state-mandated safety requirements. you choose what your priotiorities are. Given current technology, we can choose between a sedan and a truck. We used to, and would still have more choices if it were not for government regulations on fuel emmissions and MPG. If I can afford it, and I want a car that burns through a gallon per mile, but could haul a battleship, I should have that choice. Just as someone has the choice to sue me if the exhaust and fumes harm them directly.
    Free market of ideas: No state-funded scientific research. It was open and free-game for anyone interesting in the fame, honor, presitge, or just wealth, that resulted from creating a new invention of technology or mathematical formula. IF you had the passion and desire, you could join together with other, or remain on your own, and all of the burden would be on yourself and nobody else. There would be no cost on the public like there is when we spend billions of fruitless ventures, through taxes.
    Free market of people: you choose who to associate with. You choose your friends and your enemies. You choose your groups and your clubs. Benjamin Franklin assisted in forming a building built with the funds of multiple faiths for the purpose of housing all of the faiths. No government was needed. Benjamin Franklin formed the first public library and fire fighting team, and secular university of the 13 Colonies... and first government, of the United States of America. All done without the assistance of a government. What is a "government" after all? What is its purpose? Well, its a body of men formed to protect men from the coercion of men.

    ..... Im sorry, were you expecting a longer description? Not really necessary. But if you wish, I could provide a list of the things that government is not necessary to do, or doesnt need to be involved in... roads, self-defense, education, market goods, ideas, science, maintaining the length of your lawn, how much MPG your car gets, how fast you drive, how you raise your children, how you punish your children, what you eat, what you drink, what you smoke, what you see, what you hear, what you say, what faith you follow, how your house is built, what your house is built with, whether you have utilities on your property, what you build on your property, what you do on your property..... All of these things (and many more), so long as they are not used to infringe anyone elses rights, should be, and naturally are, up to the individual. The entire purpose of a government is to leave AS MANY choices for the individual as possible, by preventing others from forcing them or lying to them to get them to do what others want.

    "government" is the body that maintains the national defense and/or the proper treatment of citizens by other citizens. If someone infringes on someone else's rights, or harms them, they should be made to pay for their crimes. But you cannot hope for the promise of never getting hurt in life. Only that when you are hurt by another person, justice be dealt.

    So I say that it is the Free Market, and the extent and degree to which we were free to make our own decisions, that is why we ...were... the greatest country in all of human history... everything else is simply a variation of the free market concept. free market just means "the ability to choose". The more choices an individual can make for themselves, the more productive they are, as an individual, and as a society.
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  • Posted by mckenziecalhoun 10 years ago
    Government that was designed for the future, not the present.

    Our Founders considered the flaws of the past and created a government for the future citizens of our country, even making room for the Constitution to be Constitutionally changed or remade, utterly. In our hands was put an innovative document, the Constitution of the United States of America, that protected it's citizens first and foremost and created a government of people - for all of us.
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  • Posted by monalisaturberville1957 10 years ago
    The brave men that took a chance to find new land for which they could express their creative ambitions freely, without prejudice judgments from the aristocrats' whom sought to hold all men without titles as lower than themselves, unworthy. Who fought to assure all men would remain free to express themselves. Who developed a form of government to protect the rights they held dear for all.
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  • Posted by ThomasSC 10 years ago
    I think what made America great was constitutionally guaranteed rights. We are the only people on Earth who have ever had rights instead of privileges, that has shaped us as a people and a nation, they're what make us the United States of America instead of just another country. What's destroying America is that people have come to the conclusion that those rights should be limited for some Americans or for some reasons. Criminals shouldn't have a second amendment right, those people shouldn't have free speech, these ones should get a tax break for their speech, it's alright for police to pull over and search families on vacation if they're looking for drug dealers. Right and left both think some American somewhere on American soil should be stripped of this right or that at least temporarily and often permanently. A state marriage license is now what Americans think should be an inalienable right, or making that baker sell me a cake he doesn't want to sell me, or health care, or leading your kids in prayer. We've traded the Bill of Rights for the list of privileges.
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