Heres how capitalism made America great. From Paul Kennedys 1987 book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: With the Civil War over, the United States was able to exploit the many advantages mentioned previously--rich agricultural land, vast raw materials, and the marvelously convenient evolution of modern technology (railways, the steam engine, mining equipment) to develop such resources; the lack of social and geographical constraints; the absence of significant foreign dangers; the flow of foreign and, increasingly, domestic investment capital--to transform itself at a stunning pace...Indeed, given the advantages listed above, there was a virtual inevitability to the whole process. That is to say, only persistent human ineptitude, or near-constant civil war, or a climatic disaster could have checked this expansion--or deterred the millions of immigrants who flowed across the Atlantic to get their share of the pot of gold and to swell the productive labor force...The United States seemed to have ALL the economic advantages which SOME of the other powers possessed IN PART, but NONE of their disadvantages. In other words, capitalism made America great simply by what amounts to the luck of the draw and not fing up too catastrophically. And Id say that today, in great contrast, a century after the era about which Kennedy writes, we are in GREAT DANGER of falling prey to the persistent human ineptitude he mentions as the American juggernauts potential Achilles heel. I mean, just listen to a few libertarians ranting and raving. Give them the keys to the car and theyll total it in five minutes. Good luck, America. The morons are at the gates.
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 21:11:25 +0000
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