Posted by
voice_of_reason on Monday, January 15, 2007 4:41:59 PM
What factors are responsible for the success of America? Remember, the emergence of America as a powerhouse began in the mid/late 1800s and continues to this day.
If (as many conservatives do), we find the answer to the above ONLY in the word "Religion", we are deluding ourselves.
After all, Religion was quite a dominant factor in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. Why didn't their success mirror ours?
That is because America was built on the premise that the individual is free and the Govt is bound.
For the first time in human history, there was a system that was aligned perfectly with the motivations of real humans. Such a system doesn't require human sacrifice. It's success also doesn't rely on humans attaining some impossible (and actually immoral) altruistic standard.
The right to "Pursue Happiness", when applied consistently to humans, is the philosophical basis for the economic system that goes by the name of Capitalism.
On the non-economic front, our system consistently gives us individual freedom. Remember that our system simultaneously gives us the Freedom of Religion AND Freedom from Religion!
Many of our laws derived from Judeo-Christian principles - but does that make America a Christian country? If that were true, then we are conveniently forgetting that similar principles also exist in other religions - some of which are also prevalent in 'failed' states. And, yes, there are quite a few fervently Christian countries that fall in the category of 'failed' states.
As an example, consider the Christian countries in Europe that our Founding Fathers fled.
A mathematician could write that equation as:
Christianity + Feudal System = Failure
That should be enough to convince us that it is not axiomatic that Christian countries are automatically successful.
So, what's the point in all this?
Let's give thanks to the 'good' laws that our Founding Fathers derived from Religion. But lets not forget the uniquely CONSISTENT quality of our ideology that gave (and continues to give) us immeasurable economic and social benefits.
For further proof, the antithesis of Capitalism - i.e. Communism/Socialism is inconsistent with the human desire to work towards one's self-interest. If only scientists were able to excise that 'self-interest-gene' from humans, well then ..
As it is in science and mathematics, so is it in ideology. Consistency rules! Hey, that would make for a nice bumper sticker .. |