Is this how low we've sunk; a quote from Lincoln

[WIHS2006]

Originally Posted by Prytania

Are you kidding? Britain is doing very well. A sane Conservative Party is in power, a financial powerhouse, sanely reducing the deficit while preserving the National Health Service, instituting infrastructure projects and staying out of the private lives of its citizens.

We could be so lucky.

The UK Conservative Party is a model of what I think our Republican Party should move towards.

[Old Gringo]

"We" haven't sunk that low.

But it can be argued that some clearly have.

Originally Posted by spankys bbq

“From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia...could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide.”



I think this quote has much significance in this day and age. Many of us say "This is 2015..." Great. This is a quote from Lincoln. Should our internal BS be what kills us as a nation? Some seem happy with the idea, R or D.



Thoughts?

Lincoln was right then and that quote is certainly somewhat applicable today.

Right wing slavers in the 1860s certainly were the big threat to America's security. It took four years of murderous war to shut them up and put them in their place. Nothing like that is out there on the horizon nowadays.

Today's right wing religious nutjobs are by no means the same level of threat.

But they are amusing.

[WIHS2006]

Originally Posted by Redshadowz

Well, lets not get ahead of ourselves. Had America never separated from Britain, the entire course of history would be different. Without the American Revolution, there might not have been a French Revolution, and without the French Revolution, you wouldn't have seen a weakening of the old monarchical systems. Socialism was also invented in the French Revolution, as well as Nationalism. Prior to the Napoleonic wars, Nationalism basically didn't exist. Most of the countries in Europe, weren't even established until the early to late-1800's. And the necessary outcome of Nationalism? Imperialism, which rose alongside nationalism in the 1800's, and basically continues to this day(and was functionally the cause of both World Wars).


The Nation-State, Democracy, Socialism, and even Capitalism, were all created or strengthened from the establishment of the United States. And it was the rise of the United States, which altered the course of history all over the world, especially in the World Wars. As well as from our current position as the only world superpower(thereby leaving much of the world as a pseudo American colony).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H37JIKFVp7M


Basically, had the United States remained with Britain; The "British Crown" would probably have more power than it currently does(it basically has no power at all). But the British government(House of Commons, Prime Minister), would most likely have far less power. And overall, the people would probably be more free. And Socialism/Communism may not even exist.

Wrong, the British monarch had zero power over day to day governing back in 1776. Then - as now - the prime minister and the other ministers of the Crown ran the government with the monarch taking a largely ceremonial role.

The major difference between then and now is that back then the House of Lords had more power than it does today following the 1999 reforms that eliminated most of the hereditary peers in favor of life peers.