Was the American Revolution a mistake?

[Sandy]

Yes, you're right!  We'd be so much better off without a revolution.

Ok, next.

-Sandy

[lisagurl]

In fact, the British had to pay the Spanish a large sum of money to finally cut off the slave trade to Cuba, Peurto Rico, and Santa Domingo.

Servitude is still alive and well around the world, except the corporations found out how to get away with it.

[Sigma Prime]

Yes, you're right!  We'd be so much better off without a revolution.

Nope. I changed my mind. I discussed the matter privately with a friend. He convinced me that the American Revolution may have prevented a bloodier, more widespread revolution. The American Revolution helped drive home to the British that their power is not without limits, and it may very well have prevented them from suffering from a wholesale global political coronary heart attack a la the Roman Empire. It reminded them that their resources were stretched far too thin, and it also reminded them that their exploitations would only be tolerated to a certain extent. He also suggested that the American Revolution may have inadvertantly served as a catalyst for the abolition of slavery; although he did not support this claim himself, I thought it through, and I decided that, if the British had maintained complete control over North America, the excesses of available land may have resulted in the abolition movement in Britain being put on hold. Wherever there is a surplus of land compared to the labor needed to claim and cultivate it, the importation of slave labor is likely to look attractive. As it was, the British ended up doing the entire world a service by heavily promoting the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. I hardly call that a loss, even if it cannot absolutely or definitively be credited in part to the American Revolution.

Furthermore, he pointed out a multitude of similar events that history clearly tells us were very beneficial, all things considered.

Sorry, but I'm going to pull a partial 360 on this. I do not strongly advocate the American Revolution as a beneficial historical event, but I tentatively acknowledge its advantages.

Ok, next.

Oh?

[tekla]

If you look at the record the decline in slavery probably has more to do with the rise of industrialism and its labor dictates then with any continental philosophical movement.

[Sigma Prime]

If you look at the record the decline in slavery probably has more to do with the rise of industrialism and its labor dictates then with any continental philosophical movement.

Made possible by a mixture of philosophical and political movements. The Industrial Revolution was not created in a vacuum, nor was anything else during that time period. The truth is that Europe had been a geopolitical powderkeg for centuries.

[tekla]

The Industrial Revolution was not created in a vacuum, nor was anything else during that time period.

Or indeed in any time or place.  All ideas are part of a larger social and cultural context.

[Sigma Prime]

Servitude is still alive and well around the world, except the corporations found out how to get away with it.

Which is why I am a vocal advocate for synthetic foodstuffs. Picky, snooty people like me might notice the difference, but the average Jane American will only see it as cheap nourishment, particularly if it were sold in the form of processed, prepared foodstuffs. We already have a form of fullerene material that can harness carbon directly from the same air we breathe. If this were combined with a process that can convert the product into synthetic glucose, which can then be converted into starch, our need for agricultural sources of glucose and starch would be reduced. Heck, Sigma-Aldrich already has a way to synthesize cholesterol from non-animal sources, which can then be synthesized into estradiol. In the end, it will all come from the air that we breathe and the sun in the sky. Our reliance on the underdeveloped world has put a drag on our transition into a full-fledged knowledge economy. We've still got one foot in the age of market imperialism, and this is really not to our benefit.

[tekla]

OK, that's one vote for Soylent Green then. Although I guess that's organic in the end.  I'm not betting on a huge demand for synthetic food anytime soon - Pringles and Kraft Cheese Whiz aside.

[Michelle.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce

Wilberforce was one of the guiding voices of the British Abolishionist Movement.
Some interesting dates in Britain and the US. Britain outlaws the slave trade itself in 1808. The US circa 1812. Remember the Constitution of the US outlawed the importation of slaves 20 years after ratification. The Brits end slavery throughout the Empire in 1834. We weren't that far behind in that the civil war ended in 1865/ Keep in mind also that the French and British considered aiding the Confederate cause.

Another Amrican British pararel. Check out the book, Slavery by Another Name. Documents the Jim Crow era south and north. India and Ghandi achieved independene in 1948? They then fought a sersis of wars with Pakistan. Sort of  similar to our civil rightas movement in the US.

The American Indians, south American Indian populations, Africans, Aborigines, the Koreans, the entire Middle East. I'll leave it at this. It sucks to be on the receivig end of ANY expanding power.

I could write alot more. But will leave it at this. If America is so bad, than why do so many die trying to get here?

[Sigma Prime]

If America is so bad, than why do so many die trying to get here?

People don't have to die trying to get to New Zealand, which provides just as many opportunities. They have a much looser immigration policy, which is one of the reasons that it is difficult to immigrate to the USA if you are moving here from New Zealand.

[Michelle.]

You got a better example than an island nation which is four hours from Australia by air?

[Janet_Girl]

Personal opinion.  Not for one minute.  I don't think that the USA would have grown as it has.  And Canada and the USA would be one country by now, with a French or Mexican country in the middle.


Janet

[Sigma Prime]

You got a better example than an island nation which is four hours from Australia by air?

Of good countries, you mean? Hey, if I wanted to live a prosprous, healthy life, I'd go live in Gibraltar.

[V M]

What if no one figured out how to re-attach the end of my nose without much scaring? What if the NAZIS were successful because AMERICA wasn't there to join the fight? What if the JAPANESE ruled everyone because AMERICA wasn't there to finish the fight? What if no-one was willing to lead several people to safety in several countries and sustain a variety of injuries? What if someone kicked your silly butt all the way to Gibraltar and then said "Have a nice day" 

[Cindy]

Remember the poms always said the sun would never set on the British Empire. That's because even God wouldn't trust the poms in the dark

Cindy

[finewine]

Remember the poms always said the sun would never set on the British Empire. That's because even God wouldn't trust the poms in the dark

Oh you can trust me honey - honest!

finewine places clingfilm, family sized tub of yoghurt and a wooden spatula on the table while reaching for the light switch...muahahaha