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This July 4, let's not mince words: American independence in 1776 was a monumental mistake. We should be mourning the fact that we left the United Kingdom, not cheering it.

Of course, evaluating the wisdom of the American Revolution means dealing with counterfactuals. As any historian would tell you, this is a messy business. We obviously can't be entirely sure how America would have fared if it had stayed in the British Empire longer, perhaps gaining independence a century or so later, along with Canada.

But I'm reasonably confident a world in which the revolution never happened would be better than the one we live in now, for three main reasons: Slavery would've been abolished earlier, American Indians would've faced rampant persecution but not the outright ethnic cleansing Andrew Jackson and other American leaders perpetrated, and America would have a parliamentary system of government that makes policymaking easier and lessens the risk of democratic collapse.

Col Hogan wrote:

This July 4, let's not mince words: American independence in 1776 was a monumental mistake. We should be mourning the fact that we left the United Kingdom, not cheering it.

Of course, evaluating the wisdom of the American Revolution means dealing with counterfactuals. As any historian would tell you, this is a messy business. We obviously can't be entirely sure how America would have fared if it had stayed in the British Empire longer, perhaps gaining independence a century or so later, along with Canada.

But I'm reasonably confident a world in which the revolution never happened would be better than the one we live in now, for three main reasons: Slavery would've been abolished earlier, American Indians would've faced rampant persecution but not the outright ethnic cleansing Andrew Jackson and other American leaders perpetrated, and America would have a parliamentary system of government that makes policymaking easier and lessens the risk of democratic collapse.

http://www.vox.com/2015/7/2/8884885/ame ... on-mistake

And you thought the Onion was funny...

OL FU wrote:Why does Vox and hounddawg hate America

houndawg wrote:

OL FU wrote:Why does Vox and hounddawg hate America

Because unlike you they see a difference between America and its government?

Rob Iola wrote:Too bad the Indians, er, Native Americans didn't win - then we'd have tribal feudalism with a heavy dose of feminine leadership. Kinda like what we're gonna get in November...

Baldy wrote:

Col Hogan wrote:
http://www.vox.com/2015/7/2/8884885/ame ... on-mistake

And you thought the Onion was funny...

kalm wrote:

Rob Iola wrote:Too bad the Indians, er, Native Americans didn't win - then we'd have tribal feudalism with a heavy dose of feminine leadership. Kinda like what we're gonna get in November...

This cracked me up.

HI54UNI wrote:

Baldy wrote:

Beat me to it!

OL FU wrote:Why does Vox and hounddawg hate America

OL FU wrote:Why does Vox and hounddawg hate America

grizzaholic wrote:

OL FU wrote:Why does Vox and hounddawg hate America

Because he cannot shoehorn in some sort of "common sense" and/or "anti-gun" bullshit.

**** houndy.

houndawg wrote:

OL FU wrote:Why does Vox and hounddawg hate America

One "d" in houndawg.

Rob Iola wrote:Too bad the Indians, er, Native Americans didn't win - then we'd have tribal feudalism with a heavy dose of feminine leadership. Kinda like what we're gonna get in November...

houndawg wrote:

grizzaholic wrote:
Because he cannot shoehorn in some sort of "common sense" and/or "anti-gun" bullshit.

**** houndy.

Awwww.... does somebody need a hug?

Just because I'm a better shot than you isn't really a good reason to let your houndawg envy bubble to the surface for all to see.

Love you bro.

grizzaholic wrote:

houndawg wrote:

Awwww.... does somebody need a hug?

Just because I'm a better shot than you isn't really a good reason to let your houndawg envy bubble to the surface for all to see.

Love you bro.

Go drink drano retard.

Government spending in parliamentary countries is about 5 percent of GDP higher, after controlling for other factors, than in presidential countries. If you believe in redistribution, that's very good news indeed.

houndawg wrote:Looking at the mess we call "government" I tend to agree about having a Parliament instead of an oligarchy..

dbackjon wrote:

houndawg wrote:Looking at the mess we call "government" I tend to agree about having a Parliament instead of an oligarchy..

Nope.

Our Government still functions better than the Brits...

OL FU wrote:I read a very small part of this. He basically states from the start the problems with counter factual arguments and then bases his argument on counter factual arguments. Ok so an interesting but largely pointless Argument

UNI88 wrote:

OL FU wrote:I read a very small part of this. He basically states from the start the problems with counter factual arguments and then bases his argument on counter factual arguments. Ok so an interesting but largely pointless Argument

And a very shallow one that completely ignores the potential impact on history that no revolution or a failed revolution would have had? The Founding Fathers created a model that has been copied to varying degrees of success by nations around the world. What model would these countries have used if there was no USA? Would these countries have even achieved independence without the example set by the USA?