The Moral Liberal

Artfldgr commenting on this same column (a little bit expanded)at Vox Populi, writes:

It was also the same religious thought that opened the doors to more thought and the realization that if the world is made by god, then if we study how the world is constructed, we will have a glimpse into the mind of the creator through his/her work.

this then led to people learning how things worked, and pure science was born out of this, since what they were studying had as purpose to learn from a maker by studying his work. this was the first time that man was learning without a reason other than to know.

it was from that pool of knowlege that principals were discovered, and THEN everything else flowed from that. without that, most of what we have would not be here, we would never have had the ability to get past a certain first order pragmatic level.

the greeks and romans while great thinkers had the roots of the steam engine, it was only a novelty, as was the diesel effect, which they also knew. but nothing was done with them. the ruling class had things so didnt invent. the merchange class would use inventions, but would not waste money on anything they could not underdstand outright. the chinese invented, but not directed, by accidents and the same process as most other places. paper was from the egyptians, but how long before a simple press with type of some sort would be made.

there technically wasnt anything stopping the industrial revolution from happening earlier except three things. the population was not large enough, our desire to know about the world was not there, wealth was not there high enough to allow for the frivolous endeavor to learn how something worked for no returns. the wealth one is very keen, as the first scientists, and such were priests and the wealthy.

these principals though lead to more and more learning, and more and more principals. that led to more and more wealth and the people gained idle time, their OWN time, and ownership of property which allowed them to buy materials and experiment.

couple this with the concept of law that is mentioned above, and you get a means that the common man can change his station by his own will and work. you get a middle class that acts like a garden where anyone with potential and hard work can grow.

this is what amazed toqueville… he saw what we dont see anymore.
we are allowing our middle class to be destroyed by socialist programs that will return us to the state of an elite with no need to invent, and a poor with no means to invent. the engine of all this greatness is being dismantled in the effort to improve it, and get more out of it than it can give. remove merit, and morals, ethics, and so forth, and the wealth of the middle goes.

why do so many immigrants come to america? if its so awful, then why?

there really is only one reason…

America has always (but not for always) has had a situaiton where a person that comes here can change their station in life and not be held in place.

the examples are almost as varied as each american. contrary to the old belief of classes, americas classes are not stationary. they are constantly churning over and through gnerations rise and fade…

so they all come here to change how they live. even if they go back they can go back better than they were before, and be more respected.

its kind of too bad that the american public is the way it is and can no longer support such a relizable ideal now that its chasing a false ideal.

as carly simon sang…

dont it always seem to go,
that you dont know what youve got till its gone..