Why is the United States so different from the rest of the World?

This is another blog entry initiated by a thread response. I am notoriously long-winded and I apologise but, i don't intend to change. There are topics that require a lengthy explaination for their to be any real discussion.

Out of consideration for the casual poster who doesn't want to by pig-piled by one of my lengthy replies, I have decided to start blogging my response instead of chewing up space in the original thread.

Those that immigrated to North America did so because they were not of the personailty that easily accepted someone else dictating their role in society or mandating their behavior or religious practices. They resented having to abide by arbitrary regulation and being forced to pay taxes for which they received no benefit.

Some Europeans consider the incidents that lead to the American Revolution too simplisticly. The "Boston Tea Party" is often cited even though it is a relatively minor event. What truely led to Colonist rebelling against the crown were many of the same reasons that the French people eventualy rose up against their monarchy.

The American Colonies were started by political and religious dicidents who chose the hardships of the new world over the restrictions of the old. However, they were not disloyal or resentful to the monarchy itself at first. It wasn't until much later when the British government started treating the American Colonies as a resource to be exploited without allowing the people who created the structure to have any say in taxation or their own lives. You were fine right up until the point that a garrison of british troops moved into your town and took over your homes and took your supplies without compensation or consideration.

This was aggravated by the fact that a lot of townships which grew out of the settlements were mixed immigrants. It wasn't just british subjects who moved here. You'd have Germans, English, Slavs, Irish, you name it, having to learn how to live together while being able to celebrate their heritages or religious practices. That developed into a need for an entirely different form of government.

When a society is homogeneous, it's easy to have a common system of government control. It's easy to come to a consensus when you all have the same way of thinking or beliefs. But, when you have to learn how to compromise with completely differring ideologies, having a monarch who made all of your decisions no longer made sense.

Can you imagine someone of French roots being comfortable with having that crack-pot George the Third making up arbitrary regulation for his existence from another continent?

After the Revolutionary War, it was decided that a monarchy would not work, a government allowing for a great many voices by representation was needed. And also because of the events and policies that had caused the resentment to government resulted in a want for gauranteed restrictions against the established government to mitigate the possibility that it would become as oppresive as what we had just cast off.

The United States is unique because we had formed an idea that allows for a devoit Muslim from the West Bank to live across the street from a Jew without feeling the preasured stress which can compel violence or discontent. Why? Becasue that Jew has absolutely NO personal say over the Muslims existence and vice versa. They leave each other alone becasue THAT is what immigrants to this country want and realize they can have. If you leave people alone, by in large, they will leave you alone.

That's why the idea of unrestricted ownership of private property is SO important. That's why personal expression without fear is so damn valuable. For many of the founding fathers of our Constitution, heavily restricted government and very light restrictions on the citizenry was not only a good idea but fundemental to maintaining our Republic.

To be continued....