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RE: How to Make an Entrepreneur Mad
That's part of the foundational thinking of the people who started this country as a minarchy, and I'm afraid we're losing it. This land was shaped by innovators, but we'll destroy what they built if we don't train ourselves to drop the entitlement mentality and go build something.
This is so false. This land was shaped by economic and political elites. They were the beneficiaries of an economic system based on free labor (slavery) and land acquired through the extermination of the native population.
I have nothing but disdain for the so called "founding fathers." They built an aristocracy whose logical conclusion is the state that all anarchists oppose today. Let's not kid ourselves.
Notice, I didn't say the founding fathers. The real "people who started this country as a minarchy" were those who left their country of origin, took an axe, cut down some trees, and made a home for themselves without giving a damn what was going on in Washington, D.C.
As to the "founding fathers", yes, by the ethical standards of an anarchist today, they leave much to be desired. But what about the ethical standards of the time they lived in? What about those who wrote the anti-federalist papers and were also concerned with the centralization of power? What about those who freed their slaves (all be it, after their death) while others did not? I don't deify the constitution or those who ratified it, but I do try to recognize ethics from the lense of history, not my current biased opinion. I'm sure future generations will judge us harshly as well.
And yes, I'm familiar with the small pox infected blankets given to the native Americans, but I'm also curious about the claims North America was already a post-apocalyptic wasteland by the time Europeans got here. There's a book on that I still need to read. Also, give The Origins of Virtue a read if you're convinced market driven civilization corrupted what were otherwise a morally superior people. Much of our common thinking about the altruism of more primitive ways of life is a myth.
As always, I love your input, @bacchist.