extraORDINARY
While it is true that we all stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us, it took less than two centuries for the United States to become the most powerful, the most productive, and the richest nation in the history of the world. Each of these accomplishments was achieved by a wide margin. During those two centuries, the United States advanced the progress and standard of living for all men more than all of the rest of history combined. And the United States accomplished this feat with a comparative handful of the population of the rest of the world. Are Americans an extraordinary race or was it something else? As a nation formed of immigrants, the melting pot of the world, the answer is that Americans are no different from anybody else; it is obviously something different from our humanity.
Individual freedom is the engine that powered America's achievements, her progress and her greatness. Freedom allowed ordinary people to do extraordinary things. There were no chains on their ability to take chances. There were no "planners" to misdirect or prevent their efforts. And they were protected by the Constitution from powerful plunderers with designs on the profits from their successes. Capital formation and compounding (free markets) made it possible for even the poorest of Americans to become rich. No one endured the winter at Valley Forge to be ruled by George Washington instead of King George III. It was not our leaders that made us great, but it was our leaders that got government out of our way.
We the People
Some have used the pejorative "sheeple". I would suggest that Americans have not really changed. Historians tell us that only about a third of the colonials favored the American Revolution and a significant number opposed it. If you look at polling data today, no matter what the issue being polled is, the results will show 30-40% for it and 30-40% against it with the rest undecided. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and the results are in fact roughly what might be expected when trying to answer difficult questions. Life and government are complicated. While our country was a still a republic and the balance of power between government and individuals was tilted against government, individuals were free to go their separate ways to see what worked and what failed. But as government shifted away from the Constitution toward majority rule, initiative was stifled, failure was perpetuated with subsidies and sloth rewarded while savings and success were penalized. Government has impeded progress and been taking us backwards for more than ninety years
The problem is power and leadership. I have heard it said that, "Some things can be changed and some can't. Happiness is knowing what should be changed and what shouldn't; wisdom is the ability to tell the difference." Liberals, Democrats and socialists can't be changed. The people don't need to be changed. Ronald Reagan won two landslide elections running on a decidedly conservative agenda to reduce government and empower the people. In the vein of "you can fool me once...", his re-election margin was the largest electoral victory ever recorded. The people reversed the power equation of Congress in 1994 because of the Contract with America. The Republican Party has not followed through and reversed the power equation between government and the people in accordance with the Constitution. Clearly the leadership of the Republican Party must be changed. And it is the changed Republican Party that must then restore the Constitution to remove power from the government and restore freedom to the people. Our task will be easier than you think...