Paul Pirie
By Paul Pirie
The easiest way of assessing whether the US would have been better off without its revolution is to look at those English-speaking countries that rejected the American Revolution and retained the monarchy, particularly Canada, which experienced an influx of American refugees after the British defeat. The US performance should also be assessed against the ideals the new country set for itself — advancing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The new republic started advancing life and liberty by keeping a substantial part of its population enslaved. This, at least, proves the frequent British put-down that Americans don’t have a sense of irony.
By contrast, in British-controlled Canada, the abolition of slavery began almost 20 years before the War of 1812, sometimes called America’s “Second Revolution.” A good number of free blacks fought with the British against the US in that conflict, even participating in the burning of Washington.
On to liberty. Data from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics show that more than two million people were incarcerated in 2011; that includes federal, state and local prisoners and those awaiting trial.
To put that total into perspective, the International Centre for Prison Studies ranks the US first in the world in the number of prisoners per 100,000 residents.
As for the pursuit of happiness, Americans are free to do just that — provided that they aren’t rotting in jail. Most Americans work longer hours and have fewer paid vacations and benefits — including health care — than their counterparts in most advanced countries. Consider also that in the CIA World Factbook, the US ranks 51st in life expectancy at birth. Working oneself into an early grave does not do much for one’s happiness quotient.
The Sachs study found that the US has made “striking economic and technological progress over the past half century without gains in the self-reported happiness of the citizenry. Instead, uncertainties and anxieties are high, social and economic inequalities have widened considerably, social trust is in decline, and confidence in government is at an all-time low.”
Which brings us to the related matter of the revolution’s long-term impact on politics. While the Canadian, Australian and British governments have shown they can get things done, including passing tough austerity budgets in recent years, the norm in Washington has become paralysing partisanship and gridlock.
In these senses, the American Revolution was a flop. Perhaps it’s time for Americans to accept that their revolution was a failure and renounce it. For their part, many Russians have.
Alternatively, rather than being wedded to every practice or institution that arose from the revolution, however counterproductive or dysfunctional today, perhaps Americans can rekindle some of the boldness of the nation’s Founders to create a “more perfect” and happier union.
Last Fourth of July, while I visited sweltering-but-beautiful Washington, I came across an inscription in the Jefferson Memorial in which the third president warned against allowing institutions to calcify: “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind... With the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.”
Those modern patriots who make a show of reading the US Constitution aloud, as though it was carved in stone, might do well to reread Jefferson’s advice.
WP-BLOOMBERG
By Paul Pirie
The easiest way of assessing whether the US would have been better off without its revolution is to look at those English-speaking countries that rejected the American Revolution and retained the monarchy, particularly Canada, which experienced an influx of American refugees after the British defeat. The US performance should also be assessed against the ideals the new country set for itself — advancing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The new republic started advancing life and liberty by keeping a substantial part of its population enslaved. This, at least, proves the frequent British put-down that Americans don’t have a sense of irony.
By contrast, in British-controlled Canada, the abolition of slavery began almost 20 years before the War of 1812, sometimes called America’s “Second Revolution.” A good number of free blacks fought with the British against the US in that conflict, even participating in the burning of Washington.
On to liberty. Data from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics show that more than two million people were incarcerated in 2011; that includes federal, state and local prisoners and those awaiting trial.
To put that total into perspective, the International Centre for Prison Studies ranks the US first in the world in the number of prisoners per 100,000 residents.
As for the pursuit of happiness, Americans are free to do just that — provided that they aren’t rotting in jail. Most Americans work longer hours and have fewer paid vacations and benefits — including health care — than their counterparts in most advanced countries. Consider also that in the CIA World Factbook, the US ranks 51st in life expectancy at birth. Working oneself into an early grave does not do much for one’s happiness quotient.
The Sachs study found that the US has made “striking economic and technological progress over the past half century without gains in the self-reported happiness of the citizenry. Instead, uncertainties and anxieties are high, social and economic inequalities have widened considerably, social trust is in decline, and confidence in government is at an all-time low.”
Which brings us to the related matter of the revolution’s long-term impact on politics. While the Canadian, Australian and British governments have shown they can get things done, including passing tough austerity budgets in recent years, the norm in Washington has become paralysing partisanship and gridlock.
In these senses, the American Revolution was a flop. Perhaps it’s time for Americans to accept that their revolution was a failure and renounce it. For their part, many Russians have.
Alternatively, rather than being wedded to every practice or institution that arose from the revolution, however counterproductive or dysfunctional today, perhaps Americans can rekindle some of the boldness of the nation’s Founders to create a “more perfect” and happier union.
Last Fourth of July, while I visited sweltering-but-beautiful Washington, I came across an inscription in the Jefferson Memorial in which the third president warned against allowing institutions to calcify: “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind... With the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.”
Those modern patriots who make a show of reading the US Constitution aloud, as though it was carved in stone, might do well to reread Jefferson’s advice.
WP-BLOOMBERG
