"[Alfred the Great's] unique importance in the history of English letters comes from his conviction that a life without knowledge or reflection was unworthy of respect..."
Sir Frank Stenton
I love Daniel Hannan, despite his affiliation with the likes of Shawn Hannity, he is the real deal, a genuine conservative doing the best he can where he is. He has been warning us in America about our fool hardy sprint into European Style Socialism.
But this is nothing new:
In 1800 only 36 percent of the English population was engaged in agriculture, whereas between 75 and 90 percent of Americans were engaged in it. This is particularly indicative of a move away from the countryside and toward the city, a rejection of rural settledness and the embracing of industrialization and urban opportunities that Jefferson despised. The liberal or politically progressive thinkers of the day wanted to see America "mature" or "develop" into an industrial urban-based nation with over seas trade just like the European nations. To Jefferson this was exactly the "opportunity," so essential in to today's global capitalism, which represented instability and indebtedness. Judging from where we are today, running head long after a bankrupt managerial state of the European model, perhaps he was right. Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury, produced an economic plan which called for a the establishment of a national bank for funding development projects, financing War debt, and subsidizing manufacturing interests. This benefited Hamilton’s financiers but was bad news for the landowners who would have to pay the taxes. To Jefferson, this seemed like selling the states back to the British.
So we have always been running after the more metropolitan, industrial, and now social democracy of our European brothers from our founding days. Daniel Hannan is a wonderful man.
1 comment:
I love Daniel Hannan, despite his affiliation with the likes of Shawn Hannity, he is the real deal, a genuine conservative doing the best he can where he is. He has been warning us in America about our fool hardy sprint into European Style Socialism.
But this is nothing new:
In 1800 only 36 percent of the English population was engaged in agriculture, whereas between 75 and 90 percent of Americans were engaged in it. This is particularly indicative of a move away from the countryside and toward the city, a rejection of rural settledness and the embracing of industrialization and urban opportunities that Jefferson despised. The liberal or politically progressive thinkers of the day wanted to see America "mature" or "develop" into an industrial urban-based nation with over seas trade just like the European nations. To Jefferson this was exactly the "opportunity," so essential in to today's global capitalism, which represented instability and indebtedness. Judging from where we are today, running head long after a bankrupt managerial state of the European model, perhaps he was right. Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury, produced an economic plan which called for a the establishment of a national bank for funding development projects, financing War debt, and subsidizing manufacturing interests. This benefited Hamilton’s financiers but was bad news for the landowners who would have to pay the taxes. To Jefferson, this seemed like selling the states back to the British.
So we have always been running after the more metropolitan, industrial, and now social democracy of our European brothers from our founding days. Daniel Hannan is a wonderful man.
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