How the United States became Great
Government-Spending and Leisure-Time made America great. It was a rich country to start with; a vast land sparsely peopled by stone-age inhabitants who left most of the natural resources for the Europeans. Entrepreneurial-ism ran strong among the quick-witted and lucky. But until government at many levels began creating "improvements," such as the Erie Canal, railroads and other accouterments of power like an Army and Navy the United States was a backwater. Huge increases in Federal spending for the Civil War, First, Second and Cold Wars left America as a manufacturing power-house with highways from shore-to-shore, computers, aerospace and the rudiments of an Internet. When touters cite the real sacrifices of the explorers and pioneers always remember that both Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett left the country of their free will; and never underestimate the power of the almighty dollar. As to leisure time, remember the eccentric geniuses in their barns or parent's garages or rented-shops who invented the industrial and post-industrial world: Ford, Edison, Farnsworth, Jobs and Gates come to mind along with their partners. In America you could do this; pull down the shades, ignore the nosy neighbors and get on with your personal avocations. America had long been a place where the public's money could be put into private hands for the public good. Where growth and prosperity had multiple parents and even more beneficiaries. That is all threatened now by ideological scolds with a revisionist's remembrance of the past. Decline begets decline, and purity of claimed intentions {even if real} are not to be trusted.