walter williams: A Minority View

[SnyderShrugged]

http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/articles/09/AmericanIdea.htm

A MINORITY VIEW

BY WALTER WILLIAMS

RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009

American Idea

Americans are harder workers, more philanthropic, individualistic, self-reliant, anti-government than people in most other countries. We’ve turned what was an 18th-century Third World nation into the freest and most prosperous nation in mankind’s entire history. Throughout our history, United States has been a magnet for immigrants around the world. What accounts for what some have called American exceptionalism?

We Americans, as human beings, are no different from any other people, including Germans, Russians, Chinese, Africans and other people who have produced tyrannical regimes such as those of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Idi Amin. As such we are just as capable of committing acts of gross evil that have been a part of mankind throughout his history. We’ve not been a perfect nation but we’ve never approached the level of hideousness seen in other nations. That’s despite the fact that our population consists of people who have for centuries been trying to slaughter one another in their home countries, whether it’s between the French and Germans, English and Irish, Japanese and Chinese, or Palestinians and Jews, Igbos and the Hausa of Nigeria. Thrown into the American mosaic are religions that have been in conflict for centuries such as Catholic and Protestant, and Christian and Muslim. The question is: Why is the United States an exception and will it remain so?

At the heart of the American idea is the deep distrust and suspicion the founders of our nation had for government, distrust and suspicion not shared as much by today’s Americans. Some of the founders’ distrust is seen in our Constitution’s language such as Congress shall not: abridge, infringe, deny, disparage, violate and deny. If the founders did not believe Congress would abuse our God-given rights, they would not have provided those protections. After all, one would not expect to find a Bill of Rights in Heaven; it would be an affront to God. Other founder distrust for government is found in the Constitution’s separation of powers, checks and balances and the several anti-majoritarian provisions such as the Electoral College and the requirement that three-quarters of state legislatures ratify changes in the Constitution.

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[Smoot4Prez]

That was a nice little read. I feel like most people just don't feel the constitution is relevant anymore. I know the majority of people that I talk politics with (mostly recent college grad liberals or left-leaning moderates) believe that it is an outdated document. They aren't worried about the government abusing power. They are worried about numbers.

It's frustrating arguing with them. I just feel that many Americans are spoiled. They've never known tyranny. Their parents haven't known tyranny. Generations back, their families have been generally well off and government infringement free.

Most of them ***** and moan about how "bad" it is here, and how great it is in Sweden or France or the U.K. It blows my mind considering 95% of them are upper middle class kids who never even had to get a job before they finished their degree. They've had health care their whole lives, food on the table, college paid for, and never had to work.

Blows my mind. (I'm not saying all left-leaning people are like this, I'm just saying this is my experience.)

[The Evil Genius]

And I feel that most people ignore the necessary and proper clause when talking about the constitution. It's a convenient oversight on their part when they see government programs they don't like.

[SnyderShrugged]

And I feel that most people ignore the necessary and proper clause when talking about the constitution. It's a convenient oversight on their part when they see government programs they don't like.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

"Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional."

Necessary and proper are not an open ended means to passing law, never intended to be so.

Art. I, Sec. 8, Cl. 18, empowering Congress to make all laws which shall be "necessary and proper" for carrying into execution the enumerated powers of Congress. The phrase is not limited to such measures as are absolutely necessary, but includes all appropriate means that are conducive to the end to be accomplished, and which in the judgment of Congress, will most advantageously effect it. 110 U.S. 421, 440. The clause is not a grant of power but a declaration that Congress possesses all the means necessary to carry out its specifically granted powers. 361 U.S.

Two main conditions are required for something to be “necessary and proper.” The law or power must be

1) directly applicable to the main, enumerated power (some would say that without it, the enumeratd power would be impossible to exercise in current, common understanding).

2) lesser than the main power.

This was done to ensure that

1) government powers could adapt to modern times,

and 2) new government powers would always be restricted to carrying out the enumerated functions.

[alexey]

I do not think it does anybody any good to pretend that our history does not hold a healthy share of hideousness as well.

[hokie4redskins]

Nobody has a clearer vision of our Founders' intentions than Walter Williams.

Nobody does a better job of exposing this administration's antithesis of these intentions either.

Go Patriots. Wish I took a class with that guy.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

What accounts for American Exceptionalism?

Geography mostly. We are a nation that spent 200 years growing unchecked inside a seemingly limitless, resource-rich continent. We've had precisely one war with a hostile neighbor since 1812 and that was an opportunity to explore one of our two episodes of naked imperialism. We have been untouched by the endless conflicts and divisions that have engulfed our main European allies.

Add to that an open immigration policy and - until recently - a strong universal public education system and there you go. America!

Some luck. Some good policy.

USA! USA! USA!

[hokie4redskins]

I do not think it does anybody any good to pretend that our history does not hold a healthy share of hideousness as well.

Such as?

He's not pretending. He's simply saying that in comparison to the tyrannical plagues that have oppressed mankind over the centuries, the U.S. comes nowhere close in our short history.

Learn to read.

We’ve not been a perfect nation but we’ve never approached the level of hideousness seen in other nations.

Now, you're insinuating we have. So either provide examples or spare us your self-loathing.

:thumbsup:

[PeterMP]

I do not think it does anybody any good to pretend that our history does not hold a healthy share of hideousness as well.

Yeah, I'm sure the Native Americans of the 1800's would be glad to know they were living in a country that was established in a manner that prevented the slaughter of humans.

He MIGHT have a good point. If he'd make it in an intellectually honest manner, it MIGHT be worth reading it.

[alexey]

Such as?

He's not pretending. He's simply saying that in comparison to the tyrannical plagues that have oppressed mankind over the centuries, the U.S. comes nowhere close in our short history.

Learn to read.

Now, you're insinuating we have. So either provide examples or spare us your self-loathing.

:thumbsup:

I think that it is important to remember our mistakes and stay humble.

This is not self-loathing. This is called learning from mistakes. This is called taking responsibility for your actions. This is what the author is trying to avoid by downplaying our misdeeds by comparing them to the Red Terror or the Holocaust.

Humans did those hideouts things because humans are capable of doing them. We are all humans. We should be mindful of our flaws. It is a mistake to try and downplay them. This is what my original post was trying to convey. Sorry if I was not clear enough about that.

[Predicto]

What accounts for American Exceptionalism?

Geography mostly. We are a nation that spent 200 years growing unchecked inside a seemingly limitless' date=' resource-rich continent. We've had precisely one war with a hostile neighbor since 1812 and that was an opportunity to explore one of our two episodes of naked imperialism. We have been untouched by the endless conflicts and divisions that have engulfed our main European allies.

Add to that an open immigration policy and - until recently - a strong universal public education system and there you go. America!

Some luck. Some good policy.

USA! USA! USA![/quote']

Pretty much this. Which is not a bad thing. I'm a big fan of America, despite the spots on her record. But ignoring those spots is silly.

Sometimes American conservatives appear to have the following view of the development of this country:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uevm3Wk9sWI

[Baculus]

V1.0 of the Constitution was a good foundation, but it was incomplete. Luckily, it allowed for plugins, such as the Thirteenth Amendment. And even when some upgrades didn't work as well, such as the Eighteenth Amendment, we could apply hotfixes to resolve the issue.

[Baculus]

Blows my mind. (I'm not saying all left-leaning people are like this, I'm just saying this is my experience.)

I don't know of any liberals who believe the Constitution is outdated. In fact, in particular when it comes to civil rights issues, every liberal I know will often reference the Bill of Rights.

Can you provide some examples of the positions of these "liberal" or "leftists" who hold this view?

The only leftists I know who believe the Constitution is outdated are those, usually anarchists, who feel it is an authoritarian piece of legislation.

Also, many people see Europe as being more progressive in their views, and they desire that forward-thinking mentality (or the perception of it) here for this country.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Pretty much this. Which is not a bad thing. I'm a big fan of America, despite the spots on her record. But ignoring those spots is silly.

Sometimes American conservatives appear to have the following view of the development of this country:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uevm3Wk9sWI

I dig America too.

But the fact is that for the first 170-some years of our history, we were allowed to grow and stumble and prosper without any interference from any other country is utterly remarkable.

I want someone to imagine France having a civil war as awful as ours in the middle of the 19th century. England, Germany and Spain would have been picking at its carcass within weeks of the first shots.

For whatever reasons, historians never want to acknowledge the role of geography and climate in history.

Why is England England?

Because of the channel. It prevented a ground invasion during the Armada. It prevented the blitzkrieg in 1940.

Why is Ireland Ireland?

Because of its proximity to England.

Why is Turkey Turkey? Because all the trade routes crossed there.

Why is Russia Russia? Because of its size and the weather.

[ACW]

Nobody has a clearer vision of our Founders' intentions than Walter Williams.

Nobody does a better job of exposing this administration's antithesis of these intentions either.

Go Patriots. Wish I took a class with that guy.

I did

Gotta love a class where the prof. explains the economic value of pimps :laugh:

[hkHog]

I have always been amazed at how people like our dear leader Obama are referred to as "constitutional scholars"

constitutional scholar : the constitution :: tax attorneys : the tax code

Basically, most constitutional scholars seem to spend all their time looking for loopholes and using the document to justify things that the founding fathers were precisely trying to forbid.