Fourth of July Early Morning Muse

Happy Fourth!

In my opinion, this is the one day that every single private sector employee should have off and limited shifts for public sector and emergency medical employees should be instated. Probably too much red tape and bureacracy and just plain interference for most folks, but I really wish more people could take the day off and just celebrate the fact this country exists at all.

It was not necessarily inevitable. There was a real voice in jolly old England for repeal of the Stamp Act. That relatively insignificant legislative act may have averted the War for Independence. At the very least, it would have delayed the eventual demise of the British colonial system.

In fact, it would have changed world history.

I have no doubt the French Revolution would have happened. If the French Revolution had preceded our own, however, I doubt that ours would have been successful.

It's pure speculation, but I wonder how many people even appreciate the precise conditions that had to exist for this country to have evolved out of the Western tradition of monarchy, despotism and colonial imperialism. Granted, the great Western nations had already developed parliamentary representation to temper the "tyranical" nature of monarchs.

Everything had to be just right to foment the birth of our nation.

The people who started this nation were not saints. Most of them were in it for the money. They were not altruistic men who believed that all men were equal in achievement nor potential, necessarily. They did however espouse the idea of all men (not women) being created equal.

Most of the "founding fathers" were, in fact, men of privilege: whether by birth or industry. Many were slave holders. Nearly all were successful businessmen. All of these men believed the taxes being exacted upon them by the British government were unfair because they specifically targeted the American colonies (an easily disputed claim, by the way, because the taxes also pertained to British holdings in the East, particularly India).

The tax burden placed on the American colonies was severe and the British government offered little in the way of "services".

There are some who believe that we are currently being overtaxed and not getting a good return on those tax dollars in the form of core services, especially at the city level. We have an entire fiscal year to debate those issues.

For right now, I would like to wish you all a good July 4th and hope most of you can spend it with your families and do some good outdoor cooking and activities. I know I am.

Stu

PS

I know that I am at odds with most of you all in this local blogosphere, but I assure you that I am not "entrenched" in a particular political dogma or blindly committed to the ever-changing ideas espoused by a particular political party. My blog is not intended to be a form of proselytization. I welcome informed responses and will publish virtually all comments, so long as they are for the most part civil. I realize tempers flare and things can get seemingly personal, but I don't think it has to be hateful.

I would also like to provide links to other blogs, but don't really know "all the tools in the box" as my colleague "the hammer" pointed out.