domingo, 3 de junho de 2012
O "capitalismo" nos EU é um capitalismo do estado
From the founding of the United States and through most of the 19th century, with the very notable exception of slavery, Americans were generally free to pursue their lives and interests without intervention by the state. For example, according to Wikipedia, "For most of Western history, marriage was a private contract between two families" and licenses did not begin to be required until after the Civil War. People were allowed to train for and pursue their chosen work as they best saw fit, with very few professions being licensed. Immigration was generally unrestricted and citizens were free to acquire open land and improve it as their own property—a policy codified into law with the Homestead Act of 1862. Taxes were generally low and consisted predominantly of tariffs imposed upon imported goods. Although a temporary income tax was levied during the Civil War, it was rescinded shortly thereafter. And of course, slavery was eventually abolished.
This unprecedented level of freedom allowed the rise of self-made businessmen such as Rockefeller, Carnegie, Schwab, Hill, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Edison, Ford, and many others who transformed the industries of Oil, Steel, Transportation, Finance, Energy, Textiles and Agriculture, and in the process, dramatically increasing the average standard of living. In America, between 1850-1910, life expectancy rose 40%, from 38 to 53 years. And during the period from 1820-1913, the GDP per capita surged by 422% (in constant dollars), allowing the US economy to grow to well over twice the strength of any other country!
Despite these extraordinary results, starting in the latter part of the 19th century and then accelerating in the 20th, the United States began significantly tacking away from freedom and towards statism, replacing the sovereign autonomy of the individual with the collectivist notion of an all powerful authoritarian government ruling over and controlling its citizens.
By statism, I mean:
http://smallthoughts.com/blog/permalink/0177.html
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