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it was rescinded shortly thereafter.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
A estratégia adotada pelo governo para reforçar os cofres do BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social) e dar impulso aos investimentos custou aos contribuintes R$ 28 bilhões nos últimos três anos ...
