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We also live in an era where the government (federal, state, whatever) is seemingly viewed by many as less a benevolent force to be co-opted, and increasingly a
by defterGoose 7y ago
We also live in an era where the government (federal, state, whatever) is seemingly viewed by many as less a benevolent force to be co-opted, and increasingly as a necessary evil to be thwarted and disempowered. Sure, the time period you mention is right around the heart of the civil war, with all the anti- and pro-establsihment sentiment that came along with it, but these feelings were rather new at the time. Most people were still farmers who valued "getting shit done" more highly than divorced-from-reality ideological barriers. The country was still needing to be connected and filled up.
- papln 7y agoRead the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence if you thing this view is new.
- defterGoose 7y agoI'm of course aware of the basis of these documents as an American. However, a lot of the core ideas behind the US' founding were that it was possible to form "a more perfect union". I.e. one where government was done 'right', I.e. democracy. There were certainly anarchists at the time too, but the form of anti-government sentiment we have now seems to be almost pathological; memetic rather than considered.