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> there are (by most measures) no other democracies out there which have gone as long under peaceful rule of law as the US. Are you taking the end of the US ci

> there are (by most measures) no other democracies out there which have gone as long under peaceful rule of law as the US. Are you taking the end of the US civil war as the starting point? If so, then Switzerland has a longer duration of peaceful rule of law.

bpodgursky 6y ago
I don't see that as necessary, given that most of the US remained under continuous democratic governance. The rest... got there eventually. Even if you do count from the end of the civil war, I would not consider my central thesis destroyed by the small and frankly uniquely weird country of Switzerland. Switzerland is a country that has done very well for its people, but the lessons which have kept it stable and safe over the past two centuries (have a lot of mountains, and don't be worth invading) are not ones which extrapolate out. And let's be honest -- Switzerland was not functionally independent in WWII. It wasn't necessary to invade, because they did whatever the Third Reich wanted with their stolen gold and borders. This is not the stability I am looking for.
- joubert 6y ago
  > Switzerland is a country that has done very well for its people, but the lessons which have kept it stable and safe over the past two centuries (have a lot of mountains, and don't be worth invading) are not ones which extrapolate out. Would you say that Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s political thought has been valuable and influential in the world? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau
- crumbshot 6y ago
  > Even if you do count from the end of the civil war, I would not consider my central thesis destroyed by the small and frankly uniquely weird country of Switzerland. What exactly is your central thesis? It sounds like you're presenting an argument of American exceptionalism, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point here.

bpodgursky 6y ago

I don't see that as necessary, given that most of the US remained under continuous democratic governance. The rest... got there eventually. Even if you do count from the end of the civil war, I would not consider my central thesis destroyed by the small and frankly uniquely weird country of Switzerland. Switzerland is a country that has done very well for its people, but the lessons which have kept it stable and safe over the past two centuries (have a lot of mountains, and don't be worth invading) are not ones which extrapolate out. And let's be honest -- Switzerland was not functionally independent in WWII. It wasn't necessary to invade, because they did whatever the Third Reich wanted with their stolen gold and borders. This is not the stability I am looking for.

joubert 6y ago
> Switzerland is a country that has done very well for its people, but the lessons which have kept it stable and safe over the past two centuries (have a lot of mountains, and don't be worth invading) are not ones which extrapolate out. Would you say that Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s political thought has been valuable and influential in the world? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau
crumbshot 6y ago
> Even if you do count from the end of the civil war, I would not consider my central thesis destroyed by the small and frankly uniquely weird country of Switzerland. What exactly is your central thesis? It sounds like you're presenting an argument of American exceptionalism, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point here.