At what point in history would you say America was at it's best?

[AuH20]

We inherited slavery from the Brits.

The Portuguese were the first European power that took to slavery and they were originally looking for gold in West Africa. The existing network was so lucrative there that they decided to take their hand in it and the rest is history. Slavery traces back to the 7th century on the continent of Africa and was commonplace among the native peoples there.

 

[AuH20]

1880-1920

An insane amount of innovation, wealth creation and still a relative amount of freedom.

Once the damage done by WWI and the Progressive Era took hold, it's been all downhill since then, even if it didn't appear so on the surface.

The Golden Era in my opinion.

 

[jclay2]

1880-1920

An insane amount of innovation, wealth creation and still a relative amount of freedom.

Once the damage done by WWI and the Progressive Era took hold, it's been all downhill since then, even if it didn't appear so on the surface.

I would subtract 7 years. 1913 was a very bad year for liberty. Income tax and the federal reserve. Ouch!

 

[Anti Federalist]

I would subtract 7 years. 1913 was a very bad year for liberty. Income tax and the federal reserve. Ouch!

Very true, but, like I said, it took a while (almost 100 years) for the chickens to come home to roost.

 

[charrob]

A good argument can be made for this period as well, especially if you only consider the post-WWII period. The big exception during this time would be Korea.

Just curious as to why? My personal view is that every single war the U.S. has ever fought in has been unnecessary with the exception being the Revolution and the War of 1812... and possibly Korea.

Korea is that one exception that has always bothered me: the people in the south were promised by the U.S. and Soviets at the end of ww2 that their independence could be maintained. Although vehemently opposed to intervention, they trusted us and were promised. It's just the one exception I struggle to oppose, and am curious if there are reasons beyond my understanding that better solidifies a position of nonintervention in that particular case?

 

[invisible]

Just curious as to why? My personal view is that every single war the U.S. has ever fought in has been unnecessary with the exception being the Revolution and the War of 1812... and possibly Korea.

Korea is that one exception that has always bothered me: the people in the south were promised by the U.S. and Soviets at the end of ww2 that their independence could be maintained. Although vehemently opposed to intervention, they trusted us and were promised. It's just the one exception I struggle to oppose, and am curious if there are reasons beyond my understanding that better solidifies a position of nonintervention in that particular case?

Because other than Korea, we weren't at war during this period (yes, this also overlooks the whole Cuba thing). Aside from the first few years after WWII, this was probably the longest period of real prosperity we've had after WWII. Wealth was still being created, we were building and exporting things, American products were considered among the best in the world. Indeed, things were built to last during this time, and many of those items are still in use today, and are still highly valued for their quality construction. The interstate highway system was conceived and partially constructed, which was a major national infrastructure improvement. Ever since this time, we have not had as long of a period in which we have not been at war and had prosperity for Main St.

 

[charrob]

Because other than Korea, we weren't at war during this period (yes, this also overlooks the whole Cuba thing). Aside from the first few years after WWII, this was probably the longest period of real prosperity we've had after WWII. Wealth was still being created, we were building and exporting things, American products were considered among the best in the world. Indeed, things were built to last during this time, and many of those items are still in use today, and are still highly valued for their quality construction. The interstate highway system was conceived and partially constructed, which was a major national infrastructure improvement. Ever since this time, we have not had as long of a period in which we have not been at war and had prosperity for Main St.

I agree, that was a very prosperous time for our country. I wasn't questioning that at all. It was more a curiosity from other noninterventionists as to why they feel that the U.S. should not have intervened in the Korean War?

 

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Don't you people know that NOW is the best time, and the future is only brighter? You can now shovel in all the food you want because government will help you diet. Gay people have rights because they can now get marriage permits. Technology means you can practically sleep while your car drives itself.

You also have more rights because we've built governments compassionate enough to give them to you.

 

[invisible]

I agree, that was a very prosperous time for our country. I wasn't questioning that at all. It was more a curiosity from other noninterventionists as to why they feel that the U.S. should not have intervened in the Korean War?

If we had any sort of treaty with Korea, I'm unaware of it. Treaty or no treaty, promise to Korea or no promise, this was an undeclared war. Or was it? Did we actually have a proper declaration of war here? I don't believe we did, but it's certainly possible I'm mistaken.

 

[AuH20]

I think a key point that decided this country's fate in terms of future global interventionism was the Marshall Plan which eventually led to the creation of NATO & EU.

 

[RonPaulIsGreat]

The US has always sucked. So, has every other country that ever existed. The whole premise of a country is some men are superior to other men and those men decide what is "best" for all the people. I'm nearing 40 years old and still have not encountered one man that was better suited to make decisions for me than me.

I'm of the mindset anymore, that something like 20 thousand people is like the maximum limit any "community" should ever try to achieve, after that approximate number, it seems the separation between those deciding the macro level decisions becomes totally decoupled from the micro level, and that's the inherit problem of "Countries".

I think I've probably become to Anarchist in my thinking now for ronpaulforums. He's a politician afterall.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

1880-1920

An insane amount of innovation, wealth creation and still a relative amount of freedom.

Once the damage done by WWI and the Progressive Era took hold, it's been all downhill since then, even if it didn't appear so on the surface.

I was going to say 1890 to 1920, but yeah.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

1913 was a horrible year for liberty, yes, but the country wasn't affected by 1913, until around 1920.

 

[charrob]

If we had any sort of treaty with Korea, I'm unaware of it. Treaty or no treaty, promise to Korea or no promise, this was an undeclared war. Or was it? Did we actually have a proper declaration of war here? I don't believe we did, but it's certainly possible I'm mistaken.

You're correct, there was no declaration of war. And, of course, the U.S. should never engage in a war that isn't declared by Congress. Whether this is a situation that merited any intervention at all is what I was questioning-- no right or wrong answer. Just a judgment call I guess.

 

[satchelmcqueen]

from what i can tell id have to say 1950s-1970.

 

[Christian Liberty]

2040, when the US government was dissolved and anarcho-capitalism was implemented, to present.

 

[presence]

June 26 1876

Determined to resist the efforts of the U.S. Army to force them onto reservations, Indians under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wipe out Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and much of his 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

 

[Constitutional Paulicy]

If you're talk'n the official country and not the continent, then I agree with Ronin Truth.

Yes I was referring to the official country's history, but the more I thought about it and the more I read members thoughts, the more difficult it was to find anytime that resembled "best".

I do like with this answer though...

The US has always sucked. So, has every other country that ever existed. The whole premise of a country is some men are superior to other men and those men decide what is "best" for all the people. I'm nearing 40 years old and still have not encountered one man that was better suited to make decisions for me than me.

I'm of the mindset anymore, that something like 20 thousand people is like the maximum limit any "community" should ever try to achieve, after that approximate number, it seems the separation between those deciding the macro level decisions becomes totally decoupled from the micro level, and that's the inherit problem of "Countries".

I think I've probably become to Anarchist in my thinking now for ronpaulforums. He's a politician afterall.

 

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

My observation is that the US globally peaked around 1960. Some people in the late 1950s were already recognizing our imminent decline.

Part of the 1960s was recognizing this decline. People realized that the US could not sustain itself by continually hitting places like Vietnam.

Of course, people got tired of the sixties, and the miserable 1970s took over. That was no fun, so we reinvented ourselves in the 1980s. This decade was basically reliving our 1950s glory days.

Some people saw the folly of the 1980s, but did not know what to do. The technology of the 1990s and early 2000s was the perfect distraction to keep us from thinking too much about decline.

We could only go so far with technology, and so 2008 hit us pretty good. The apparent uptick right now is just that. We are still declining. Asia is up. America is down. There are still diehards who refuse to recognize this.

 

[bunklocoempire]

Up until the Whiskey Rebellion. 1791