Reading History

Journal Entry: 1-6-2012 One reads history and it is shocking and depressing. Human rights and democracy seem like very recent inventions. Freedom, liberty and capitalism seem like relatively recent inventions. Civilian control of the military is a very recent invention. The predominance of the middle class and a non-statist economy are recent inventions. Average people, not the elite, running things is a very recent invention. It is often noted that caste, war, terror, torture, injustice, slavery, famine, disease, hunger, cruel elites, intolerance and suffering of every description are the subjects of historic accounts. This is hard to deny. It makes me appreciate what we have in America today. Let us be vigilant to preserve it. Let us focus and reform the American system gently, slowly and gingerly to evolve into a system where a million cooperative policies and rules connect but do not smother any of the Mavellonialist/anarchist citizens.