In “The American Revolution was a flop,” Paul Pirie writes:
As for the pursuit of happiness, Americans are free to do just that — provided that they aren’t rotting in jail. But are they likely to find it? Most Americans work longer hours and have fewer paid vacations and benefits — including health care — than their counterparts in most advanced countries. Consider also that in the CIA World Factbook, the United States ranks 51st in life expectancy at birth. Working oneself into an early grave does not do much for one’s happiness quotient. This year the United States tied for 14th in “life satisfaction” on an annual quality-of-life study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That puts the United States behind Canada (eighth) and Australia (12th). A report co-authored last year by the economist Jeffrey Sachs ranked the United States 10th in the world for happiness — again behind Canada and Australia. The Sachs study found that the United States has made “striking economic and technological progress over the past half century without gains in the self-reported happiness of the citizenry. Instead, uncertainties and anxieties are high, social and economic inequalities have widened considerably, social trust is in decline, and confidence in government is at an all-time low.”
Ouch.
Which brings us to the related matter of the revolution’s long-term impact on politics. While the Canadian, Australian and British governments have shown they can get things done, including passing tough austerity budgets in recent years, the norm in Washington has become paralyzing partisanship and gridlock.
In these senses, the American Revolution was a flop. Perhaps it’s time for Americans to accept that their revolution was a failure and renounce it. (For their part, many Russians have.)
@Frank–
Regarding less Army massacre, technically, this is correct, but that had much more to do with the Indians living where Whites did NOT, rather than altruism. Again, also a function of a small population over a vast area.
Further, your analysis is skewed. How well were they treated *before* Confederation?
As to “multiculturalism is more acceptable to Canadians than to Americans,” I have no idea why you think that is true. Especially in light of Toronto once being considered a safe big city…but no more.
(A) Ask the average man 100 years ago, “do you feel healthy?” and maybe 60% say yes. Ask the the same question today and … 60% say yes. Ergo … no one’s gotten any healthier? Similarly ask, “do you feel rich?” and the answer will invariably have stayed static – about half will say no. Ergo …. no one’s better off?
(B) (Although I believe the average worker has more leisure time now) if one assumes we (a) do work more, (b) make more money, yet (c) are no happier, doesn’t that make the choice between “make more money, be unhappy,” and “make less money, be just as unhappy pretty” easy?
I reply as a descendant of Canadian First Nations (among) other nations, Irish, Scots and Cornish.
A greater percentage of the original peoples survived in Canada because the army did not massacre them. In fact the Mounties were formed to protect western Indians after a massacre by American whisky traders.
There was significantly more intermarriage between the French and First Nations, which is why we have a large Metis (mixed) population, many of whom are so mixed and stirred (like me) that it takes months of genealogical research to reveal our First Nations roots.
In Canada the original gene pool of the First Nations may be greater now than at first contact, if the genes of the mixed people are included..
The US has great attraction for Canadians. Canada imports about 250,000 new immigrants per year from outside North America, mainly because the same number is lost annually to the US. This level of population drain and replacement by immigration been going on for perhaps 50 years.
At present Canada is about 25% foreign born and multiculturalism is more acceptable to Canadians than to Americans. No wonder they are happy.
@Steve–
Many, many errors in Pirie’s piece. The most obvious omission, of course, is that were Canada not essentially a colony of the US, whatever success it currently has would have been far less.
And, in the “glass houses” department, Canada’s early treatment of what it now calls its “First Nations” population would have made the most cruel American slave owner blush.
Finally, there’s the little matter of comparing a major superpower with 315 million people to a so-called “middle power” with 35 million.
About what you would expect from the increasingly pathetic WaPo.
The Australian government did not pass any austerity measures at all. This particular government was elected in 2007 and went on a shopping spree spending the entire AU$32 Billion surplus, which the previous (conservative) government left because of its intelligent and astute policies and spending, within a year.
Australia currently has a AU$58 Billion deficit….and growing.
No austerity measures in place…just more taxes.
We could improve those statistics dramatically by limiting or removing those that come here illegally, or as a matter of fact those that immigrate legally. We could put a financial expectation on any immigrant, like most countries do. However the United States of America stands for much more than statistics.