Sunday/A State Above

On this dsy:1535
Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.
1557
King Philip II of Spain, consort of Queen Mary I of England, sets out from Dover to war with France, which eventually results in the loss of the City of Calais, the last English possession on the continent, and Mary I never seeing her husband again.
1777
American Revolutionary War: Siege of Fort Ticonderoga – After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
1885
Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid do
1892
3,800 striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving 10 dead and dozens wounded.

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John Milton labored in 1660 on his epic poem “Paradise Lost,” he faced numerous obstacles: His role as an advocate for republicanism left him politically disgraced during the Restoration reign of Charles II. His second wife had recently died, and he had lost his vision entirely. Lying in bed at night, he composed verses of a poem vast in scale; it encompassed nothing less than the creation of the world and the fate of mankind. In the morning, he would dictate fresh lines to his daughters. --wsj

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“We are at a wonderful ball where the champagne sparkles in every glass and soft laughter falls upon the summer air,” he wrote [in 1968] of a high-flying stock market in “The Money Game.”

“We know at some moment the black horsemen will come shattering through the terrace doors wreaking vengeance and scattering the survivors. Those who leave early are saved, but the ball is so splendid no one wants to leave while there is still time. So everybody keeps asking — what time is it? But none of the clocks have hands.” George Goodman, who wrote as 'Adam Smith'

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Sunday/A State Above

There are a lot of opinions about America. Recent internal criticism--undermining America's position and reputation in the world--is becoming less and less significant because it seems more and more stupid. This is not to say that stupidity cannot carry the day in a democracy, but it does mean it will have less of a foundation and less permanence. And it is difficult to weaponize the supercilious.

But America has serious enemies. Democracies seek only commercial stability; the toltalitarians seek more.

Asia's conflict with America is simply practical. America is the international rival of the totalitarian state. Putin believes America's liberal view of man has come and gone. The State has returned like the Grand Inquisitor to fill in Man's failures and weak spots. Both China and Russia feel Man needs a powerful State, like a child needs strong parents. Materialism seems to be less of a guiding principle than a dimly remembered inherited flaw.

Europe is different as it tries stubbornly to cobble philosophies out of its museums of old tribal hierarchies, ethnic hatreds, and academic incoherence. 

All, both East and West, struggle with the American idea of Man, who is ceded spiritual worth and not judged on circumstance, and always granted the Christian miracle of the second chance. Contrary to Arendt's social compact of equality before the law, America thinks "isonomy" is not an arbitrary construct but inherent and deserved.

Some thoughts on America by real thinkers:

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Thomas Jefferson

Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.
Albert Camus

There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.
G.K. Chesterton

Isonomy guaranteed … equality, but not because all men were born or created equal, but, on the contrary, because men were by nature ... not equal, and needed an artificial institution, the polis, which by virtue of its νόμος ['law'] would make them equal. --Arendt

"America – it is a fabulous country, the only fabulous country; it is the only place where miracles not only happen, but where they happen all the time." – Thomas Wolfe“

America is an idea, not a place.” – Jack Kerouac“

The best thing about America is that anyone can become an American.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

The American Constitution is, as far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at any given time by the brain and purpose of man---Gladstone

America: At first, they strove to preserve the rights of Englishmen. This failed, and they declared their rights as human beings. This had never been done so largely.--Acton

Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered. I myself would say that it had merely been detected
Oscar Wilde

The American Constitution is, as far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at any given time by the brain and purpose of man---Gladstone

Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.--Thacher

American Revolution: The great point is that the letter of the law was against them. The absence of real oppression likewise. It was definitely an appeal to unwritten law, unchartered rights.--Acton