“You Are a Traitor!”

This post “You Are a Traitor!” appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

“You are a traitor, go back to Great Britain!”

This weekend’s reckoning, “Was the American Revolution a Mistake?” argued that the American colonies in 1775 were perhaps the freest society on Earth.

The subsequent revolution raised the curtain on a ruinous inflation, the article continued. And that the American tax burden tripled after 1783.

Never again did the American people regain their prerevolutionary economic freedoms.

The issue drew a heavy mail — and an impassioned mail.

We opened with the comments of reader Charles H… who fingers us for treason.

He further banishes us to the crowned and sceptered isle, in the footsteps of Benedict Arnold.

Reader Emrich S. even offers us a royal title:

How about I sell you the title Duke of BS. You and Rupert Murdoch think it was a bad idea and he and you have been undermining our ideals ever since. Why?

For no other reason — perhaps — that we are traitorous, seditious, malicious, villainous… and treacherous.

Of course, we cannot address the motivations of Mr. Murdoch.

And above the name Lenny M. we are dealt with as follows:

Revisionist-history socialism and rules for radicals… You make Saul Alinsky proud.

Just so. But the article banged a drum for those dreamy days when Americans paid out perhaps 1–2.5% in taxes.

Would a socialist sob over higher taxes?

Sample excerpt:

What would libertarians — even conservatives — give today in order to return to an era in which the central government extracted 1% of the nation’s wealth? Where there was no income tax?

Meantime, reader Stephen K. suggests we are merely working an angle… to catch a penny:

The colonists left England and the continent to obtain freedom that they did not have before. Don’t whitewash history to sell your books.

But not all readers would pack us off to the gallows…

Joining us in treason, for example, is reader Ken H.:

Brilliant and accurate analysis… Thank you! I discovered the same in my advanced-placement American history class quite some time ago!

Randy M. adds: “This is an interesting angle on U.S. history I’ve never heard.”

Finally, reader Eric P. says: “Thank you very much for this piece of history.”

Was the American Revolution a mistake?

Upon deep and sober reflection this weekend, we have come around to the belief it was not.

That is because we are heart and soul for freedom.

Imagine that America remained an English colony to this day.

Further imagine the tyrannical crown spent us into oblivion… and buried these colonies under a crushing $22.4 trillion debt.

Can you conceive of such a despotism?

But as independent Americans…

We can be proud that we accomplished it all by ourselves… freely.

Regards,

Brian Maher
for The Daily Reckoning

The post “You Are a Traitor!” appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

This story originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning . The Daily Reckoning, offers a uniquely refreshing, perspective on the global economy, investing, gold, stocks and today’s markets. Its been called “the most entertaining read of the day.