The Capitalist Foundations of AmericaMike Rappaport

My former teacher (and Tom’s too), George Priest, has delivered an interesting Bradley Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute:

According to [the consensus among historians], the dominantpolitical theory leading to and justifying the Revolution derived fromthe increasing characterization of a Britain dominated by politicalvice and corruption from which a republic embodying virtue must rebel,rather than remain dependent. By this view, politics chiefly representsthe expression of power constantly in opposition to a sphere of libertyand right.

By these views, the foundations of our countryare political and ideological. The Puritans came to America seekingreligious freedom. Their religion incorporated an ethic of frugality,suspicion of luxury, commitment to the renewal of virtue, a dedicationto public as opposed to private interest. This ethic continued duringBritain’s colonial rule. The colonists became increasingly suspiciousof British corruption and overthrew the colonial regime to establish anew republic dedicated to virtue and to the political equality ofcitizens.

[This talk] will attempt to show that the focus onpolitical and ideological origins of the country ignores the materialreasons underlying the Founding, ignores the basis for the expansion ofthe country during the colonial period, ignores economic groundsunderlying the Revolution, ignores important economic concerns thatshaped the Constitution, and ignores much of the subsequent developmentof the country. . . .  I shall attempt to show that economicadvance, not the achievement of political equality, is far more centralto the history of this country than has been appreciated. Enhancingeconomic opportunity, not religious and political freedom or politicalequality, is the fundamental value upon which America has been built.In this short talk, I am forced to paint with a broad brush and I mustneglect many important details and nuances. But I hope, howeverinadequately, to suggest the promise of the approach.