Where did you get that false impression… first, slave labor was not free. Nor was it the cause of America’s progress. In fact, states without slave labor had a more vibrant economy than those that did. The reason is simply, capitalism rewards work, slavery does not. Under capitalism farmers in the Midwest worked their asses off… under slavery, slaves did as little as they could get away with since they did not keep the rewards of their labor.
The institution of slavery was a terrible one that the South resorted to because of two things. First, the demand for cotton and other agricultural products exploded along with the land available to produce such “cash crops”. And second, America’s frontier was rapidly expanding creating “free land” (not really free as it was taken from the Native Americans), which caused agricultural workers to leave the plantations to secure “their own farms” leaving the plantation high and dry when it came to labor. In many ways, post Civil War “sharecropping” showed that “self employed” ex slaves were far more productive than pre Civil War slaves.
I appreciate your Dad’s service to the country and I agree fossil fuels are going away. My “energy bill” for our two electric cars and our house last year was negative $750. That’s right, the utility paid me! But I did not have to have “forced” to change, technology made “solar panels” on my roof a good investment. The perfection of the “electric car” made the initial upfront capital investment worth it through low operating costs. The convenience of a fully charged car every morning is wonderful. But if I lived in Seattle, I would probably have been less inclined because of weather to make those investments than here in southern California. Likewise, I put in artificial grass in my “tiny” yard to save limited water… when I lived in Seattle water was never “limited”.
But think about that, American innovation and exceptionalism is what drove those technology changes that are changing my life. You and I are exchanging communication using a cell phone or PC (invented in America), carrying our messages over the internet (invented in America) and using internet protocols that are so user friendly anyone can do it (developed in America). I have to go now to golf, I will be driving my Tesla (invented in American) after I finish drinking my coffee (that originally came from Ethiopia but was ground in my Fellow grinder invested in America).
America is not perfect but our Constitution and the unalienable rights we recognized in the Declaration of Independence combined with the financial rewards our capitalistic economic system affords innovators are in fact what makes America exceptional by attracting people with exceptional skills to come here. Will America lose its edge? The more we emulate other developed nations, the less we offer to “the new pioneers” who will shape the future.
