True or false?

America's constitutional republican framework ... has been increasing personal and civil liberties almost monotonically for two centuries ... -- Brian Holtz, in a comment appended to this post

Discuss.

Some opening notes:

- As recently as about 100 years ago, I could have walked into any apothecary and purchased any medicine I thought I needed in any quantity I chose to buy ... without anyone's permission.

- As recently as about 100 years ago, I could have visited any purveyor of arms, purchased any weapon I thought I needed, and walked down the street bearing that weapon (openly or concealed) ... without anyone's permission.¹

- As recently as a little less than 100 years ago, the money I earned would have been mine and only taxed on certain expenditures (excises on alcohol, etc.). The income tax wasn't permanently imposed until 1913 (two earlier versions ran from 1862 to 1872, and then in 1894-95). Even when it was imposed, it started at a whopping 1% on income in excess of $3,000 ($64,371.21 in 2008 dollars) and topped out at 7% on income in excess of $500,000 ($10.7 million in 2008 dollars). Most Americans didn't pay income tax for decades after that, and it wasn't until WWII that the government started grabbing it from your paycheck in advance.

- Aside from the Civil War, conscription and/or registration for conscription was not a feature of American governance until World War I. By mid-century it was near-universal, it continued (targeted mostly to the underclass) through Vietnam, and (with one brief break) mandatory registration to facilitate its resumption remains in effect.

- The US federal government didn't outlaw polygamy in US territories until 1862, and didn't really threaten to open a can of whipass on Utah over it until 1887. While some states had marriage licensing requirements, the federal government did not establish the Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act (presumably under the "constitutional republican framework" Holtz asserts) until 1923.

Some advances in personal and civil liberties? Sure -- especially in the area of recognizing those liberties as possessed by persons of both sexes and all races (although on the latter, there have been various retrenchments, such as the Anti-Chinese Acts and the internment of the Nisei). Almost monotonic advancement? Not.

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Notes

1. For that matter, I could have formed an organization, armed its members, and marched it up and down the square in uniform without creating any great flap, let alone risking imprisonment. Really -- I used to have an old (1898, I think) drill manual for "Home Rifle Clubs" that I picked up at a flea market. Try doing that now. I dare you.

Three things

Thing One:

Ecuador's president announced in early December that his country would not be paying the interest on its foreign debt in 2009, repudiating it as "illegal." The value of the bonds defaulted on amounts to 19% of GDP.

As the Australians would say, good on them. Denvir quotes a statement by the Confederation of Ecuadorian Kichwas (ECUARUNARI), part of the country’s indigenous peoples movement: "We have not acquired any debt. The so-called public debt really belongs to the oligarchy. We the peoples have not acquired anything or been benefited, and thus we owe nothing." -- Kevin Carson, Center for a Stateless Society:

Thing Two:

The federal budget deficit will rise to a record $1.2 trillion this year, and a package of new spending increases and tax cuts planned by President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats will push that figure higher, the Congressional Budget Office reported today. -- USA Today

Thing Three:

Big Head Bump

Completely unsolicited, folks -- I have no financial interest in Big Head Press, although I certainly would if I had money and they were seeking investors. I just like their stuff (and now that I've ditched dialup, I can read the online versions without a single page load encompassing breakfast and lunch).

Recommended reading:

Roswell, Texas -- UFO crash in Roswell? Check. But everything else is, well ... a little different than you may remember. Texas never became a US state, Roswell's in Texas, and that's just the beginning (two, count'em, two Popes, and one of'em goes heeled, ferinstance; and Disneyland ain't what it used to be either). Nobody does alternate history skiffy like L. Neil Smith, and nobody turns it into a graphic novel like Rex F. May ("Baloo"), Scott Bieser and Jen Zach.




The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel -- L. Neil Smith and Scott Bieser collaborated on this conversion of Smith's classic novel into graphic novel. This is one of those rare situations in which it's impossible to decide which version is better. I love'em both (although I especially admire the pogo-stick sequence in the graphic novel for personal ego reasons). One extra word in the Declaration of Independence! A successful Whiskey Rebellion! Great apes (as opposed to mere mischevious monkeys) in Congress! Good stuff.




A Drug War Carol -- I'm kicking myself for forgetting to mention this one before Christmas. The best piece of anti-drug-war literature you can put in anyone's hands, period. Written by Susan W. Wells and illustrated by Scott Bieser, ADWC lays out the history of (and the case against) prohibition in style ... and with rigorous, fully sourced arguments. Great story, great graphics, supremely effective agitprop.





Lots more at Big Head Press ... but these are the titles I've already read and heartily recommend.