The Twentieth Century American: Being a Comparative Study of the Peoples of the Two Great Anglo-Saxon NationsRobinson, Harry Perry
History
The Twentieth Century American: Being a Comparative Study of the Peoples of the Two Great Anglo-Saxon Nations
Robinson, Harry Perry
Great Britain -- Civilization; United States -- Civilization
[32:1] A point which there is no space to dwell upon here but which I
would commend to the more leisurely consideration of readers--especially
American readers--is that under a _regime_ of physical force there can
in fact be hardly any transfer of commodities at all. What a man has, he
holds, whether his need of it be greater than another's, or whether he
needs it not at all. There is no inducement to part with it and pride
compels him to hold; so that only the strongest can come by the
possession of anything that he desires. If the dollar were substituted
for the club in the dealings of nations, the transfer of commodities
would forthwith become simplified, and such incidents as the purchase of
Alaska and the cession of Heligoland, instead of standing as isolated
examples of international accommodation, would become customary. To take
an example which will bring the matter home at once, many imperialist
Englishmen on visiting the West Indies have become convinced that
certain of England's possessions in those regions could with advantage
to all parties be transferred to the United States. But so long as the
military idea reigns--so long as an island must be regarded primarily as
an outpost, a possible naval base, a strategic point--so long will the
obstacles to such a transfer remain. As soon as war was put outside the
range of possibilities, commercial principles would begin to operate and
those territories, however much or little they might be worth, would be
acquired by the United States. The same thing would happen in all parts
of the world. Possessions, instead of being held by those who could hold
them, would tend to pass to those who needed them or to whom they
logically belonged by geographical relation, and neither Germany's
legitimate aspirations nor those of any other country would need to go
unsatisfied.
CHAPTER II
THE DIFFERENCE IN POINT OF VIEW
The Anglo-Saxon Family Likeness--How Frenchmen and Germans
View it--Englishmen, Americans, and "Foreigners"--An Echo of
the War of 1812--An Anglo-American Conflict Unthinkable--
American Feeling for England--The Venezuelan Incident--The
Pilgrims and Some Secret History--Why Americans still Hate
England--Great Britain's Nearness to the United States
Geographically--Commercially--Historically--England's Foreign
Ill-wishers in America.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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