School Books Rewritten in Texas

[jabarto]

I think the argument is that we have a secular government but that our culture and laws are heavily influenced by the Judeo-Christian tradition.

For the most part, you're right. This, however, just isn't true. Our legal traditions derive from Engish law, which in turn derived from Viking law, which was cribbed from Germanic law. Our legal traditions have more to do with naked face-painted barbarians than they ever did with Christianity.

I fail to see, however, how anyone could credibly deny the importance of the "free market" to US history. While it is true that no nation has allowed (or could allow) a completely unfettered marketplace, the USA has approached that condition far more closely then have most other polities. Can you argue that we are not a true "free market" society? Of course, as there have always been regulations etc. that have influence marketplace interaction. Can you argue that the "free market" wasn't all that important? I think any such argument would be fatuous.

I should have phrased that better. It's not so much that the free market wasn't important, because it was. The problem is that people think the free market was solely responisble for giving them what they have, and that's what's wrong. Sure, they didn't say that aloud, but we're talking about Texan conservatives here; do you really think they're going to give socialism and state intervention the proper due for making our country what it is?