Anyone seen Hamilton?

[Frontenac]

I actually didn't much like Wicked. I liked one or two songs, but felt that the majority of the music in it was flat and generic.

Kristin Chenowith was fantastic, though.

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I think the other thing that I like about Hamilton is that it covers the period of history just after the Civil War at a high level reasonably well. While the federalist/anti-federalist argument was briefly mentioned in my High School history courses, I've found that generally most of the people in the US couldn't tell you if Jefferson was a Federalist or Anti-Federalist. This, despite the fact that they idolize him and think he was the best ever. They know about his Declaration of Independence, but basically nothing of his nationbuilding politics. And that's just Jefferson. Many don't know the first thing about Hamilton or Madison.

I'm not American, so I may be wrong. But from what I read about jeffersonian and hamiltonian ideals and all the discussions I read about the two men, I would say that while Jefferson is the man the Americans would like to be, Hamilton is what Americans are. I mean, USA is much more hamiltonian than jeffersonian. As President, even Jefferson was less jeffersonian than we would believe...

As for the play itself, well, rap is not my cup of tea, so... that's that.

[eschatological]

Both were important historically. America is this weird balance of both the Anti-Federalist and Federalist positions, and they contributed to it (pre-Civil War, for the poster who I assume made a typo above). I don't know another country in the world where states/provinces have as much say in the governance of their country as the USA does. Most state/provincial governments in other countries strike me as merely outposts of a centralized government.

I don't know exactly why you think America is like Hamilton and Jefferson is what Americans would like to be. There is a pretty strong Federalist streak in the the progressive side of America.

[Frontenac]

Both were important historically. America is this weird balance of both the Anti-Federalist and Federalist positions, and they contributed to it (pre-Civil War, for the poster who I assume made a typo above). I don't know another country in the world where states/provinces have as much say in the governance of their country as the USA does. Most state/provincial governments in other countries strike me as merely outposts of a centralized government.

I don't know exactly why you think America is like Hamilton and Jefferson is what Americans would like to be. There is a pretty strong Federalist streak in the the progressive side of America.

Again, I may be wrong, but Hamilton seems to me to be about a strong central government, big finance and trade. Jefferson is more about local governments and independant farmers (including slavery, alas). Well, I will not say that rural society and local governments are not important, but it seems to me that what made USA the superpower it has become is more because of its central government, big finance and trade. With slavery as a focal point, that was pretty much crux of Sectionalism and the American Civil War.

I said that Hamilton is what Americans are and Jefferson what they wanted to be because in every discussion I have read on the subject, Hamilton seems to be despised while Jefferson is almost adulated. And, as I said, I believe USA is more hamiltonian that jeffersonian.

However, you are right that your States are much more autonomous and their jurisdictions are respected. In Canada, the trend is for the centralization of the powers in thehands of the federal government. It has been this way since the beginning of the Confederation (1867), especially when the Liberals are in power (which means most of the time). In Québec, for historical and cultural reasons, people are more about provincial autonomy (even the federalists). This has lead to confrontations between Québec City and Ottawa. So yeah, in Canada, we have a Confederation, that is truly a federation, that is less and less a federation...

[eschatological]

TBH, I'm not that big a history buff, but I'd agree with the general sentiment that Hamilton is "despised" (inasmuch as people distinguish/know of him as anything but a capital F Founding capital F Father who are generally revered as a group) and Jefferson revered. My only point is that the progressives of the USA (who are moderates by any standard anywhere else in the world) think the federal government can be a good thing.

I'm not sure I would argue America is a superpower because of its trade, big finance, and central government. I honestly think we're the superpower of the 20th century because of a closed off policy of isolationism in the late 19th century, and a foreign policy which created buffers between the Americas and Europe, and the consequential relatively-untouched state of the USA after two World Wars ravaged Europe. That, of course, led to our trade imbalances, the rise of our financial system, and our military dominance.