I have given it some thought and here it is.
I think that all things prior to the Declaration of Independence could be called pre-production, perhaps beta, releases. Important but not necessarily ready then for official release and wide distribution.
The Declaration was really America 1.0. The Constitution, intimately tied as it is to the Declaration, would then be America 1.5.
What followed was George Washington and the initial launch of a country, an experiment in democracy as some would say but really a brand new approach presented as a representative, constitutional, republic. No Monarchy Redux issued in by good old George. Issues between federalism (Big Brother) and anti-federalism (state’s rights for those confused) resolved, initial bugs fixed.
After the War of 1812 the new country seemed to finally establish its footing, achieving global viability by thrashing the Brits, again, and America 2.0 was released.
A major issue with 2.0 was addressed by the Missouri Compromise and issued in America 2.5. The postponement of the resolution of the slavery question.
The administration of Andrew Jackson would have to rate another minor release or two and might have ended up with release 2.7 or so.
The 1850’s and then, after, the onset of the Civil War. Definitely America 3.0 and, for those confused, this was a more significant release than Windows 3.0. It was followed in short order by the various Amendments which sought to solve the issues with slavery and freedom not resolved directly by the war- 3.1, 3.2, and perhaps 3.3.
The progressivism/socialism movement, with its roots mainly in Germany, beginning its spread into our country in the second half of the 19th century, spawning and nurturing the likes of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, moved the releases along with 3.7, 3.8 & 3.9.
With Wilson America 4.0 was released along with World War I. After a brief respite in the 20’s during which 2.1 and 2.2 attempted to move the country back from the progressive precipice, along came the Depression and the Dust Bowl and the road to WWII; and, of course, FDR, the New Deal and the Real 4.0. If Wilson had not launched it already it would have warranted its own major release but, as it stands, it went out as America 4.5. And with the New Deal something like 4.51, 4.52, 4.53, 4.60, 4.61, 4.62.01, 4.62.02, 4.63, 4.64, 4.7, 4.71.01, 4.71.02, and so on. Lots of follow-on fixes for reckless new feature releases- almost no room for much else.
America 5.0 would not have had to have been a major release other than the fact that it was an attempted move away from Wilson, FDR and the 4.x releases. It spanned Truman, Eisenhower, and, to a lesser extent, JFK. But then along came LBJ, the Great Society, Civil Rights, Vietnam and the 60’s.
America 5.0 had not gone far enough to address all of the issues introduced with America 4.0 so the 60’s ushered in 5.5, an eclectic overlap of the WWII generation and their offspring, the anti-war, anti-establishment, tuned-out kids and hippies of that tumultuous later decade.
The remainder of the 5.x releases covered Nixon and moving on…with Carter and our loss of international prestige. Reagan would have seemingly ushered in 6.0 if his legacy, squandered initially by the elder Bush, had not faded with the coming of the Clintons. This was followed by the younger Bush and a more progressive side to the Republican remnants of Ronald Reagan.
The changes we have been subjected to over the last 5 years would seemingly support the announcement of a new release, America 6.0. This release would be characterized by a rapid retreat from an abdication of the Constitution by the administration, Congress for the most part, the Supreme Court sadly, and, most especially, the DOJ ; a rapid fall in presence and prestige around the globe after a brief reprise under Bush; the continued destruction of our economic and financial institutions and practices; the ongoing decay of what remains of our moral culture; the elimination of the nuclear family; the subjugation of the Christian faith and its associated religious underpinnings; the disconnection of our children from academic excellence; the triumph of political correctness; the inevitable (I guess I must finally admit it) move toward American Socialism as we also face then the elimination of what was once known as American Exceptionalism.
But before we go there I would like to offer up an alternate proposal, an idea for a new release plan that might just satisfy everyone concerned.
So please stay tuned.