美国建国前后退役军人的养老金政策与早期国家构建

The Pension Movement for Veterans of the Revolutionary War and the Early State Building in the United States

美国革命至南北战争时期,政治精英和美国社会对政府为伤残退役军人提供福利并无异议,但对光荣退役的非伤残军人是否有资格享有国家的福利政策意见不一致。在国会辩论中,最初反对者的观点占据上风。在大陆军总司令乔治·华盛顿的积极推动与退役军人养老金运动的施压下,反对者做出妥协,同意光荣退役的非伤残军人享有养老金待遇。值得注意的是,这仅是政府的应急政策,并没有让这一问题定纷止争。政治精英对退役军人养老金政策的不同态度实则反映了争论各方截然不同的国家构建思路,与此同时,退役军人养老金运动也对美国早期国家建构的进程产生影响。

From the Revolutionary War to the Civil War,the political elites and American society had no objection to the government’s pension for disabled veterans,but they disputed on whether the honorably retired non-disabled soldiers were eligible to enjoy the veterans’pension.In the Congressional debate,the opinions of the opponents prevailed.Under the active promotion of the Continental Army Commander-in-Chief George Washington and the pressure of the Veterans’Pension Movement,the opponents compromised and agreed that honorably retired non-disabled soldiers were eligible to enjoy the veterans’pension.It’s worth noting that this compromise is only an emergency policy of the government,and it did not settled the disputes.The different attitude towards the veterans’pension also reflects the different state-building ideas of the political elites during this period.At the same time,the veterans’pension movement also had an impact on the early statebuilding process in the United States.