He was the last of the true Renaissance men.....
Posted on 08/25/2008 9:09:27 AM PDT by Jim 0216
"At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account."
-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to Monsieur A. Coray, 31 October 1823)
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I predict future happiness for Americans if they can
prevent the government from wasting the labors of the
people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.
Thomas Jefferson letter to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from
those who are willing to work and give to those who would
not.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
One of the most serious flaws in the US constitution is that, while it attempts to limit the growth of government, and prevent any part of the government from disproportionate strength compared to other branches and parts, it lacks what could be called an “anti-constitution”.
That is a document, just as complex as the constitution itself, whose purpose is to gradually and incrementally reduce the size and breadth of government. An orderly system to routinely trim and prune excess growth.
The founding fathers gave short shrift to the ideas needed to disassemble onerous and obsolete parts of the government as they stopped being functional, or even relevant. Instead they assumed that the government itself, or at least the individual States, would step in and perform major surgery somewhat periodically.
However, the process to do this has the horrible prospect of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”, because a constitutional convention could change everything, and would be under intense pressure from so many directions that it could not function, or perform just a small modification.
And as is evident, there are now dozens of proposed constitutional amendments out there, the more reasonable could be combined into an “omnibus”, to correct major problems. Yet that path is not open to us, they most be submitted individually.
I say this, because the judiciary is part of the government also, and though it is less visible, it is also terribly burdened with over 200 years of onerous and obsolete parts. It to a great extent even tries to function with a different language from the common tongue, arcane and unnecessary legalese.
Needs repeating...
Our country is a Miracle, the product of our Founding Fathers who were themselves a miracle grouping of Men of Vision and Virtue that I don't think we've seen before or since.
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." (Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826))
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from
those who are willing to work and give to those who would
not.”
Indeed Jefferson was a brilliant man, but I have a problem with this quote and am rather surprised by the problem. That is the use of the word “democracy” which is not what we are. We are a Republic and the Founding Fathers knew this well. I’m surprised Jefferson uses that word here.
That said, one could likely create the most prosperous and benevolent government in the world following the advice of the Founders, Jefferson in particular.
I was also surprised by Jefferson’s use of the term ‘democracy.’ Perhaps the quote has changed a bit through the years?
I think it’s possible. Franklin is credited with saying “beer is proof God loves man” but he said something about how God sends rain down to feed the vines (referring to wine) and that makes men happy.
Despite the use of the word demovracy here, Jefferson is still a genius.
Good Point. In reading John Adams by McCullough, Jefferson, although he authored the Declaration, came across as someone who might very well use the word "democracy" instead of "republic".
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