So it was ok for 100 years as long as the will of the people decided for it? It was ok as long as it was legal and decided by the majority? Shouldn't the rights of each individual slave have trumped the rights of the majority?
Eventually the People get it right and I would rather trust in the goodness of the American people than a dictator who ignores the will of the People because he "knows what is best for America."
Eventually, the people get it right? Seems to me we're getting a bigger and bigger more intrusive and socialistic government every decade. Look at the size of the government with respect to the GDP over the last 100 years. You're telling me the majority, as well as the representatives they elect, are invariably right? We're moving in the right direction? The trendline for our nation is most definitely going down over the last century...
I bet Hitler, and Stalin didn't think of themselves as monsters...they thought they were doing what was best for the people.
Hitler? Interesting. You mean Hitler from the democratically elected Nazi Party supported by the 'will of the People'?
I don't like much of what the People want anymore than you do. I think it is wrong to take my hard earned money and give it to PBS...or anybody except my family. I'm not happy about an increase in Medicare or any other socialist program, but I have to convince my neighbor and the rest of the voters before that will change.
Isn't that what I'm doing? Some people don't even recognize that it's happening and when I criticize it you:
A: Tell me it's the will of the people and
B: Tell me that I should convince others that it's wrong.
Isn't that what I'm doing?
This is the world we live in and these are the rules.
The rules suck. I don't like the rules you've created. It opens the doors to liberal seizure of arms, property, and wealth. I will always be evangelical in my support of those ideals. I should criticize it, not accept it as the will of the people, because how the heck else am I supposed to convince the people that it's the wrong way? Let the impending financial crisis convince them?
You don't have to like the way it is, but it does no good to close your eyes and pretend it isn't so. Complaining that Dubya is doing the will of the People is like complaining about death to God.
What? So don't complain about it, just let the people decide, while convincing them to go another route, but again without complaint... ??
Your wasting a lot of time and energy that could be better spent trying to change the minds of the People.
Ugh. I'm detecting a lot of double-speak here.
Federal spending as a percent of GDP has stayed at roughly between 17-19% since WWII. During WWII it hit a high of 37.91. The standard of living has certainly improved over the last 100 years. Our freedoms have increased...100 years ago women couldn't vote and Jim Crow laws prevented blacks from voting. Children worked in unsafe factories for pennies a week. The People eventually get it right.
I should criticize it, not accept it as the will of the people, because how the heck else am I supposed to convince the people that it's the wrong way?
It will take incrimental steps to get America further to the right. When Governor Thompson of WI first proposed welfare reform, there was a clamor from the left and anguished tears from the welfare recipients and even some conservatives complained because the program cost more money than the current welfare program. This was because it offered health care and child care for those enrolled in the program. The program was implimented in small steps so as to not shock the voters into voting Thompson out of office. It worked. It will be a tremendous benifit as the children of former welfare recipients see the parents working for a living rather than sitting home and collecting a check. Welfare rolls in Wisconsin have been cut by over 90%.
Now I ask you to look at the Conservatives in WI who stood up against Gov Thompson's welfare reform on principle. They sided with the 'rats and almost killed it. They look a lot like you. They can't see the big picture. A car must continue forward as it slows down. The breaks must be applied slowly or the driver will go through the windshield. Eventually the car can stop completely and even be put in reverse. The driver today is Dubya, and he is doing a great job.