Posted on 05/06/2010 2:26:51 PM PDT by FreedomNotSafety
"The conclusion then, is, that neither the representatives of a nation, nor the whole nation itself assembled, can validly engage debts beyond what they may pay in their own time." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. ME 7:457, Papers 15:398n
"Then I say, the earth belongs to each of these generations during its course, fully and in its own right. The second generation receives it clear of the debts and incumbrances of the first, the third of the second, and so on. For if the first could charge it with a debt, then the earth would belong to the dead and not to the living generation. Then, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. ME 7:455, Papers 15:393
"To preserve [the] independence [of the people,] we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses, and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes, have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account, but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816. ME 15:39
(Excerpt) Read more at etext.virginia.edu ...
Jefferson beleived that repayment of our national debt was a sacred duty but he also beleived the debt to be bounded by what could be paid within a generation (19 years)and that which was paid for by a specific tax.
The Greek people got themselves into this mess, they voted those politicians in and they demanded those entitlements.
>The Greek people got themselves into this mess, they voted those politicians in and they demanded those entitlements.
Don’t worry; our time to pay the piper will be coming soon.
Free Advice: Buy Ammo & Survival Supplies.
Now, if we could just get our so-called leaders to learn a little history.....
Even though I agree with you, I still agree with Jefferson. The new generation of Greeks do not owe this debt. The Greek government borrowed more than the current generation could pay.
Jefferson was warning against incurring that kind of debt in the first place, and the Greeks are well beyond that point. Not only do they not want to pay back the debt that their Government largely paid to the Greek people, a significant majority of those very same Greek people do not want to work at all.
One of the info-babes on FBN in the morning is Greek, and she has people she knows tell her constantly:
“All the Greek people want is Drink, Dancing and Sex.”
Exactly what does Greece lead the world in producing anyway??
Certainly Ouzo, but what else?? Steel? Cars? Electronics? Appliances?? Sex toys?? Anything??
Therein lies the problem; it is questionable whether the Greek economy is worth the money the Greek Government owes.
The Greeks made their choice, profusion then and servitude now.
I agree with you even more!
Heh... Now that is a bit of a stretch. I do believe that the Greek people are rebelling because they are losing their benefits, not because they won’t pay off the debt!
I guess it comes down to the reason why they are rebelling...heh.
I do like the comparison though - if only their reasoning was like Jeffersons, they would have long ago been our of debt and prospering...
Now just when will the US begin this transformation...? For that matter where are our Jeffersons in Congress?
I agree more or less.
Yes, this is going to happen here to some extent too.
Amazingly I hear idiots blaming this on capitalism, as if capitalism made the government spend so much on entitlements and stuff.
It would have been very helpful if the Greeks had been busy producing more Greeks too.
Wow! I think you are right on the money but what could be said of the 51% of this country that is now riding on the US Sovereign Debt Wagon. You know, the one that the other 49% of us are pulling?
The violent protests are a response to "austerity measures" imposed -- clearly as a last resort (since there is no political support for them) -- by the Greek government in an attempt to fix a situation that could not go on.
A hard-working citizen who protests over excessive taxation will always get my support. But a government employee (or even a private sector employee) who sets a bank on fire because his government will not give him full retirement benefits (including a pension that is close to 100% of his salary) at the age of 55 is an ignorant loser, not a responsible citizen standing tall as a champion of liberty.
You’re somewhat right, but the difference is we aren’t out in the streets rioting, burning banks and killing bankers...
Similiar to our bureaucrats marching on Springfield Il to demand a tax increase to pay their inflated wages and early retirements.
We should pass a federal law banning defined benefit retirement plans..ending them. Everyone should have their own retirement account.
When the times comes to repay our debt you will gladly let the government trim your social security check? You may not mind but do you think SEUI is going to go along quietly?
Our country is chock full of people collecting pensions from age 55. They will be mad when they are cut and I will be even angrier to be forced to pay for them.
Is anyone demanding that we cut anything at all to pay for our debts? It is easy to not riot when the good times are rolling.
Your logic is false. It is this Greek generation that is the one that has benefited from the spending that created that debt.
Unfortunately, the regime seems intent on heading a different way...401K's demise
'hack
Let’s just stick to Thomas Jefferson, shall we?
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