"What country before ever existed a century & a half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."
---Thomas Jefferson
Emphasis mine.
Joebama American citizens 2024 print
11 months ago
TJ is my main man!
ReplyDeleteI like that quote, although my favorite revolutionary quotation is by George Washington, "Government is like fire; a fearful servant and a dangerous master."
Not bad for a Dead White Slave Owning Male (grin)
While admiring his genius,I've always been perturbed at his admiration for the French Revolution and its bloodiness---that blindspot he had which uncomfortably reminds me of past "radical" associates (ALWAYS "trust-fund babies") who worshipped Che or Bakunin or Castro from the comfort of their lives.He was dangerously too theoretical,though I admire him for his love of rhetoric.Always preferred realists like Washington and Hamilton (and crusty,cynical Adams),myself.But a balance is needed,and we've had a great Country because of all of them.It's a Conservative's paradox...you believe people should be left alone,yet you don't quite trust them to always do the Right Thing, because there's so many who are frigging idiots.Damage control,mostly.Those were different times,but I like what one fellow wrote at the time-"better to be ruled by one King 3,000 miles away than be ruled by 3,000 people one mile away" (apologies for bad paraphrasing).Of course,that was before the Age of Communication,etc.
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