Jefferson on Liberty and Government
Tim and I have had a recent discussion on how the founders of the United States understood taxation with respect to whether they just wanted representation in London or if they wanted the government to stay out of their lives.
The other day I came across this Jefferson quote on Ben Smith's blog:
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretence of taking care of them.
Sounds to me like Jefferson was ready to join the tea parties protesting the stimulus package.
posted by Matthew Canonicus at
4:06 PM
4 Comments:
I did not mean to imply that all of the founding fathers were not against anything more than light taxation on a theoretical level, I was just disagreeing with the notion that most of the people involved with the American revolution were fighting for that.
I consider it a fairly academic point though. As brilliant as they were for being able to construct such a successful constitution, they had a diversity of opinions. As many as there were who despised the idea of a large Government that collected alot of taxes, there were just as many who were fearful of the democratic "tyranny of the masses" which would prevent a Government from being able to govern correctly. This significant tension between the different guys probably helped the constitution become so balanced in the end.
Hi Tim,
You are correct that the founding fathers had a variety of views. The Federalist Papers were intended to persuade those with different opinions on ratifying the constitution, and they did require some persuading. Props to Tim for understanding a foreign government's history!
I'm a little puzzled by your contrast of "government by the masses" against "Big government". That sounds like the same thing to me.
Saving philosophy for the philosophers, I believe Jefferson -if he were here today- would say, "Boo government health care!"
Hey Matt,
I was contrasting small Government with the fear of a democratic system that distributed power in Government. One is anti-Government pro-people, the other pro-government and anti-democracy. The 'tyranny of the masses' (as in, democracy is bad) was, as far as I know, a common phrase used back then when discussing political theory among the elites.
In semi-relevant news, i'm heading to America myself tomorrow! Going to Washington D.C for a couple of days, and then NYC for five more days after that. I'm actually really excited, it's my first time travelling overseas and i've been wanting to go to these two cities for quite awhile.
Hi Tim,
Sorry for the delayed response. I respect your desire to come visit my country. When I visited NY it did not impress me very much (although I hear it has seen better days). I saw DC as a boy and liked it very much.
As for your distinctions, I'm afraid they went far over my head. Perhaps you could sometime find an occasion to elaborate on them further.
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