Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political:—peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none:—the support of the state governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies:—the preservation of the General government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home, and safety abroad: a jealous care of the right of election by the people, a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided:—absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of the despotism:—a well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them:—the supremacy of the civil over the military authority:—economy in the public expence, that labor may be lightly burthened:—the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith:—encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid:—the diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason:—freedom of religion; freedom of the press; and freedom of person, under the protection of the Habeas Corpus:—and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation, which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages, and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment:—they should be the creed of our political faith; the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety.
Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Jefferson Inaugural address
No apologies for quoting today at length from Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address, from which our 50p coin inscription is derived. I do wish both the Federasts of the EU and Remoaners would read and absorb; his points about the Union of the US apply equally to the Union of the United Kingdom. And note the line " ..absolute
acquiescence in the decisions of the majority".
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9 comments:
Yes but that was before Lincoln discovered socialism Raedwald.... He was born the year that Jefferson stopped being president.
He believed that ordinary folk were better off being protected from their own natural stupidity, they needed to be herded like sheep.
Jefferson, like the greatest president Andrew Jackson, believed that people should be allowed the freedom to have family, and religion and as much education as they wanted... And he didn't much care about duty to the state, or the union, or the new world order.
Neither do we need something called democracy. Provided that the constitution is watertight and the "inalienable rights" are indeed inalienable, thick nasty politicians can never get enough power to start pushing people around.
Andrew Jackson was the last president who tried to protect the US constitution from politicians and their masters, the banks... Unfortunately he tried, but failed.
Jefferson and Jackson were, as far as the later, incorrectly named democrats were concerned... a Paine in the arse.
If only we here had listened to Mr. Paine too.
I note you don't quote the bit way before your quote: "that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression." which TJ called the 'Sacred Principle'.
jack ketch, not sure what your point is. There are myriad great quotes to be taken before the quote posted: for instance, "Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels, in the form of kings, to govern him? Let history answer this question."
Like right-writes, Jefferson was streaks ahead of most of the US presidents. Certainly deserves his portrait in the cliff face.
Jeffersons inaugural address was exactly what it should be-aspirational. Will any country reached those lofty goals? Not in a thousand years, that does not mean snippets of the speech should not be used occasionally, to remind us that targets are useful when stated clearly.
I am amongst the least impressed observers of the current yUK.gov but this coin design states the case for brexit succinctly. Let us hope they can successfully break away from tyrannical rule as the USA did in 1776.
Besides take a browse through the Royal mint designs of 50p pieces recently, there is an awful amount of dross.
Jefferson was no different from the posturing clowns at the top of politics today. Only a politician could look folk in the eye and spout fine words about all men being equal, while owning up to 600 slaves during his lifetime. Indeed, Jefferson once noted that slaves were his most profitable asset because, on top of their labour, they yielded a 4% return by virtue of the fact that they bred.
Dave
Dave, your excoriation of Jefferson for owning slaves misses the point. Jefferson was a man of his time and operated within the "norms" of that period. Fables of slave mistreatment are much exaggerated, indeed, upon emancipation many of the "slaves" chose to stay employed by their mostly benevolent masters. Note I am not arguing that their was no mistreatment, just very little as compared to TV "history" would have us believe. If you wish to blame anybody perhaps your ire should be directed to the slave traders who allowed 20% mortality amongst those being transported, those traders were European as well as US citizens.
Compare the lot of most US slaves of the 18th century and the abysmal lives of agricultural labourers in yUK of the same period bound to their masters by tied cottages and you may be surprised by the result.
If you read Jeffersons address carefully you find no statement of "all men being equal" (except before the courts), that is an obvious fallacious statement that has become popular in our own recent decadent history, 18th century politicians took great care with their language, unlike today.
You forgot one bit ...
AND KEEP SLAVES, PEOPLE, AS PROPERTY.
Oops
r-w
Andrew Jackson was 150% shit
Trail of Tears
Greg, I am uninterested in judging past decisions by todays misplaced morality.
You are aware that many Brits held slaves in the West Indies and many of the transporters were also Brits. Royalty of the time had no qualms in facilitating slavery. yUK did very well from slavery.
Juvenile outbursts of sweary rhetoric does not advance the conversation.
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