Comments on: Jefferson, Degeneracy and Obama http://www.thenationalpolicyinstitute.org/2010/03/11/jefferson-degeneracy-and-obama/ Official Web site of the National Policy Institute Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:06:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Josh http://www.thenationalpolicyinstitute.org/2010/03/11/jefferson-degeneracy-and-obama/#comment-40928 Josh Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:43:42 +0000 http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/?p=8430#comment-40928 Isn't it a bit anachronistic to support modern conservative arguments about the market with pre-capitalist figures like Jefferson? Don't get me wrong, Jefferson was a genius in his time, but he wasn't a prophet. If there is one thing that the founding fathers lacked, it was foresight about the free-market. That isn't because they were stupid, but because they could not envision what would happen in the next two centuries; the industrial revolution, globalization of trade and communication, concentration of political power within the industrial complex. We shouldn't forget what the founding fathers wanted for our country, because they designed a great system. It's important, however, to understand that they lived 200 years ago, when slavery was legal, children could be forced to work 20 hour days, and women couldn't vote. We must analyze modern problems from a modern perspective, taking into account the words of those who came before us. At the very least, they believed in the legislative process. As far as I can tell, no one has bypassed that process. It just so happens that you don't agree with what happened. Isn’t it a bit anachronistic to support modern conservative arguments about the market with pre-capitalist figures like Jefferson? Don’t get me wrong, Jefferson was a genius in his time, but he wasn’t a prophet. If there is one thing that the founding fathers lacked, it was foresight about the free-market. That isn’t because they were stupid, but because they could not envision what would happen in the next two centuries; the industrial revolution, globalization of trade and communication, concentration of political power within the industrial complex.

We shouldn’t forget what the founding fathers wanted for our country, because they designed a great system. It’s important, however, to understand that they lived 200 years ago, when slavery was legal, children could be forced to work 20 hour days, and women couldn’t vote. We must analyze modern problems from a modern perspective, taking into account the words of those who came before us.

At the very least, they believed in the legislative process. As far as I can tell, no one has bypassed that process. It just so happens that you don’t agree with what happened.

]]>