Tofu Cubes/Madison Quote/Gene

[Guest guest]

Interesting quote, Gene. I am an admirer of Madison

and Jefferson (mostly Jefferson...My beliefs are very

Jeffersonian). Madison and Jefferson founded the

Republican party and were staunch defenders of our

constitution and liberties. Madison indeed did not

like war but supported greatly the French Revolution

b/c they fought the British. Everyone has their

motives I suppose, though not always in agreement.

I could chat all day about our glorious Founding

Fathers!

I really like this excerpt about him...

***His Federalist writings allowed Madison to expand

upon his vision of republican government and on his

belief that the proposed Constitution would

accommodate both the ideals and the political

realities of the young republic. In Federalist 10,

which many scholars consider to be Madison's

masterpiece, he redefined the traditional concepts of

democracy and a republic. He demonstrated that by

" extending the sphere " of republican government to a

national scope, the nation could avoid many of the

problems of such a form of government at the local

level. The greater diversity of large republics

minimized the evils of faction and popular passion,

making it more difficult for tyrannical majorities to

combine.

The representative government provided by the

Constitution for such a republic, he argued, would

also shield those in government from local passions.

Larger constituencies and the indirect procedures for

selecting a president, senators, and federal judges

would encourage the choice of the most qualified.

Madison described such provisions in the Constitution

as a " republican remedy " for the " diseases most

incident to republican government. " *****

So you see, he recognized the 'malignancy' of his own

party but was very, very much Republican, and wanted

most to rid the Government of SPECIAL INTERESTS.

However, I feel that we should have minimal National

Government and greater state Governments...So, I lean

more towards Jefferson than Madison. Warmly, Allison

> >

> " Of all the enemies to public liberty war is,

> perhaps, the most to be

> dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ

> of every other. War is

> the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and

> taxes. And armies, and

> debts, and taxes are the known instruments for

> bringing the many under the

> domination of the few. In war, too, the

> discretionary power of the

> Executive is extended. Its influence in dealing out

> offices, honors, and

> emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of

> seducing the minds, are

> added to those of subduing the force of the people.

> The same malignant

> aspect in republicanism may be traced in the

> inequality of fortunes, and

> the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state

> of war...and in the

> degeneracy of manners and morals, engendered by

> both. No nation could

> preserve its freedom in the midst of continual

> warfare. "

>  

> --James Madison, April 20, 1795 (Works. Vol. 4, Pp.

> 491-2)

>

>

 

 

 

 

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