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"If they really loved this country, they would understand that they are not the only ones in it. Their incessant cries for liberty at the expense of the government's strength actually contradicts itself, leading to a weak national government that has no way to defend itself against external manipulative forces"
"...It will equally be forgotten, that the vigour of government is essential to the security of liberty; that, in the contemplation of sound and well informed judgment, their interests can never be separated; and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people, than under the forbidding appearances of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government." - Alexander Hamilton
The quote above is taken from a series of essays written by our founding fathers, which have been compiled into what is now known as the "Federalist Papers". The reason for these essays was to convince the states in the forming of our union to adopt the newly written constitution. They were filled with philosophical, legal, political, and historical arguments, along with examples and predictions as to the consequences of a nation united under separate confederacies like it was under the Articles of Confederation. The goal was to dispel the myths of an intrusive centralized government, to expose the false claims of tranquility as a result of separate states with no central authority, and the opposition which sought to enrich themselves at the expense of the public good.
This, Alexander Hamilton argued, would be done by weakening the government. By blocking the efficiency of government, by limiting the government's power to enforce justice and secure liberty, other dubious and ill intentioned forces would be able to fill in that power void as has happened throughout all great republics before hand.
The founding fathers who anonymously posted these essays in newspapers across the country under the mysterious but historically relevant name of "Publius", did so to pose their argument for why the states should not be their own independently governed sovereignties, but rather unified under a strong, centralized government.
By strong Hamilton did not mean intrusive, overbearing or 'socialist' as Tea parties and Republicans want to claim it; he meant a government that was strong enough to secure liberty, fight corruption, quell internal disputes, and regulate commerce. The complexities of a confederacy of two or more states under a weak federal government would have been chaotic, with different sets of trade laws, various standing armies, contrasting civil rights issues, and the inevitable jealousy of the rise of one state at the expense of another.
I'm not going to give you an entire review of the book, I just wanted to present this one quote that is found in the first pages of the first essay in this collective series written by our founding fathers. The quote is extremely relevant today as to the opposition forces we see seeking to weaken government under the veil of expanding liberty for all. The entirety of the quote is below, which afterwards I will seek to decode for the sake of time and reading effort.
"...And yet, just as these sentiments must appear to candid men, we have already sufficient indications, that it will happen in this, as in all former cases of great national discussion. A torrent of angry and malignant passions will be let loose. To judge from the conduct of the opposing parties, we shall be led to conclude, that they will mutually hope to evince the justness of their opinions, to increase the number of their converts, by the loudness of their declamations, and by the bitterness of their invectives. An enlightened zeal for the energy and efficiency of government, will be stigmatized as the offspring of a temper fond of power, and hostile to the principles of liberty. An over scrupulous jealousy of the rights of the people, which is more commonly the fault of the head than of the heart, will be represented as pretence and artifice... the stale bait for popularity at the expense of the public good. It will be forgotten, on the other hand, that jealousy is the concomitant of violent love, and that the noble enthusiasm of liberty is too apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust. On the other hand, it will equally be forgotten, that the vigour of government is essential to the security of liberty; that, in the contemplation of sound and well informed judgment, their interests can never be separated; and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people, than under the forbidding appearances of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government. History will teach us, that the former has been found a much more certain road to the introduction of despotism, than the latter, and that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career, by paying an obsequious court to the people... commencing demagogues, and ending tyranny."
Now, time for decoding to pose the correlation between what Hamilton said, and what is happening today in regards to the insurgency movement of the Tea Party.
"A torrent of angry and malignant passions will be let loose"
The Tea Party has no reservations about their anger over this president; Every rally includes some line that sounds like this- "We are angry and we are not going to take it anymore!" or "We can't be passive, we must be aggressive and demand our rights be met!". Now the let loose part, well they have certainly taken on a life of their own.
"To judge from the conduct of the opposing parties, we shall be led to conclude, that they will mutually hope to evince the justness of their opinions, to increase the number of their converts, by the loudness of their declamations, and by the bitterness of their invectives."
They've been doing this since day one. They wait to hear what the Democrats have to say, then immediately cherry pick what they want to hear and say "This is what we're talking about! Aren't you mad too?". They use the current economic climate and societal problems to enrage and enlist people in their extremely loosely organized and passionate rants that have no real quest to inquire about what's really going on, but instead scapegoat it on the President and anything else that's convenient for their ideological conquest. The loudness of their declamations? Is this loud enough for you?
And as for their invectives which defined means: vituperation: abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill will...
Well, they have conveniently written them on giant poster boards for all of us to see, and for us to cite.
"An enlightened zeal for the energy and efficiency of government, will be stigmatized as the offspring of a temper fond of power, and hostile to the principles of liberty. An over scrupulous jealousy of the rights of the people, which is more commonly the fault of the head than of the heart, will be represented as pretence and artifice... the stale bait for popularity at the expense of the public good."
Hamilton talks as if he is watching the Tea Party movement before his eyes. This party's incessant demonizing of what Hamilton calls 'energy' and 'efficiency' of government is meant to portray the government as an institution that is directly in contradiction with the principles of liberty. By 'energy' and 'efficiency', Hamilton is speaking of the ways in which checks and balances, judicial review, public accountability and responsiveness from the government would serve as the most effective and plausible way of ensuring liberty and justice for the public good. By pretence and artifice, Hamilton is speaking of how pretentiously clever the Tea Partiers, or in his era, opponents to the unification of America, will sound in their denunciation of the government as hostile and intrusive oppressors of liberty, when in fact, that is what government's role actually is. These dissenters of a strong centralized government which can fend off against manipulative, powerful foreign and domestic factions have reinvented themselves many a time through American history- Confederates during the Civil war, anti-suffrage movements to exclude women, African-Americans and the like from the political process, and more recently the Tea Party, which cries for less federal regulation and more state directed regulation to govern their daily lives. Hamilton denounced this as a messy and often 'unscrupulous nuisance' which has brought down many republics before his time and surely will after.
"the stale bait for popularity at the expense of the public good." This was meant to imply that the techniques used to appeal to a popular base of people are at the expense of the public good, which government at the federal level is sworn to uphold. Their constant support of devastating economic policies, encroachment on civil liberties for women, minorities, and the poor, and attempts to weaken the government to nothing more than national defense are the goals of this group which in turn is directly opposed to the collective majority's well being.
"It will be forgotten, on the other hand, that jealousy is the concomitant of violent love, and that the noble enthusiasm of liberty is too apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust."
The metaphor of jealousy being concomitant (naturally accompanying, companion, sidekick if you will) of 'violent love' was meant to portray that this irrational obsession with liberty and love for freedom will lead to a chaotic or even brutal oppression of those liberties. The vacuum that comes with dismantling the strength of the central government will suck up all the other forces that seek to manipulate, oppress and control, from a much more and often cynical standpoint; The corporations, the wealthy elite, the special interests, foreign influence, glory-hungry politicians, and the like. The second part "and that the noble enthusiasm of liberty is too apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust." is meant to say that people will forget that it is possible for the noble enthusiasm, which I have no doubt that the Tea party truthfully believes it is fighting for, can be infected with not so free principles and oppressive forces. Any idea can be tainted. This one surely will, for where there is no government there will be no governance, and therefore, no security against repression by outside entities that seek not to protect but to control.
"On the other hand, it will equally be forgotten, that the vigour of government is essential to the security of liberty; that, in the contemplation of sound and well informed judgment, their interests can never be separated; and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people, than under the forbidding appearances of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government."
Ah this is a big one. This is the one that Tea partiers pretend they didn't hear. "it will equally be forgotten, that the vigour of government is essential to the security of liberty; that, in the contemplation of sound and well informed judgment, their interests can never be separated;". It is a priority of our government to protect our civil liberties, not to take them away. They haven't taken away any civil liberties, in fact, they have actually extended them. To who though? Not me or you, to corporations, special interests, politicians and the elite that hope not to serve but to own. They have taken attempts by the Obama administration to tighten up the lose ends of the bills that allowed for the corporate corruption of politicians, of the treasury, of the workers, and of the collective good as an attack on their own liberties. The only liberties government is trying to intrude on is the corruption of Wall Street, predatory loan lending companies, corporation's evasion of taxes. Essentially the liberty to accumulate massive amounts of wealth at the expense of the rest, the liberty of corruption, the liberty of embezzlement, the liberty of outsourcing, the liberty of pension stripping, the liberty of dismantling labor laws, all at the expense of the American public. Now, our government may not be in such contemplation of sound and well informed judgment, but that usually stems from those who espouse this type of anti-people rhetoric.
"...and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people, than under the forbidding appearances of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government."
The dangerous ambition that hides behind each cry for more individual freedoms behind the facade of 'the people' is in essence a contradiction. By weakening the firmness of government, by dismantling it, by tearing apart social safety nets, by limiting the government's reach in preventing unethical business practices all work together in hindering your liberty to an economic livelihood that can support you and your family. Your liberties are in turn squashed, for if there is no standard of living, what is the sense in being free? How free are you really when you can't feed your kids, or give your kids a quality education, or if you even want to get sick but can't afford to get sick? What type of liberty is that? Hamilton here is trying to show the connection between what is appealing about this movement for the people, and how easily it is to paint an ugly picture for those who enthuse about the government's firmness and efficiency- essentially, it is much easier to demonize those who support the government than those who oppose it. Those who support it support it because they know it is supposed to be the protector of injustice, the defender of liberty, and the barricade between corruption in the business world. When Tea partiers get what they want and they water down legislation to do little but nothing to restrain these seemingly huge and manipulative business entities, the people who then supported the government now oppose it, because it is no longer doing what it was intended to do; to protect you. It's the recruiting method terrorists use; dismantle the government, weaken the government, make it impossible to operate, and therefore it not only legitimizes your former point, it now lends credibility to your movement as the viable alternative. The only difference between terrorists in other countries is that they use bombs to expose this manufactured truth, these insurgents use words and invectives to cement theirs.
"...History will teach us, that the former has been found a much more certain road to the introduction of despotism, than the latter, and that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career, by paying an obsequious court to the people... commencing demagogues, and ending tyranny."
This is why our founding fathers were so smart; they studied history. They understood what preceded them and what the consequences were to their actions. They understood that a weak and de-centralized government in fact created chaos, facilitated factions, invited foreign influence, and dispersed animosity domestically. The repression of liberties were most often conducted by those who courted or appealed to the people. They commenced demagogues and proposed ending tyranny. Rather, they wanted only to further themselves, their movement, and their glory. This is what these forces seek to do, either consciously or unconsciously.
With all this said we can draw the differences between what the Tea Party claims to be, and what the Tea Party is. They love to cite the founding fathers as their inspiration for their grassroots movement. Instead, the founding fathers predicted the rise of a movement like this, and firmly opposed it's principles. It's ironic the patriotism, the love of liberty and freedom has the adverse effect of repressing said liberties. Hamilton and the founding fathers knew the key to a functional republic that can ensure security and liberty for it's citizens was through a strong central government, that was held accountable by the people, and was put to the test through checks and balances and judicial review. Instead, the opposition want to simplify it to 'more liberty!' and 'no taxes!' to court the people into their seemingly noble love for this country. If they really loved this country, they would understand that they are not the only ones in it. Their incessant cries for liberty at the expense of the government's strength actually contradicts itself, leading to a weak national government that has no way to defend itself against external manipulative forces. For strict constitutionalists and country-loving Americans, they should really do their homework, instead of in naive gestures claim liberty for all; that's what the government is for, to claim liberty for all. Hamilton knew this, the founding fathers knew this, and it's apparent that they don't know this.
-Protest for Democracy
Soon to come; What the founding fathers said about Corporate regulation, and Corporate dominance in our political process.
