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Monday, May 27, 2013

Thomas Jefferson on popular sovereignty and democracy


"I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom."

Thomas Jefferson

Letter to Samuel Kercheval | June 12, 1816


4 comments:

  1. A fabulous letter! Jefferson could write! I'm only halfway through but came upon this:

    "But follow principle, and the knot unties itself." Thomas Jefferson

    Indeed it does. Conversely, the lack of principles, such as the lack of ethics in purchasing power creation, has created an enormous, tangled mess.

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  2. It is a great letter.

    Jefferson, a proponent of decentralization of control — what is now called the principle of subsidiarity — basically proposes organizing on the foundation of direct democracy using the model of the New England town meeting, dating from colonial times.

    It must also be remembered that Jefferson was down on govt debt at the time since the US was on the gold standard and was export dependent. Govt had to borrow from the wealth to fund itself.

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  3. I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the
    rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And to preserve
    their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual
    debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or
    profusion and servitude.
    Thomas Jefferson [bold added]

    Yep. It appears Mr. Jefferson had a gold-standard mentality. Someone should have taken a Tally Stick to his understanding of money?

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