The founding fathers of our nation would cringe at what we have become today. We are a country of selfish capitalists in the worst sense of the word. We exploit the weak and poor and use them to our advantage. We slander political opponents in the hopes that the American public will be stupid enough to believe the lies. Most of our country's citizens are dedicated to a political party and will not vote out of it regardless of the candidates' abilities or lack thereof. We're going down the wrong path.
What we need now, is a reversion back to the political principles of the revolutionary era. When we look back on our country's foundations we find the answer to many of our current problems. After the Revolutionary War, citizens of the United States were able to qualify to be voted into presidency if they were first nominated by someone else. The candidate then sat back and allowed others to campaign for them instead of campaigning themselves. It was considered the worst lack of honor possible to go out yourself and campaign. There were also no political parties. Voters were not influenced by party obligations and were free to vote as they felt was the best.
After the Revolutionary War, the United States was in, what would prove to be, one of the worst economic situations ever. All of the states owned various amounts of money because of war costs and needed a way to pay it. Alexander Hamilton came up with the idea of the assumption of state debts. He proposed combining the states' debts into one lump sum and distributing it evenly among the states. Many felt, because some states had already paid most of their debt, that it was unfair for the rest of the states to pay for it, but Hamilton felt that it was necessary for the good of the country as a whole. It turned out that Hamilton was exactly right and his fiscal plan led to some of the best economic years the country has ever seen.
Today, we find ourselves in a similar situation. Most of the states are severely indebted and are having massive economic problems. I recommend we follow Mr. Hamilton's lead. We should practice assumption once again in hopes that we can fix our fiscal problems before they worsen.
The revolutionary generation went through many of the same problems, and worse, as we are facing today. Not following their lead in fixing reoccurring issues would be both foolish and dangerous. We have to make the right decisions now to secure a future for tomorrow's generations.
Revolutionary Principles: How Far We've Fallen
By Dr_Stumbaugh - Posted on October 20th, 2008
Actually, negative campaigning is, as the Romans used to say, nihil novem sub solem- nothing new under the sun. Even our Revolutionary Founding Fathers practiced it, according to an article on CNN.com. On the other hand, George Washington believed that political "factions," or parties, would be detrimental to our democracy, and he may have actually been right. I think we need to just have faith that the American people are smart enough to see through the smears.
Candidates themselves were not doing the negative campaigning and I talked about the founding fathers dislike of political parties. The American people are apparently not smart enough to see through the smears if 1 out of 10 still think that Barrack Obama is a Muslim. If we can't rely on accurate information from the candidates, how can we rely on them at all?
Jefferson, though feigning a lack of involvement (or even awareness), campaigned pretty actively against Adams.
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
At least the way Jefferson campaigned was a little less conspicuous than current campaigners. Everything was under the table and at the end of it all Jefferson and Adams were able to be friends once again (although Abigail never did forgive Jefferson). Currently, presidential candidates openly slander their opponents with no regard for the reflection it gives upon themselves.
True, it has gotten much more venomous, but just think on this- the Harrison campaignn accused Van Buren (I think. Whichever came after Jackson) of selling his soul to the devil. That's just after the founding generation.
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
Van Buren and Jackson were something like eighty years after the founding of the republic. That's not what I would call close.
That's not true. Jackson was around 30 years after the founding of the United States under the Constitution. 1829-37
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
Times have changed. Yes, America today could kill our founding fathers a second time, but only because we have an entirely different environment to handle. We are probably more successful and reputed than we were two hundred years ago, but we're no more evil.
We usually vote with the same party because we vote for issues. I'm not sure if that's "wrong" or simply different than voting for a certain person.
There were political parties before the Constitution was even completed. There were the Federalists versus the Anti-Federalists. The only president who kept factions at bay at least partially was our dearest George Washington, and as soon as he left the government was swamped with partisan politics.
About the debt: since most states--and our federal government--are in such severe debt, then how will sharing the debt help us get rid of it? If we could pay off our debt, we would have already.
Our situation today is quite different than it was when our country was born. We can't look back and do what the revolutionists did two centuries ago; their solutions don't fit our problems. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Instead, we have to have faith that we will solve our problems today as successfully as Hamilton did; we just have to work together to find a solution.
The Federalists and anti-Federalists were not political parties and were not around until after the Constitution was written. They were sides taken on an issue. They did not become a political party until after three presidents had served their terms of office.
Our current economic issue is much like that of the early Republic. They were in financial debt because of a war, and now we are in debt because of a war. That doesn't seem like apples and oranges to me.