Why is it that we didn't study (and discuss!) -- deeply -- the men (and women) who made history, instead of -- or in addition to -- just the events, places, and dates!
Who could read the words of Thomas Jefferson and not want to learn more!?
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
Discuss. What does this mean to you?
What does this mean regarding the rights to free speech? art? business? gun ownership? motorcycle helmet laws?
"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits."
Is this true today? What has changed since Thomas Jefferson's time? What are the advantages of this principle? What are the disadvantages? What is the principle our government is formed around today?
"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."
Does this mean that we shouldn't help people in need? If the government does not tax the greater population to help those in need, who will help them?
"I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."
Was Thomas Jefferson mistaken? Can a large centralized government benignly care for the populace?
- http://jpetrie.myweb.uga.edu/TJ.html
Who could read the words of Thomas Jefferson and not want to learn more!?
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
Discuss. What does this mean to you?
What does this mean regarding the rights to free speech? art? business? gun ownership? motorcycle helmet laws?
"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits."
Is this true today? What has changed since Thomas Jefferson's time? What are the advantages of this principle? What are the disadvantages? What is the principle our government is formed around today?
"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."
Does this mean that we shouldn't help people in need? If the government does not tax the greater population to help those in need, who will help them?
"I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."
Was Thomas Jefferson mistaken? Can a large centralized government benignly care for the populace?
- http://jpetrie.myweb.uga.edu/TJ.html
