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I think they would be amazed at personal modes of tranportation. At how long we live and how small the world has become. The would probably be amazed that there are metal birds in the air and small little people talking inside a box. But more than those things, I think they would be amazed that we have broken the bonds of slavery. Both from ourselves and for others. I think they would be most pleased that we have settled this great country, from sea to shining sea.
I think they would be a bit confused too. Confused over why most of us do not own land. That many live in little boxes, "made out of ticky tack". They would be confused over why we import food and other goods, when we have the capability to create so much....and yet we dont. I think they would be confused over the fact that we can produce so much and yet we hold ourselves hostage over commodities, like oil.
But the saddest thing would be the dismay they would suffer, when they realize that instead of the "People" running the country, the Government is grasping the control. They would be dismayed that our borders are open for invasion and that we allow those invaders to pillage and plunder our countries wealth. That these invaders are not villified by our controlling Government and actually embraced, with evil intentions. I think they would suffer great dismay over issues like the Government no longer allowing men of free will, being allowed to seek their fortune, with the sweat from their own backs. That parts of this great country, is actually off limits, to fishing,hunting, mining and many other endeavors that they themselves enjoyed, when this country was young.
That we have relegated our forefathers to the pages of history, without taking the lessons from them that we now need so desparately, is a mark against us. That we have allowed our Government of the past 20 administrations to take our freedoms and liberties away from us slowly but surely, is a mark against us. That we have allowed not only invaders to come across our still open borders, but allowed ourselves to be attacked and thousands killed, is a mark against us.
Its not the same country now, that it was when we were young. We still die from disease and the perils of our labors. But we can also die at a moments notice, with the push of a button, at the whim of a single man. Our greatest men, that had an idea, didnt envision the threshold that we now stand upon. Only now, as we stand at the edge of that threshold, do we look back over our shoulders and try to see what our forefathers wanted for this land. Only now, when we are confused and angry with our Government, do we invoke the words of our fathers.
The current situation is our fault. If we did not have a direct hand in it, we allowed it to happen. There is only one question now. Do we have the fortitude to correct what has been done. As we fight and argue amongst ourselves, I like to think our forefathers are watching. I would like to know what they are thinking, what they would do, how they would guide us. I like to think that they would want us to stand united. I like to think that they would tell us, the good of the many, outweigh the good of the few or the one.
And while its a romantic thought that they may be watching us and what we do, their not. We are here, sometimes alone, sometimes together. But all of us, standing upon the threshold, whether we have our eyes open or not.
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George Wilgers wrote on Sep 29, 2009 10:02 AM:
Just last week we learned that a provision of the health insurance reform includes Jail Time for those who can afford health insurance and do not buy it.
"A representative from the Joint Committee on Taxation said that yes, the penalty for failing to pay the fee could be as high as $25,000 and up to a year in jail. " from news reports.
Yes, we have gone astry in the past. Yes there have been over reactions by ALL political parties, including those that no longer exist.
The description of some programs have been distroted to play a political card (I speak of the NSA program which allowed the tapping of phone callse between non-citizens outside the country, but whose calls where routed through the county). But things like the Patriot Act did have very distastful elements in it, and with any luck they will eventually go away, but only if we the people are willing to voice our dissatisfaction with what is being done. NO POLITICAL PARTY is clean when it comes to messing with the Consitution. BUT we the people should remember the 10th Ammendment. All powers not expressly vested in the federal government by the Consitution are reserved for the States. "
Hugo wrote on Sep 28, 2009 12:48 PM:
Melisa wrote on Sep 26, 2009 12:41 PM:
Unlike you Mr. Mosely, I will give an example. The Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay, and the secret NSA Spy program.
This is the closest that the country has come to aboloshing key parts to our Constitution, so where were all of our freedom fighting patriots?
They were sitting back letting it happen, because they knew that they would not be investigated because they were not terrorist.
In my opinion, the great patriots missed their chance to defend the Constitution when it needed it most. Anyone who allows it to be infringed simply because they think it will not affect them is not a patriot in my book, All of us know that it is just a small step from infringing on "those people's" rights to our rights.
Sure they would be surprised by TV and airplanes, but they would be dismayed not by the amount of land we cannot fish and hunt, but at the complete complacency of those who call themselves the true patriots at the dismantling of our Constitution. "
Juno wrote on Sep 25, 2009 6:05 PM:
Hugo wrote on Sep 24, 2009 3:57 PM:
A founder like Alexander Hamilton, the illegitimate son of a scottish woman, who moved to the US to make his fortune might not consider immigrants to the US "invaders". He might actually relate to their plight. The founding fathers were in fact encouraging immigration in order to settle the Northwest Territory. The Northwest Territory along with the rest of the land the US sits on belonged to the Native Americans so perhaps we should refrain from using the term so loosely, since we are all actually in fact descendants of "invaders".
While it is hard to imagine the Founders not being amazed about the fact that slavery is no longer used in the US, it is hard to imagine all of the Founders being pleased about this development. Surely Charles Pinckney and Pierce Butler of South Carolina, the men who introducted the Fugitive Slave Clause at the Constitutional Convention would have a hard time imaging the US as a society where everyone regardless of their skin color is considered equal.
Several of the Founding Fathers, who were Federalists, such as George Washington, John Jay, and especially Alexander Hamilton might actually be pleased that the national government has grown to have so much power. Did George Washington not send a militia to put down Daniel Shay and his farmer friends when they rebelled against the taxes being unfairly imposed by the Massachusetts state government? Taxes intended to take the land away from the farmers when they were not able to pay them so that the Massachusetts state government could pay off its war debts. Isn't this the exact kind of taxation Americans fought against Britain in the first place? Thomas Jefferson however, would vomit in his own mouth knowing that our government has become so powerful however.
As far as the Founders being confused that so many people do not own land today, well that's hard to imagine as well. After all they lived in a time when many people, both slaves and free men, did not have a piece of land to call their own. Indentured servants and tenant farmers in the new American states were plentiful and landless. I am not sure however if the Founders would not what "ticky-tack" is however. Would they be confused about the fact that the US engages is trade with other countries? Hardly. Considering that the New England industrial economies and the Southern agrarian economies were both heavily dependent on trade. During the ratification of the Constitution it was the rich landowners, merchants, artisans, and coastal farmers who most supported its approval because they wanted the national government to protect their property and have the power to regulate commerce with other nations and within the states.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both failed to prevent British attacks of the US during the war of 1812, so to think that today we have "allowed" ourselves to be attacked is somewhat inaccurate when comparing ourselves to the Founding Fathers since two of them actually failed to prevent British attacks on US soil as well. To overlook that fact that certain Founding Fathers are guilty of violating people's civil liberties would also be also another historical whitewash. I am not referring to slavery, I am referring to John Adams drafting of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Was this Founding Father not guilty of doing the same thing that you accuse the past 20 administrations of doing.
The Founding Fathers, as serious students of history, from the Roman Republic to the Enlightenment would be most displeased with the historical inaccuracies you have contributed in this letter to the editor.
There is one thing I shall give you credit for however. You are right when you say that the Founding Fathers would be displeased about the fact that our nation is not united. George Washington warned against factions in his Farewell Address and John Adams tried to follow his example and paid dearly for it by losing the election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson and his successor James Madison however, would not have minded the creation of factions at all. They actually exploited it for their political advantage.
Not all the Founding Fathers and Framers had the same political, religious, personal beliefs or morals. Some of the participants in the Constitutional Convention did not sign the document because of this. They did however realize that the society was going to face problem that they could not anticipate and therefore they left a way for the Constitution to be amended, unlike the Articles of Confederation that made it nearly impossible.
The Constitution is the greatest document regarding the organization and function of government ever produced. In that we are in total agreement. The Federalist Papers should also be required reading for all students of government and history. "