imported post
ixtow wrote:
Citizen wrote:
ixtow wrote:
Citizen wrote:
And that even Ben Franklin was convincedthe Constitutionwouldn't work.
SNIP No piece of paper can...
Curiously enough, this was one of the Federalist counter-arguments to the demands for a Bill of Rights. In essence, "you don't need a Bill of Rights because no parchment will protect."
Uh, huh. Well, the Bill of Rights may not have fully protected, but itslowed 'em down. Given what has been rammed down our throats in the last 100 years by the fedgov, imagine what the fedgov would have done if therewas noBill of Rights!
One could also argue that the slowdown of encroachment leads to passification by generation gap. Had the fedgov tried more, faster, it would not have been tolerated to this point....
Both seam plausible, but which has shown to be more effective historically? The only scientific data available on this suggests that freedoms tend to be lost permanently due to gradual encroachment. Abrupt changes are less tolerable.
For an un-informed populace perhaps. I can say from personal experience that looking back at the all the little encroachments, and thus seeing the sum total encroachment,tolerable is no longer an accurate description for me. Thus my activism.
A big part of it, too, I think, is having meaningful reference points against which to weigh government policy. For example, if your schooling indoctrinated you to believe that government was the source of solutions, was good for you, that people need controlling, etc., then you would lack the information needed to evaluate against fedgov policy. Another good example might be Lysander Spooners explanation that it iscriminal for someone to extort money from you for your protection, and that itin no way legitimizes it if Mssrs A, B, and C depute D to do the extorting. Meaningcitizens A, B, and C deputecongressman D by election to do the extorting. If you don't know that to be the game, and that it is criminal whether legal or not, you won't recognize the deep immorality of many of government's activities. (Thus, the Dept. of Education is really just an extension of the tax bureau, softening up the targets.)
But, if a dimwit like me can figure it out between reading books, forum discussion, and following pro-liberty websites, the rest of the populace can, too. The web is wonderful for bypassing the "established" information channels.
The statement is not a tad disconnected. It is totally disconnected. If that was the lawyer who argued for gun control laws, all I have to say is...