by Kody Fairfield
The birth of our nation, laid by our Founding Fathers, was a carefully-crafted pillar of world history. Unlike any nation before it, America was birthed from the foundations of individualism, property rights, and the opportunity to pursue happiness.
Those same Founders, wiser in political construct than most men at any moment in history, spoke truth to power. A power so transcendent, they still retain their value to this day.
Here is how their words relate to our current Presidential election in 2016, over 200 years later.
1. Patrick Henry- Constitution Convention Debate 1788
“When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object.”
Henry, during the Constitutional Convention debates in 1788, said this line to describe the birth of his new nation. His words still ring true today, as we continue to step away from the “Liberty” Henry describes. The presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, both look to government-run solutions to cure the public’s ails. Whether it be with government-run healthcare or a federal minimum wage, both candidates continue the push away from liberty.
2. Thomas Jefferson- Second Inaugural Address 1805
“During the course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been leveled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety.”
Jefferson, our third President and one of the most brilliant minds involved in founding of the United States, understood the importance of having a free press, so much so that during his second inaugural address in 1805, he spoke about how the press can be manipulated and weaponized. This is not unlike the mainstream media in 2016, which often acts as the purveyor of relevant information only privy to one side of the political aisle. Highlight just the political debates, where it has become increasingly difficult to find a neutral moderator as most who are offered the position have donated or volunteered for a Democratic politician.
3. George Mason- Virginia’s Convention To Ratify Constitution 1788
“I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”
George Mason, co-author of the 2nd amendment, during the state of Virginia’s Convention to ratify the Constitution in 1788, argued that the writing in the 2nd amendment, speaking to a “well regulated militia,” inherently meant the citizenry of the country, therefore intending that they retain the unalienable right to “bear arms.” A right which according to the Constitution, “shall not be infringed.”
Mason’s argument is increasingly important in 2016 as both major party candidates have argued to limit the 2nd amendment in some fashion. Trump, with his support “No Fly, No Buy,” where any citizen who is placed on the “No Fly” list, which is arbitrary, involves no due process, and is terribly difficult to be removed from, cannot purchase a firearm. Then Clinton, who has argued for more strict gun control laws to prevent access to firearms law-abiding citizens.
4. John Adams- Thoughts On Government 1776
“Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.”
Second President, and important Founding Father John Adams was never shy about expressing his views on government. In 1776, the same year the nation proclaimed its independence from Great Britain, he argued that Americans would never approve of a government built out of fear, since the men who would embrace such an entity would become “stupid and miserable.”
Little did Adams realize that in many elections, and especially in 2016, fear would play a large role in determining the outcome. Ask any voter in 2016 who they are voting for, and almost no matter who they choose, their reasoning is identical. The voter either fears Trump so much that they will vote for Clinton, or they fear Clinton so much they will vote for Trump. And if by the off-chance they are not scared of the candidates themselves, they are fearful of some other scapegoat or blanket statement entity. The worst part of the fear-driven voter is the fact that candidates now play into this fear, running entire campaigns on drumming up any little fear or vulnerability a voter may be concerned with in order to garner that vote. The voter essentially trades their rational thinking in return for perceived safety or understanding.
5. Samuel Adams- From A Letter to James Warren 1775
“No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.”
Samuel Adams knew back in 1775, one year prior to America’s independence, how dangerous ignorance was to the survival of liberty within his new nation. Unfortunately, it is 2016, and the people of this nation haven’t heeded his warning as they should have.
In a world hyper focused on self-agrandization, the people of the US have lost sight of the importance of intellect, philosophy, virtue and compassion. Reality television and selfies have overtaken reading and debate. It explains excellently why the major party candidates for president, and their scandals have played out as they have. A faction of the public is infatuated with Trump. He is a mimic of reality television, full of personal (ad hominem) drama and unfiltered speech. He is cheered for his boastful and brash persona. It also explains why stories of his treatment of women seem to attract more attention than his opponent Clinton’s near-criminal happenings. The citizens do not want political or judicial drama that they have to think critically about; they want to feel the personal drama as it hits the proverbial fan.
6. Samuel Adams- From the Boston Gazette 1781
“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual — or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”
Sam Adams did not just speak about the people of the nation needing to value virtue and knowledge, but he also understood the importance of a principled vote, and the responsibility that came with it. In 1781, in the Boston Gazette, he spoke to this notion.
In 2016, this statement by Adams should again be at the forefront of conversation. Voters have been sold a false dichotomy by the two major parties in regards to their votes. Mainly that if you don’t vote for the Republican, you might as well be casting your vote for the Democrat, or vice versa. This dichotomy strips the voter of their consciences and principles, folding them to the social construct that has been built for them, allowing for the control of voter action, relegating that action to the election to one of two options every four years, regardless of actual honest support of a candidate.
7. John Jay- Federalist Papers #4 1787
“But the safety of the people of America against dangers from foreign force depends not only on their forbearing to give just causes of war to other nations, but also on their placing and continuing themselves in such a situation as not to invite hostility or insult; for it need not be observed that there are pretended as well as just causes of war.”
John Jay, in the Federalist Paper #4, written in 1787, describes a foreign policy based on non-interventionism, and also one of just action.
In 2016, after years of countless wars, some of which have been unconstitutionally executed, this musing could not ring louder. “Also on their placing and continuing themselves in such a situation as not to invite hostility or insult,” words that no president in the recent past has listen to.
Currently we are stuck with a “wishy-washy” Republican who on one hand has criticized ever entering the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but speaks hostilely about other nations, and on the other hand is a Democratic neocon who has never met a nation she wouldn’t like to “liberate,” or depose.
Jay’s idea of a strong but respectful foreign policy should be especially heeded, as the Civil War in Syria continues to play out with the potential for a large conflict with Russia.
8. Thomas Jefferson 1st Inaugural Address 1801
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“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”
Jefferson, during his first presidency, understood that the purpose of law was to protect the individual, as it was the smallest of minorities. While admitting that majority rule may take place, he also knew any new legislation must be reasonable; otherwise law would simply become oppression.
During the 2016 election cycle, we have seen instances where both presidential candidates have offered legislative suggestions which would may not be deemed as reasonable, and could even be view as unconstitutionally oppressive. For instance, Trump has come out in favor of a national “Stop and Frisk” policy. This policy on its face appears to violate the 4th amendment of the Constitution nearly verbatim. It could also be argued that both Trump and Clinton’s support for a federal minimum wage would meet the same standard of oppression, as it would adversely affect the fringe workers, those on the low end of education or pay rates, while only benefiting those towards the middle of the employment “food chain.”
9. Benjamin Franklin- On Free Press, Pennsylvania Gazette 1737
“Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government: When this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.”
Benjamin Franklin, an author who was heavily involved in news writing, understood the importance of a free press, calling a “pillar of a free government.” His statement that governments get their strength from a popular study into the actions of their ruler is spot on.
Being that the people of the US hold a similar view to Franklin in regards to the press, it may be a little more unclear as to how Franklin’s quote plays into the current day election cycle. Take for instance the relationship between whistle-blower publication Wikileaks and Hillary Clinton. Clinton and her staff have made no attempt to hide their frustration with Wikileaks, as the site has released many damaging documents on the candidate. There is a serious fear that should Clinton become President, an attempt to shutdown a whistle-blower publication could take place. Even Trump has threatened to open libel laws to make it easier to sue and threaten press publications inside the US, which would set a dangerous precedent if it were to ever be enacted and upheld.
10. George Washington- Farewell Address 1796
“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
Our first President, and one of few men to ever live who refused a further term to run a nation, George Washington spoke in his farewell address in 1796 to the dangers of political parties.
2016 is the epitome of the warning Washington gave. The rise of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton within their respective parties are near perfectly described by the line, “by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people.” Look at Trump, who has held every political position possible at some point in his life, running as a populist inside the GOP, and is facing large backlash from the more principled wing of the party. His ties to the party are questionable at best, especially since for a long period of his life, he was friends with his now political foe. Then there is Clinton, whose own ambition supersedes any ounce of principle she holds from the Democratic platform. She appears to use her power, garnered through her time in government, to act outside the bounds of a normal citizen, or an honest politician.