Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations, and in turned the global economics into a new direction. Prior to the development of the Market system nations practiced Mercantilism. The idea that a nations wealth depended on how much the king had. The more in the royal bank the wealthier the nation was. Consequently wealthily nations had set policies, planned economic durability, and regulated trade to ensure that their exports did not exceed the nations imports. When Adam Smith introduced the Market system in his theory book Wealth of Nations it was like questioning that people need food to live.
Mercantilism had Kings sitting in gold palaces and eating off of gold plates with engraved silverware, and the common people living in dung huts. Yes, the nation had wealth, but the lifestyle of the people was poor. Adam believed that common people had the right to wealth, and that could come from the lifestyle they lived. His concept of per capita income, were the per capita welfare of the people was measured a nations wealth was a shock to the expanding world.
“The invisible” hand controls the market system, and people are driven by what they want when they make a purchase. In a market system both people feel that they win in the trade. If I want to buy a laptop because I need to type my homework I buy one from Mackintosh. Although I am giving up my money or “wealth” I am happy because my way of living has improved and I feel that the trade of $2,000 was worth the easy of writing my college papers in my apartment. It was based on the ideal that people have the freedom to chose what they want. Although Adam recognized both parties will win in a fair trade he understood that some would “win” more than others by terms of wealth. My laptop for example, I am out $2,000 and Mackintosh earned $2,000. Some would consider him the winner in this trade, but my laptop improved my way of living and so I maintain my wealth.
It is important to note that debt was not in Adam Smith’s vision of Market system. Debt is a bondage, and decreases freedom. Now there are some debts aka student loans, mortgages, ex. That have a specific investment, and improve ones way of living. These are what are needed to improve our way of life. Not all debt is an investment and will decrease our wealth and eventually decay our freedom. Making the distinction between “good” debt and “bad” debt is a personal choice and should be taken with delicate concern. I am not a financial assistant, just a college student.
Adam Smith opened the door for the market system I am accustom to: exchanges made on mutual interest, both parties are happy, consumer seventy, voluntary exchange, market determining what will sale, and the base of what sales being the consumer’s interest. His idea was introduced and flourished in the new world. A place were freedom was delicately blossoming. Although the United States had established freedoms in the constitution and Declaration of Independence there was no mention of economic freedom in either document. I can not even think of America without a free market economy. All because Adam Smith wrote down his thoughts and published them.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Crandall Printing Museum
I had never noticed the red bricked building before. Even with the address scribbled on my history notes and a MapQuest print off I almost drove past it. What an odd assignment? Not that I had any problems with American Heritage being canceled for the entire week so we could visit the museum, but all the same. What was in those red brick walls that would “enrich my learning experience” so much that class should be canceled? After visiting the Crandall Printing Museum on Center street in Provo I knew what my professor found in those small well kept rooms; inspiration.
It started with ancient texts on: animal hide, stone, clay, waved sheep guts, cave walls, and about anything that could preserve information, and inspiration. I imagined myself scribbling on cow hide with animal blood on a stick, and I resolved to never curse slow internet access again. More important I realized if someone had enough dedication to write with dried reeds on soft clay rocks they felt that what they were saying was very important.
The presentation then explained monasteries roll in preserving scriptures. This will all sound ignorant and biased, but prior to this visit I imagined monks as these overweight men with bald heads sitting at a desk scribbling out ancient scriptures that they did not agree with and praying only when other people were around to watch. Don’t worry I would always speckle my scenario with a few monks to slow in the head to do anything besides copy text. I am pretty sure this is inaccurate. For starts monks were not dumb; they fluent in Latin. Next they loved the bible. Really! Not only did they write out the text, but they decorated the Bible with detailed depictions of Christ, saints, and nature. How could you stand sitting at a desk all day drawing pictures in something you did not love.
From there the presentation goes on to the Gutenberg Press. Genies, innovative, imaginative, creative, can I think of enough adjectives to describe Gutenberg? Nope the English language probably does not have enough good words to describe him. Up until now all I heard about Gutenberg was “he invented the first printing press” Well that phrase has a lot more in it than I thought, because he thought of it all in a time when hardly anyone read, wrote, and if they thought you were out of the norm they burned you for being a witch.
Visiting the Crandall Printing Museum helped me realize how much people want to read. Truly read, and write. It made me grateful for their dedication, but also humbled. I was humbled when I realized how much I take for granite. This I just wrote for example… thirty minutes tops, for History credit, I never even had to use ink, and you are reading it. Remarkable! All because someone over four thousand years ago thought that it would be a good idea if they wrote things down, and taught their children to write things down, and formed a language so they could write things down, and now I have it.
It started with ancient texts on: animal hide, stone, clay, waved sheep guts, cave walls, and about anything that could preserve information, and inspiration. I imagined myself scribbling on cow hide with animal blood on a stick, and I resolved to never curse slow internet access again. More important I realized if someone had enough dedication to write with dried reeds on soft clay rocks they felt that what they were saying was very important.
The presentation then explained monasteries roll in preserving scriptures. This will all sound ignorant and biased, but prior to this visit I imagined monks as these overweight men with bald heads sitting at a desk scribbling out ancient scriptures that they did not agree with and praying only when other people were around to watch. Don’t worry I would always speckle my scenario with a few monks to slow in the head to do anything besides copy text. I am pretty sure this is inaccurate. For starts monks were not dumb; they fluent in Latin. Next they loved the bible. Really! Not only did they write out the text, but they decorated the Bible with detailed depictions of Christ, saints, and nature. How could you stand sitting at a desk all day drawing pictures in something you did not love.
From there the presentation goes on to the Gutenberg Press. Genies, innovative, imaginative, creative, can I think of enough adjectives to describe Gutenberg? Nope the English language probably does not have enough good words to describe him. Up until now all I heard about Gutenberg was “he invented the first printing press” Well that phrase has a lot more in it than I thought, because he thought of it all in a time when hardly anyone read, wrote, and if they thought you were out of the norm they burned you for being a witch.
Visiting the Crandall Printing Museum helped me realize how much people want to read. Truly read, and write. It made me grateful for their dedication, but also humbled. I was humbled when I realized how much I take for granite. This I just wrote for example… thirty minutes tops, for History credit, I never even had to use ink, and you are reading it. Remarkable! All because someone over four thousand years ago thought that it would be a good idea if they wrote things down, and taught their children to write things down, and formed a language so they could write things down, and now I have it.
Friday, October 16, 2009
freedom
In American Heritage professor H has been discussing the idea that the more choices you have the more freedom you have. Freedom, something that we Americans take pride in having, but why do we have it. What makes us so different? Why did the Founding Fathers feel this was so important? In class we have continually returned to this example:
Imagine that you walk into a grocery store and there is only one brand of spaghetti sauce on the shelf, better yet, there is only one can of spaghetti sauce left in all of the store you do not have the freedom to chose what type of spaghetti sauce you want.
Now if you really hate I mean hate, like you would rather vomit than have to eat that brand of spaghetti sauce, and you need spaghetti sauce that night for a dinner party what would you logically do? I don’t know about you but I would go to another store and buy the spaghetti sauce that I want. Can you not see the irony though? Simply having the option of going to another store is freedom.
Ok, now imagine that you walk into the other store looking for spaghetti sauce that you like. There on the shelves are hundreds of spaghetti sauces; big tomato chunks, baby diced tomato, garlic or onion chunks. Besides being a little overwhelmed by the hundreds of spaghetti sauces that you did not even know existed you now have lots of options, and in turn you have more freedom.
Not only do you get to chose what brand of you want, but how many should you get? Should you mix brands? Should you get enough only for tonight or some cans for storage? These are all of the questions that you need to answer. You might pass there in the aisle and gather date; how much money you have, how many guests you are having, how much those guest might eat, is any one you invited allergic to something in the sauce. Although these method of collecting data is centered around asking more questions there are concrete answers to these questions that help you decided what you want.
Now that you have settled on what type of spaghetti sauce you want, and how much you are going to get you have to buy it. You can not just stand there all night and all day repeating in your mind what type of sauce you want, but you actually have to purchase it and go through the action.
Simple, but I am not limiting this logical approach to spaghetti sauce things. Making choices on what type of religion you want to associate with, what classes you want to take next semester, deciding a major, getting a house, getting married, going on a mission, taking that job opportunity, the list of life determining questions seems endless, and really depends on were we are in life.
I know that sometimes I feel like I am stuck in one store with the spaghetti sauce that makes me want to vomit, and there are no other choices. The hardest decisions seem to be when you have one spaghetti sauce that you love in your left hand and one that you love just as much in your right hand, but you can only chose one of them.
In Robert Frost’s poem The Road not taken a line I typically over look is “That has made all of the difference,” While turning this line over in my mind, and listening to my professor talk about the Declaration of Independence I realized “that has made all of the difference,” It is important to momentarily take away the line “I took the road less traveled by,” from Robert Frost’s poem. If you repeat the poem in your mind unaware of what path the author acutely took the principle that no matter which path you continue on will make all the difference emerges. Sighing the Declaration of Independence risked the lives, fortunes, and honor of all those men and their families. Looking back it is easy to see the difference that little piece of paper made, but in the vital moment they were risking every thing.
In my life there are choices when I am risking everything. Imagine how dull and unproductive life would be without these choices… there would be no freedom. What I have learned in my American Heritage class is not to be afraid of these choices, but to make them. Once I have settled on something I need to put Singh my name, and commit to it. If I am continually striving for good things, and my motives are pure there is no logical way that I can make the wrong choice as long as I am focused to that ideal. There are choices, freedom, and action; they all interconnect and committee is involved in all of them, “that (will) make all the difference.”
Imagine that you walk into a grocery store and there is only one brand of spaghetti sauce on the shelf, better yet, there is only one can of spaghetti sauce left in all of the store you do not have the freedom to chose what type of spaghetti sauce you want.
Now if you really hate I mean hate, like you would rather vomit than have to eat that brand of spaghetti sauce, and you need spaghetti sauce that night for a dinner party what would you logically do? I don’t know about you but I would go to another store and buy the spaghetti sauce that I want. Can you not see the irony though? Simply having the option of going to another store is freedom.
Ok, now imagine that you walk into the other store looking for spaghetti sauce that you like. There on the shelves are hundreds of spaghetti sauces; big tomato chunks, baby diced tomato, garlic or onion chunks. Besides being a little overwhelmed by the hundreds of spaghetti sauces that you did not even know existed you now have lots of options, and in turn you have more freedom.
Not only do you get to chose what brand of you want, but how many should you get? Should you mix brands? Should you get enough only for tonight or some cans for storage? These are all of the questions that you need to answer. You might pass there in the aisle and gather date; how much money you have, how many guests you are having, how much those guest might eat, is any one you invited allergic to something in the sauce. Although these method of collecting data is centered around asking more questions there are concrete answers to these questions that help you decided what you want.
Now that you have settled on what type of spaghetti sauce you want, and how much you are going to get you have to buy it. You can not just stand there all night and all day repeating in your mind what type of sauce you want, but you actually have to purchase it and go through the action.
Simple, but I am not limiting this logical approach to spaghetti sauce things. Making choices on what type of religion you want to associate with, what classes you want to take next semester, deciding a major, getting a house, getting married, going on a mission, taking that job opportunity, the list of life determining questions seems endless, and really depends on were we are in life.
I know that sometimes I feel like I am stuck in one store with the spaghetti sauce that makes me want to vomit, and there are no other choices. The hardest decisions seem to be when you have one spaghetti sauce that you love in your left hand and one that you love just as much in your right hand, but you can only chose one of them.
In Robert Frost’s poem The Road not taken a line I typically over look is “That has made all of the difference,” While turning this line over in my mind, and listening to my professor talk about the Declaration of Independence I realized “that has made all of the difference,” It is important to momentarily take away the line “I took the road less traveled by,” from Robert Frost’s poem. If you repeat the poem in your mind unaware of what path the author acutely took the principle that no matter which path you continue on will make all the difference emerges. Sighing the Declaration of Independence risked the lives, fortunes, and honor of all those men and their families. Looking back it is easy to see the difference that little piece of paper made, but in the vital moment they were risking every thing.
In my life there are choices when I am risking everything. Imagine how dull and unproductive life would be without these choices… there would be no freedom. What I have learned in my American Heritage class is not to be afraid of these choices, but to make them. Once I have settled on something I need to put Singh my name, and commit to it. If I am continually striving for good things, and my motives are pure there is no logical way that I can make the wrong choice as long as I am focused to that ideal. There are choices, freedom, and action; they all interconnect and committee is involved in all of them, “that (will) make all the difference.”
Monday, October 12, 2009
Promised Land
The Book of Mormon describes the founding of America, and the land of Zion. Many anti-Mormon groups use this as evidence to support that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. They claim that he was influenced by the social environment of that day to write about his great country “America” in The Book of Mormon. There is no way around it Joseph Smith was in an era were patriotism valued. The man (Joseph Smith) even ran for president. He obviously had some national pride, but that is not the issue we are addressing.
What needs to be looked at is specifically is how The Book of Mormon addresses the American revolution. There are very few verse on the manner, but the one verse that I would like to focus on is in 1 Nephi 13 verses 14.
“And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise;”
The land of promise; Don’t simply assume Joseph Smith felt America was superior to all other lands. The Old and New Testament calls Jerusalem a “the promised land’. Jews following the Koran also believe that Jerusalem is holy. Buddhists have Theravada the school of elders, a land of promised knowledge. Mecca is a holy place for the Islamic faith. In India there is Vaishno Devi a holy cave shrine to Mata. Even in Ireland the have the Blarney stone; if you kiss the stone you are promised to have the gift of speech. All of this points to the idea that there are many areas throughout the world that are promised. In all periods of history religions across the world have promised lands. It is a rather vague term.
Fortunately Ether clarifies what Nephi meant when he referred to America as the promised land in ether chapter 2 verse 9 it reads, “And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.” Summed up America’s promise is that the people are good they will have prosperity, but if not they shall be swept off the face of the earth by the full wrath of God.
According to the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson the American promise is “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” This promise has a little different of a connotation; God created people equal, and we try to allow that in America by promising Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It is true both promises mention God, but one talks about democracy and God giving equality while the other describes God destroying and blessing his people. When Jefferson wrote his promise he was addressing the King of England, and attempting to prove that all citizens deserved privileges. Compared to Nephi and Ether who were compiling a book of records for their future generations. The audience does not simply give them different voice but revels what they valued.
Nephi and Ether did not value the same ideals as Jefferson, because they were from a different generation than Jefferson. What they wanted people to understand was that if you do not listen to God he will destroy you. Jefferson focused seems to be making an ethos argument, proving his credibility as a citizen to have life, liberty, and the permute of happiness. Can we agree that they are two different promises? To different people? From different people? With different perspectives?
Yes, The Book of Mormon refers to America as the promised land, but not in the modern connotation of the phrase. Joseph Smith was translating and ancient text, and therefore the values and ideals were from an ancient author. Read all you want from the internet from who knows who about the Book of Mormon, and you wont understand it. I would recommend picking up the book and just reading it for yourself. Get to the direct source of all the disputes against and for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and just read the few hundred pages instead of browsing the internet Googling questions and researching credible authors.
What needs to be looked at is specifically is how The Book of Mormon addresses the American revolution. There are very few verse on the manner, but the one verse that I would like to focus on is in 1 Nephi 13 verses 14.
“And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise;”
The land of promise; Don’t simply assume Joseph Smith felt America was superior to all other lands. The Old and New Testament calls Jerusalem a “the promised land’. Jews following the Koran also believe that Jerusalem is holy. Buddhists have Theravada the school of elders, a land of promised knowledge. Mecca is a holy place for the Islamic faith. In India there is Vaishno Devi a holy cave shrine to Mata. Even in Ireland the have the Blarney stone; if you kiss the stone you are promised to have the gift of speech. All of this points to the idea that there are many areas throughout the world that are promised. In all periods of history religions across the world have promised lands. It is a rather vague term.
Fortunately Ether clarifies what Nephi meant when he referred to America as the promised land in ether chapter 2 verse 9 it reads, “And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.” Summed up America’s promise is that the people are good they will have prosperity, but if not they shall be swept off the face of the earth by the full wrath of God.
According to the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson the American promise is “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” This promise has a little different of a connotation; God created people equal, and we try to allow that in America by promising Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It is true both promises mention God, but one talks about democracy and God giving equality while the other describes God destroying and blessing his people. When Jefferson wrote his promise he was addressing the King of England, and attempting to prove that all citizens deserved privileges. Compared to Nephi and Ether who were compiling a book of records for their future generations. The audience does not simply give them different voice but revels what they valued.
Nephi and Ether did not value the same ideals as Jefferson, because they were from a different generation than Jefferson. What they wanted people to understand was that if you do not listen to God he will destroy you. Jefferson focused seems to be making an ethos argument, proving his credibility as a citizen to have life, liberty, and the permute of happiness. Can we agree that they are two different promises? To different people? From different people? With different perspectives?
Yes, The Book of Mormon refers to America as the promised land, but not in the modern connotation of the phrase. Joseph Smith was translating and ancient text, and therefore the values and ideals were from an ancient author. Read all you want from the internet from who knows who about the Book of Mormon, and you wont understand it. I would recommend picking up the book and just reading it for yourself. Get to the direct source of all the disputes against and for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and just read the few hundred pages instead of browsing the internet Googling questions and researching credible authors.
Monday, October 5, 2009
God lets Flowers Grow
In my heart I feel that if God planted a seed he would let the seed grow, not make the seed grow. Technically he has the power to force the seedling into a flower, but I do not believe he does. He would not be breaking any technical laws because the seed does not have agency-- like humans. I preferred the perspective that God provided sunshine, rain, and soil for the seed to grow. He gave it all that it has, and then encouraged the seedling to stretch out and grow. I’m not claiming he abandoned it, because the sun shines every day, and rain still falls. In my understanding he let it grow.
I feel that God acts the same with the life. Nature takes it course and I fall prey to disease, trails, and hardships. That does take away from his divine power over all the elements, but I truly believe that he allows flowers to grow on their own and nature to progress in the laws that he has established.
Although I am still trying to pull out all of the strings twining around my thoughts and testimony this idea came from a few summers ago. Mosquito bitten, sunburned, and unshowered after floating sixty two miles down the Green River my group did a bike ride were down slope of the last two miles tried to compensate for the constant uphill of the other twenty eight miles of the trail. Initially flashing down mountainside felt supernaturally weightless, but as the red rock bolder drew closer and my attempts to turn the handle bars felt stiff and robotic all I could think of was I’m to young to die, but here it goes.
My front tire hit the bolder. Inspired by either fear or faith I released my bike-- sending the jagged bars and poles into a patch of red sand far from my tumbling body. As I staggered up a sting of isolation pricked my courage before I saw my friend Rob in front of me turn around and peddle back towards me.
The space of time between the crash and the being seated on the back seat of Blowe’s truck with a double chocolate chip Granny-B cookie is blurred with concerned dirt covered faces helping me gain my balance. Blowe unfolded his first-aid kit and rubbed an alcohol pad on my bleeding shoulder. Resisting the urge to scream at him I gripped the edge of the truck, and endured the feeling of knives jabbing into my shoulder. After bandaging up my scrapes, and feeling my swelling knee to determine if it was broken I got back on my bike to finish the trail.
Rob let me borrow his mountain bike gloves to decrease the shock sent through the handle bars up my tender wrists. Adrenaline kept me from crying until I pondered how my body rolled three times in the only sand pits in the merciless red rock bed. That I had kept my helmet on. How Rob had seen me out of the corner of his eye. I new that God had watched out for he.
Just like he let the flower grow on it’s own. God let me hit a rock and roll down a mountainside all on my own (I am sure he could have thought of something less painful than rolling down a mountain side to teach me of his love, but apparently it was all I could think of) It is evident by how I missed all the hard rock patches while in my path that He never abandoned me. When the fullness of God’s love hit me that day the bike trail became lost in blurred tears and pathetic attempt to wipe my eyes which only left mud streaks across my face. When ever life gets hard I think back on that sweltering summer day. The feelings of love embraces me and I remember life might through me into a mountainside, but God never abandons me.
“Men art that thy might have joy,” he never said “Men art that thy might have a fluffy and easy life with no hardship and no challenges so that they can become a useless mushroom,” The God that I know wants me to grow. Like a flower I will reach towards the sunlight, and be bathed in drops of rain. Come what may I will hold onto my faith, and testimony that God loves me.
I feel that God acts the same with the life. Nature takes it course and I fall prey to disease, trails, and hardships. That does take away from his divine power over all the elements, but I truly believe that he allows flowers to grow on their own and nature to progress in the laws that he has established.
Although I am still trying to pull out all of the strings twining around my thoughts and testimony this idea came from a few summers ago. Mosquito bitten, sunburned, and unshowered after floating sixty two miles down the Green River my group did a bike ride were down slope of the last two miles tried to compensate for the constant uphill of the other twenty eight miles of the trail. Initially flashing down mountainside felt supernaturally weightless, but as the red rock bolder drew closer and my attempts to turn the handle bars felt stiff and robotic all I could think of was I’m to young to die, but here it goes.
My front tire hit the bolder. Inspired by either fear or faith I released my bike-- sending the jagged bars and poles into a patch of red sand far from my tumbling body. As I staggered up a sting of isolation pricked my courage before I saw my friend Rob in front of me turn around and peddle back towards me.
The space of time between the crash and the being seated on the back seat of Blowe’s truck with a double chocolate chip Granny-B cookie is blurred with concerned dirt covered faces helping me gain my balance. Blowe unfolded his first-aid kit and rubbed an alcohol pad on my bleeding shoulder. Resisting the urge to scream at him I gripped the edge of the truck, and endured the feeling of knives jabbing into my shoulder. After bandaging up my scrapes, and feeling my swelling knee to determine if it was broken I got back on my bike to finish the trail.
Rob let me borrow his mountain bike gloves to decrease the shock sent through the handle bars up my tender wrists. Adrenaline kept me from crying until I pondered how my body rolled three times in the only sand pits in the merciless red rock bed. That I had kept my helmet on. How Rob had seen me out of the corner of his eye. I new that God had watched out for he.
Just like he let the flower grow on it’s own. God let me hit a rock and roll down a mountainside all on my own (I am sure he could have thought of something less painful than rolling down a mountain side to teach me of his love, but apparently it was all I could think of) It is evident by how I missed all the hard rock patches while in my path that He never abandoned me. When the fullness of God’s love hit me that day the bike trail became lost in blurred tears and pathetic attempt to wipe my eyes which only left mud streaks across my face. When ever life gets hard I think back on that sweltering summer day. The feelings of love embraces me and I remember life might through me into a mountainside, but God never abandons me.
“Men art that thy might have joy,” he never said “Men art that thy might have a fluffy and easy life with no hardship and no challenges so that they can become a useless mushroom,” The God that I know wants me to grow. Like a flower I will reach towards the sunlight, and be bathed in drops of rain. Come what may I will hold onto my faith, and testimony that God loves me.
past, present, future
Martin Diamond put a lot of though into the article title ‘Revolution of Sober Expectations’. Each word seems to have been delicately chosen. He captures the Founding Fathers awareness of the past present and future.
Starting with the word Revolution. Prior to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution the Founding Father explored and studied. Jefferson clearly drew much of his inspiration for the Declaration from John Lock. Ancient philosophy was not the only ideals they pondered, but they sensed their own development. For example the majority of the Declaration of Independence lists offensive committed by the Crown. In letters written to Jefferson Madison reflects on the revolutions necessity of a Constitution to complement the Declaration. Pondering the history of humanity and the colonies interact with England lead the Founding Fathers to revolution.
Sober in Diamond’s context means thoughtful. In all of their debates about the Founding Fathers maintained a consciousness of their predicament. According to Diamond “It was in this sober spirit that the American Revolution cheerfully and cannily worked its way out of the eighteenth century into the era of modern democracy” This sober spirit that he makes reference to is making democracy decent. Although they believed that King James was unjust they understood masses could be just as biased and corrupt as an individual. This lead them to be complacent about their decision to establish a democracy. Although modern views persist democracy to them it was a new concept. Because each man maintained his dignity and recognize his own imperfections they established a Constitution that maintained checks and balances.
Finally Expectations is what the Founding Father wanted. In his article Diamond states, “at precisely that moment of crisis when other revolutions turn turbulent, begin to devour their own, and dash all the initial hopes, at precisely that moment ripe for disaster the American Revolution achieved its glory by a unique moment of stillness sobriety.” They never lost the reality of their goal. Unlike the vain utopian expectations of the French, or communist revolution the Founding Fathers maintained a realistic view point of men. Consequently their views of human nature helped them to maintain their goals. By keeping a view on the future they established a well thought out Declaration and Constitution.
It was the combination of the past, present and future that created the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. By creating that balance the Founding Fathers developed lasting documents. Martin Diamond tries to make this point not only in his article, but even in the title ‘Revolution of Sober Expectations’.
Starting with the word Revolution. Prior to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution the Founding Father explored and studied. Jefferson clearly drew much of his inspiration for the Declaration from John Lock. Ancient philosophy was not the only ideals they pondered, but they sensed their own development. For example the majority of the Declaration of Independence lists offensive committed by the Crown. In letters written to Jefferson Madison reflects on the revolutions necessity of a Constitution to complement the Declaration. Pondering the history of humanity and the colonies interact with England lead the Founding Fathers to revolution.
Sober in Diamond’s context means thoughtful. In all of their debates about the Founding Fathers maintained a consciousness of their predicament. According to Diamond “It was in this sober spirit that the American Revolution cheerfully and cannily worked its way out of the eighteenth century into the era of modern democracy” This sober spirit that he makes reference to is making democracy decent. Although they believed that King James was unjust they understood masses could be just as biased and corrupt as an individual. This lead them to be complacent about their decision to establish a democracy. Although modern views persist democracy to them it was a new concept. Because each man maintained his dignity and recognize his own imperfections they established a Constitution that maintained checks and balances.
Finally Expectations is what the Founding Father wanted. In his article Diamond states, “at precisely that moment of crisis when other revolutions turn turbulent, begin to devour their own, and dash all the initial hopes, at precisely that moment ripe for disaster the American Revolution achieved its glory by a unique moment of stillness sobriety.” They never lost the reality of their goal. Unlike the vain utopian expectations of the French, or communist revolution the Founding Fathers maintained a realistic view point of men. Consequently their views of human nature helped them to maintain their goals. By keeping a view on the future they established a well thought out Declaration and Constitution.
It was the combination of the past, present and future that created the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. By creating that balance the Founding Fathers developed lasting documents. Martin Diamond tries to make this point not only in his article, but even in the title ‘Revolution of Sober Expectations’.
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