Conclusions about the Founding Fathers

Okay, so everyone wants to claim the Constitution is on their side. Well people also argue about whether or not the founding father's are conservative or liberal. Well...they are neither. Maybe a little mixture of both, but if we want to be realistic, the inferences made seem clear on what they may or may not agree upon on both sides.

For example: 

There are many quotes about not wanting dependence on the government. Basically when conservatives argue that the founding father's didn't want people to rely on the government, they are somewhat correct (also most people don't want that). The founding father's mainly did not want people to depend on a government for economic reasons. My conclusion is the continuation of unemployment pay, extended welfare, etc would not be something that pleased them. However this goes into corporate welfare as well. Tax breaks for these mega corps would not be appreciated either. This leads me into how the Founding Father's would feel about Corporations. Many liberals (not Democrats) would agree with this part. Let me make it clear: Republicans and Democrats are not THAT different, so I am talking conservative and liberal, which have clearer differences.

On Corporations: There are many clues that our founding father's would not be keen on mega corp tax breaks, buying power, or Capitalism (as it currently is) for that matter. They would also not be pleased about the Banks having so much power. 

When The Founding Father's talked about limited government, they meant it. This means no conservative favoritism to business over people, no Patriot Act, no welfare state (individuals or companies), etc. 

Here are some quotes that should answer these conclusions. However, keep in mind, our Founding Father's were flawed too. Many of them had slaves, they lived so long ago, that the America today wouldn't be recognizable, so it is hard to say how they would feel about everything, but things I mentioned are things they specifically referred to, which is why we can make inferences about them.

1. Handouts? Thomas Jefferson said a country shouldn't lean on its government for support, only for the overall good. Ben Franklin said that poverty shouldn't be easy and should be used to motivate someone NOT to be in poverty. However, companies should not be the cause of poverty and they had plenty to say about government not allowing institutions to have too much money or power. I wonder how they would look at our country now in general?

2. Banking

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a
money aristocracy that has set the government at defiance."
--Thomas Jefferson, at the Constitutional Convention (1787)

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in the Constitution or Confederation, not from
a want of honor or virtue so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation."
--John Adams, at the Constitutional Convention (1787)


"The Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution. I am
an enemy to all banks, discounting bills or notes for anything but coin. If the American people allow private banks to control the
issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will
deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
--Thomas Jefferson
 

3. Corporations and power

http://trueslant.com/rickungar/2010/01/22/what-did-the-founding-fathers-really-think-about-corporations-and-their-rights/

4. Limited Government

James Madison in The Federalist No. 51, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary.   If angels [ran the] government, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."

The greatest [calamity] which could befall [us would be] submission to a government of unlimited powers."
-- Thomas Jefferson 

 

5. Taxes?

I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
- Thomas Jefferson

Thoughts this past year...one being, "get over it?" oh, don't bother crying on my shoulder ever again.

I don't like to complain. I really don't. However, I have to say that the planet is full of people who don't realize how quickly our world is falling apart because of plastic and pollution to make things we want as consumers. Our oceans are sucking up all the carbon dioxide and the fish are eating the plastic, and our planet is dying. We can pretend we don't have time to care, but eventually we will have to or our kids will have to. Either way, hear hear to those who try to make it a better place.

This being said, we have to live here and we have to live here how we want within reason. We have our lives to worry about. We have questions, well I do, like "what is home? - where do I want to live? - who are my REAL friends? - what is most important to me? etc". You have a few people you have done so much for and would do so much for you.  Friends or family who want you to stand by their side when they are in times of trouble, they would do the same right? Hopefully! If you rarely complain, and listen immensly to the complaints of others, and then you do complain and it doesn't suit the person and you are told to "get over it", your view can vastly change, and honestly the answer should be "don't bother crying on my shoulder anymore like you have in the past." Do you really say this out loud though? Maybe you should.

Sometimes we live in a world with an eye of optimism and see places or people as amazing, even though we know the truth. Humans tend to look at the world through filters, and when we purposefully remove those we can see what we truly want, not what others want for us. What kind of world do we want, and what kind of world do we need to survive as a species on a social and environmental level? Think about it.

Serious or silly?

I think my blogs are really too intense and weird. I wanted to write something lighthearted because to be honest, super duper serious people, or people who have their own sense of humor that is really limited, make me feel uncomfortable. I connect mainly with silly people, who can also have a serious conversation. Not the other way around.

Winter chills...

There is nothing worse as an individual, to not be taken seriously and to not be allowed to be taken seriously. Sometimes you may throw yourself completely into and then out of life, only to be forced to smile when you can't, say hello or goodbye when you don't want to, and only because you are viewed as a bad person, when you aren't. But if you are, you can forget expressing yourself. However, that can cause every aspect of your life to have distraction, especially if you are made to feel wrong in the things you do or feel or question. Sometimes it takes your breath away. Do other people think this way or even feel this way? I wonder...

Dreams

I have always had vivid dreams. They help me write, etc. The other day (thanks to the show "The Walking Dead") I had to move to Atlanta, Georgia, and I was really upset about having to go there. I also dreamt about Mermaids and this song was playing in my head. SO funny because I never had paid attention to this song before, and am not even sure the last time I heard it.



So strange. Bono, what are you trying to say?

Especially in Michigan...

As the Chili Peppers say in their song Especially in Michigan, "Cry me a future. Where the revelations run amok".

I moved back to Michigan February 2010. I had been away for 5 years. I felt a pull to Arizona, and had nothing keeping me in Michigan, had I, I may never have left. Leaving when there is something to be left behind, is not usually the most solid time to leave. However, after years of exploring the great state of Arizona, and working there and making new friends, a new home, and expanding my family, something pulled me back home. Without going into every detail as to why I left and why I needed to come home, I have to admit that something was left behind. My family. Living away from people sometimes hurts more than one can really think. It is hard to imagine what it feels like until you do it.
Sure, you are fine for awhile, and excited with the newness and the exploration ahead, but my heart strings were always connected back to a place I swore I most likely would not return. Michigan.

I missed my parents and my friends and other family, and REALLY missed my sister. I talked to my mom and my sister almost everyday, especially after the birth of my daughter, Sofia. I missed The Great Lakes (I made it a point to make sure I made it up to Traverse City when I returned, since I had never been), Cider Mills, family holidays, parties that everyone had that I only could read about on Facebook, the birth of my friend's children, day to day options of visiting people I loved, places like the Woodward Avenue Brewery, other Ferndale places, Ann Arbor, friends, family, and the beauty of my birth home in general. Don't get me wrong, my family and I experienced some wonderful things in Arizona, but sometimes if something is missing, it is missing, and nothing can fill that space, unless you grab it, and fully embracing it until that space is no longer there. Sometimes that is not in the plan, but...Tis life.

Although this song is about touring and being away from the one you love, this is a great way to express what I wrote above...


Now, I have a whole different adventure to look forward to. Michigan isn't a place where I feel I need to feel stuck. There are so many new things here. I also have a daughter to show things too. This is a place of family and friends and reconnecting with everyone and meeting new people, exploring parts of the state I have never seen, and having new adventures!

The way I am (in the Autumn...and other times...)

I am a woman and a mother, a lover of life, nature, humanity, and the environment. I can be loud, rude, and passionate, but I have a huge heart. I love the Autumn, and the summer, the east, the west, the desert, the midwest, and all three coasts (Lake Michigan included). The world is a vast place, and helps me to write. I love people, and I hate people, but mostly love them. Music, and creativity are the best ways to explain all that makes us who we are.

Ingrid Michaelson-great lyrics and song "The Way I am"


and a mom...who loves the cider mill