John Adams:
"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom. ...
If we suffer [the minds of young people] to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives. ...
The foundation of national morality must be laid in private families...
How is it possible that Children can have any just Sense of the sacred Obligations of Morality or Religion if, from their earliest Infancy, they learn their Mothers live in habitual Infidelity to their fathers, and their fathers in as constant Infidelity to their Mothers? ...
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. ...
The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People ... they may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. ...
A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."
Z: Yes, and I've always said that we can't have capitalism without virtues. So, my question might be; Can we have capitalism again in a country the Left and political correctness have weakened as much as they have?
z
32 comments:
Z,
Oh my. You have opened a can of worms with me. I love the founding fathers, most notably John Adams. The book, by David McCollough, notwithstanding, John Adams was an outstanding example of civic virtue.
He spent most of his married life away from Abigail. But they wrote many letters back and forth, filled with news, advice, and love. Read them and you will be convinced of the sacrifice and love of country the founding fathers possessed. I am moved to tears as I read the letters between John and Abigail.
Thankfully, they wanted this country to succeed. Did you know that Abigail may have been the first real advocate for women's rights? Did you know that John Quincy Adams was by far, the best Secretary of State and the only former president to serve in elective office after the presidency (congress)? Interesting. I could go on.
I love the founding fathers and early American history. Thanks for the post about John Adams, the most underestimated founding father. What about the quasi-war?
"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom..."
This gets to the heart of our biggest problems. For generations, education has primarily been placed in the hands of government and character education has fallen through the cracks.
If a generation is raised and educated by the government, what can we expect? A nation prepared for the responsibilities of freedom? Or a nation prepared to surrender to government?
Great post.
A thought provoker Z. Culture rot is the left's worst crime against this country. Every generation the noose tightens on the foundation of our freedom as we slip further away from morality and religion. The breakdown of the American family perpetuates this and has for some time. I'd take Happy Days or Ozzie & Harriet again in a heartbeat! While it didn't start in the 60's, we certainly had a counter-culture surge that we continue to feel the negative effects of today. These dope smokers are in charge of everything now.
Can we have capitalism again in a country the Left and political correctness have weakened as much as they have?
I don't think so.
The unspoken lines of our Constitution involve the assumption of personal integrity, be that integrity religiously or ethically based.
All the 1960s "I'm okay, you're okay" and "looking out for number one" rot has come home to roost.
Excellent post, freedom and morality from the ground up.
FANTASTIC post Z! John Adams has always been one of my favorite Founders. He's right behind Washington in my book, and ahead of Jefferson and Madison.
L.A.O.T. when I read "John Adams" I was nearly moved to tears by the beauty of the letters John and Abigail wrote to each other. Our Founding was an achievement not just for us, but for humanity. How long can our experiment in freedom last?
Z, you also ask a great question about the survival of capitalism without a "moral" society.
John Lott adresses this better than anyone I've ever read in his book "Freedomnomics." From the intro:
"[Lying and cheating] are relatively rare in corporate America. For every Enron, there are thousands of companies of all sizes that play by the rules, simply trying to make a profit by supplying people with something they want. This reflects the one great benefit of the free market--it cretaes incentives for people to behave honestly. Consumers don't like to be cheated--when they think they're being swindeled, they take their business elsewhere. Companies and individual entreprenuers who treat customers right, however, stand to make big profits from satisfied, repeat customers.
A major deterrent to cheating, often overlooked by critics of the free market, is the importance of maintaining a good reputation."
I would add that businessmen in the free market don't have the right to resort to FORCE to get money from you, so they MUST make you happy to get your money. Government has no similar restrictions on their behavior.
Morgan
This was great, Z.
Long have I been saying there is no way to have any so called system in place and have it work, if everyone is crooked and on the take.
It all goes back to high morals, honor and the like.
Yes, I know, strange words to some.
But they are all that separate us from the jungle .
Humans are what they are, and must strive to be better.
The old 60's mantra of , If it feels good, do it...needs to be thrown off a cliff some place.
That kind of thinking has got us to this place we are in now.
Look around.
WVDOTTR
Right WV...and I'm tired of hearing how every nasty user on Wall Street represents every trader, every broker, etc.
This is, I believe, the reason Robt Gibbs seized the moment to slam Madoff so hard for his "GREED!" It was a moment a far lefty can't resist. Yes, Madoff was greedy, and yes, he needs to be ..well..I'd say thrown in Gitmo, but that's just me! And, of course, that won't mean anything soon, either, but I digress...
BUT, it just puts yet another nail in the coffin of Capitalism because this admin's doing all it can to tell Americans "WALL STREET GOT YOU INTO THIS AND YOU CAN'T TRUST IT, AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THE RICH, ANYHOW?!"
Now, jon Stewart's blaming CNBC's journalists for knowing about the problems and keeping them from the public (give me an 'Amen' if you see some irony there!?) I'm posting on this in 3 hours.
When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied. --Tacitus
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion." --John Adams
Excellent post Z. Makes me want to post more quotes from our founding fathers! Such wisdom and knowledge, such sacrifices they gave for this country; to make it the great nation it became.
If you are a student of history, it makes you even sadder because you understand where we started and where we are at now. It makes a person angry because we see power-grabbers flushing it all down the toilet.
*sigh* I am sighing a lot today. Guess it is getting to me.
The founders had it right on a multitude of issues. We are going to have to lead the American people back to those principles or our civilization will continue to decline.
The problem is that things will probably have to get a lot worse before we as a people are ready to go back to those principles.
Great additions, FJ..thanks.
Leslie, I agree.
da patriot: this is why Glenn Beck's encouraging all Americans to meet and discuss the founding fathers, their dreams of America, the things that have worked historically, etc...
maybe that's a really good idea.
Can't have ANYTHING except CHAOS without a commitment to Virtue.
FACT: Adams considered himself a devout Christian, but was in fact a UNITARIAN. Some branches of Christianity do not recognize Unitarianism as Christian.
The use of Intelligence governed by Truth, Love, Principle and Good Character, Generosity and Geniality is THE essential ingredient for a sane society.
~ FreeThinke
FT wrote:
"Can't have ANYTHING except CHAOS without a commitment to Virtue."
That's at the heart of much of the current problem, isnt it? We conservatives and conservative libertarians (guys like me) judge virtue in a more traditional way, through a Judeo-Christian lens. Right and wrong are rather easy when you obey the laws of the Decalogue and the Torah-NT instruction to "treat others as you would want to be treated."
The left has an entirely new set of moral "guidlines". ALL of them pointed in one direction: the attainment of power over other human beings. To them, "virtue" is whatever it takes to attain that power.
Morgan
FT, I believe Unitarians believe Christ is only ONE way to God....which kind of negates the message! "I am the WAY and the .."
I think you're right about CHAOS.
Morgan, isn't that the truth.
Their VIRTUE is protecting and pampering everyone .. as long as that keeps them in power.
Miserable parents have always produced wretched offspring; even in the colonial period, there were thoroughly bad folks. It was easier to deal with social misfits when, for example, the population of Philadelphia topped out around 3,000 souls. It is likely that the percentage of miscreant population remains constant, but our higher population makes the problems seem more prevalent. Add to this the illegals who drop their delinquent kids all over the place.
Make no mistake we still have thoroughly bad folks out there. Here’s one of them. Maybe what’s really changed is our penchant for making excuses for unsavory character, and for inventing explanations that shift blame away from poor parenting and unsatisfactory behavior. I well remember the “misdiagnosed” students, over-medicated by their pediatricians who instead needed parents with a firm hand. Of course, today the government asserts its authority for the proper raising of children, insisting upon accommodation and redo; children learn this quickly, and they take it with them into adulthood.
I don’t think we can fix our problem with idiot parents until the courts begin holding them accountable for the unacceptable behavior of their children. For example, if the police arrest little Bobby at 10:30 p.m., it is reasonable to assume his parent(s) negligent—and culpable, for Bobby’s crimes. Still, fixing most trouble-making kids is doable. I remember a time when juvenile judges sent offenders into the military as an alternative to going to jail; military boot camp turns people around in a very short period; they become people of honor and good citizens fast.
Here’s my question, though. If the government can sanctify the murder of unborn children, why can’t they also sterilize single mothers and fathers who refuse to accept responsibility for what they’ve done?
Oh, Mustang! You said "I remember a time when juvenile judges sent offenders into the military as an alternative to going to jail; military boot camp turns people around in a very short period; they become people of honor and good citizens fast."
Imagine the OUTRAGE by the ACLU and others if we dared actually properly discipline a young American TODAY!?
Did you know that, in France, truants from school get in trouble like any kid would but, if they get in trouble another time, their parents face JAIL TIME for not having ridden herd hard enough on their kids to have prevented that next truancy? YUP! It passed while we lived there. We were CHEERING!!
IN FRANCE!
MUSTANG said:
"Maybe what’s really changed is our penchant for making excuses for unsavory character, and for inventing explanations that shift blame away from poor parenting and unsatisfactory behavior. I well remember the “misdiagnosed” students, over-medicated by their pediatricians who instead needed parents with a firm hand."
Truer words were never written.
The idea of The Poor Little Kid and His Id is at the root of much that is rotten in our society. But those who promoted this idea and those who've made a career of pandering to it are more to blame than those who succumbed to these slyly subversive notions.
~ FreeThinke
Hey Morgan,
You're absolutely right. The Golden Rule is the sum and substance of EVERYTHING we need. It's so simple most people miss it.
Too many of us just LOVE to make things seem more complicated than they really are, so that THEY can appear smarter than those who are confounded by their thorny, overly-complex analyses of the human condition.
Getting folks to SEE this and ABIDE by it is "the rub," ain't it?
"Things would be so different if they were not as they are."
~ Anna Russell in "How to Write Your Own Gilbert & Sullivan Operetta"
~ FT
Can we have capitalism again in a country the Left and political correctness have weakened as much as they have?
-----------------------
You still have capitalism? What are you on about?
This is a subject which must be taught at home. Sadly, the schools cannot be depended upon to do it properly or with any dedication by most teachers.
Patriotism is passed down from one generation to the next. It is taught best from those who feel it's part of them.
Mr. Pris has always said he fears the storytellers are becoming passe. This is something the elders in families have always done.
In this fast paced world with too busy parents and families, connected to an ipod, or cellphone, too many children have only school to teach them and not enough history or wisdom available.
My grandson loved to hear the reminiscences and stories from times gone by, and the love of country and history from those who had experiences and lessons learned from long ago.
I used to love listening to my Grandmother's story of her birthplace in Trinidad, and how she came to be in America, and how she would never go back. She was in America and here she would stay.
My Dad told us about our founding fathers, and how America was begun, and that George Washington was the father of our country, his favorite President.
I would recommend the DVD series, Liberty. A wonderful series that tells the story of the beginning of America, and our founding.
It all begins at home, and as the previous piece on Z's blog today illustrates, a teacher like Z helps.
Pris
I highly recommend that, Pris..tell them at HOME.
Parents who care about America, capitalism, self-reliance, the marvelous history of this country, etc., ought to be talking about it.
Thanks for that reminder!
John Adams is my favorite president - as a person - but the quote 'our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people' does not match his words for his own beliefs:
"Although Christ was a great and good man whose example of piety, love, and universal brotherhood was the ideal that all people and nations should emulate, He was, after all, still a human being, not the Son of God, not the Word made flesh." If He were God, reasoned Adams, why would He allow His own creatures to nail Him to a cross. And Adams also rejected the idea of the Blessed Trinity.
This from The Complete Book of U.S.Presidents by William A. Degregorio.
These words reject the very basis of Christianity.
Well, the quote stands, from what I've researched, but I guess 'religious' didn't have to mean a real understanding of Christianity, because, you're right; one who doesn't understand why Christ had to die on the cross can't really claim the faith.
Perhaps he meant ANY religion...as he lumps it together with "moral". I know 'moral atheists' but I love the discussion we could have about that; CAN one be moral without faith...do very moral atheists (and there's no doubt probably MOST are, as many as 'faithful' people, probably!?) have something in their history, their upbringing, etc., which provokes their morality, whether they like to claim 'no faith' or not!? Very interesting subject, I think.
thanks for that!
I've always wondered about the faith of the founding fathers - especially John Adams - and sometimes I think that it was their ego that got in the way of true faith.
They knew who they were and the place that they would have in history, and maybe they just let that get the best of them.
You'll have capitalism in name, but socialism & servitude in reality.
Very foolish, I think, to denigrate the Founders. They were fully human, thank God, and had no illusions about themselves. They were brilliant, incredibly brave, unselfish and far-seeing.
That they were in some ways less-than-perfect should not faze us today or do anything to tarnish the tremendous gift they gave to the world.
We should BUILD on the splendid foundation the Founders provided, and never allow ourselves even to THINK of undermining it, or tearing it down.
"De-Construction" is one of the many evil concepts the left has inflicted on us. Leftists for the most part fall under the heading of DESTRUCTIONISM. Modern liberalism is a DISEASE.
Some very great figures all throughout history have done things we might consider unworthy, disingenuous, hypocritical --- even cruel and immoral. That takes absolutely NOTHING away from the splendor and significance of their best work.
David McCullough's biography of John Adams is a noble, affectionate tribute to a great man. McCullough has provided access to much of the wonderful correspondence between John and Abigail Adams noted by L&OT. The way they lived their lives gives positive proof that true love is far more a creature of Mind, Soul and Spirit than it is of the Flesh.
I am so glad Z brought these thoughts of John Adams to our attention.
~ FreeThinke
Sue, if we had lost the American Revolution it is very likely most of our founding fathers would have been executed for high treason.
To reduce their risk, huge accomplishment, and brilliance, to ego is utterly ludicrous. This was a monumental undertaking, to nit pick it, is to underestimate the greatness of these men.
I would say, their faith was enormous, in that they believed in this enormous challenge against all odds and made it happen, and they relied on their faith in God to give them the strength and wisdom it required.
Pris
"they knew who they were" is an interesting observation, sue, but I wonder if they really did?
They didn't know what America really was, how big and great it would get, they just knew they were fighting toward something and were on the ground floor........
I always wonder that so many of the founders did talk about God, and even Jesus Christ, but we keep hearing only their writings which make one suspicious in the reading about how faithful they were...it's odd.
pris and z - perhaps because I am a liberal, you underestimate the respect I have for the founding fathers. No one has more respect for them, for the Constitution and the American people than I do.
I have read about them - mostly about John and Abigail Adams - and I do think they knew who they were and the place history would hold for them.
But they were not gods, as was Jesus Christ - the son of God. I truly believe that they sometimes held themselves up higher than they should have when it came to religion. John Adams was known to be above himself - he even admitted it. I think there is no one that is human that should not be held in check of what they say or do.
Just becasue I say this does not mean that in any way I'm showing disrespect for the founding fathers - especially John Adams, whom along with his dear wife Abigail - I revere.
I do not mean this in a negative way, but do you think Conservatives have a way of feeling that they are the best of Americans?
The WRITINGS of the FOUNDERS are the very thing that makes them precious and supremely significant.
What they ate - How often they bathed - How they treated their wives and children - Their church affiliation - Their record of church attendance - their private doubts and griefs are NOT significant. For me all of that falls under the heading of Historical Gossip.
The Founders were FREE THINKERS for the most past, and may God continually bless for it throughout Eternity. The farther we get from the Founders' Vision, the weaker and more degenerate we become.
Remember please that various Christian sects came here to escape PERSECUTION from other, more dominant, domineering Christian sects.
We were specifically designed to be nation of tolerant Believers of various kinds and also of Dissenters and Disbelievers.
Theocracy is the antithesis of Democracy.
Disbelieve this at your peril.
~ FreeThinke
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