A toast to Jefferson
Recently we got new computers. I named mine “Jeff”, in a tribute to Thomas Jefferson.
From one of my late discoveries, Ilana Mercer, I would like to share her today’s article, A July Fourth toast to Tomas Jefferson—and the Anglo-Saxon tradition.
Jefferson, in particular, was adamant about the imperative “to be watchful of those in power,” a watchfulness another Whig philosopher explained thus: “Considering what sort of Creature Man is, it is scarce possible to put him under too many Restraints, when he is possessed of great Power.”
“As Jefferson saw it,” expounds Mayer, “the Whig, zealously guarding liberty, was suspicious of the use of government power,” and assumed “not only that government power was inherently dangerous to individual liberty but also that, as Jefferson put it, ‘the natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.’”
To be watchful of those in power has been one of the issues since Greeks invented democracy. However, failing to do so can lead to the very situation Greece is facing now, and even worse, to any totalitarian regime, which could rise up ‘legally’ and with a tremendous applause if we incur in dereliction of our civic duties of being watchful of those in power.
But anyway, let’s make a toast to the venerable Thomas, whose Declaration of Independence was published and read aloud 235 years ago.
To Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
PS: David McGregor, from Sovereign Life, wrote an essay named “July 4: a promise betrayed” sometime ago, but it’s worth reading today.
