Ron, Do you really think the average citizens of the colonies were influenced by the egalitarian and fraternal ideas that later found expression in the French Revolution? Do you believe average citizens had anything to do with the formation of a new government? Do you think Jefferson and Co. were average citizens, or the ruling elite?
Could it be that the ruling elite realized it had to find a way to rule while keeping their heads and power? What could they employ to make those being ruled over grateful? Something that made their servants believe they had a say...Something that would placate the masses through moral sanction of their rule...A gesture that would have people think they chose their ruler... The vote! Ingenious! Jefferson and Co. had seen rulers overthrown in the colonies and in France, where the King lost his head, they weren't trying to do anything but keep their heads and power. They benefited from their "more perfect union" more than anyone. If they were really looking to free the people, why allow the only group at the time with enough power to disrupt them, white land owning males, the vote? Why not everyone? As a matter of fact the vote has only been extended to groups that became powerful enough to threaten the "more perfect union". It's a sham, always has been. When did they hold the vote on whether people needed to be ruled? Micah [Platt] <Read and learn: <"At the time of the formation of the United States, many of its citizens <had fled from state or religious oppression in Europe and were <influenced by the egalitarian and fraternal ideals that later found <expression in the French revolution. Such ideas influenced the framers <of the U.S. Constitution (the Jeffersonian <Democratic-Republicans) who believed that the government should seek to <protect individual rights in the constitution itself; this idea later led to the Bill of Rights. According to Ronald Scollon, the "fundamental American ideology of individualism" can be summarized by the following two statements: 1. The individual is the basis of all reality and all society. 2. The individual is defined by what he or she is not." Explaining the latter statement, he says that American individualism emphasizes that the individual is not subject to arbitrary laws, and not subject to domination by historical precedent and preference.[4] (Wikipedia) moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
