Who would be more aware of human nature than ......human beings?
Yet, a large portion of the population is willing to remain oblivious to their own nature, or, at the least, to pretend to be unaware of same.
History reveals it....
Experience reveals it....
Liberals ignore it.
1. Classical liberals, i.e., Conservatives truly understand humannature, as shown here:
Each kind of government is a reflection on the way human nature is understood. The Founders did not feel that man is either perfect, or perfectible. James Madison, Federalist No. 55, February 15, 1788 As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust.
Therefore, a government must account for this nature, thus checks and balances.
2. Federalist 10- checks and balances, to keep 'passions' in check.
Tocqueville tells how centralization of power can lead to despotism. Beware of government by experts and bureaucrats.
a.Other views of human nature might be that people are basically good, or that human nature is plastic, and it only takes the right politics to perfect it. This is the view of communist governments, as Lenin expounded in the New Soviet Man. Such governments have never worked, and, in fact, caused some hundred million deaths during the last century.
b. Burke and Tocqueville both observed a new intellectual type: thinkers inebriated by revolution and the dream of a radically new social order, and dismissive of the inherited wisdom of the past.
3. The second principle is a belief in the sinful nature of man. They didn't buy the notions of the French revolutionaries that Man is basically good, or the Marxist revolutionaries a century later that human nature is perfectible. They knew that Man was as the Bible describes hima sinner, self-centered, corruptible, and not to be trusted.
(Sowell, "Intellectuals and Society")
a. For that reason, they knew Man needs governmentgovernment strong enough to preserve law and order. But also that Man needs to limit the power of government, because those who run the government have the same sinful nature as everybody else.
Here's the way that seminary student James Madison put it in Federalist Number 51, possibly the most often quoted phrase out of the Federalist Papers. He says, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the places. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. Citizens for a Fashionable Republic |
The Constitution is the attempt to produce equanimity through the judicious use of checks and balances.
Yet, a large portion of the population is willing to remain oblivious to their own nature, or, at the least, to pretend to be unaware of same.
History reveals it....
Experience reveals it....
Liberals ignore it.
1. Classical liberals, i.e., Conservatives truly understand humannature, as shown here:
Each kind of government is a reflection on the way human nature is understood. The Founders did not feel that man is either perfect, or perfectible. James Madison, Federalist No. 55, February 15, 1788 As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust.
Therefore, a government must account for this nature, thus checks and balances.
2. Federalist 10- checks and balances, to keep 'passions' in check.
Tocqueville tells how centralization of power can lead to despotism. Beware of government by experts and bureaucrats.
a.Other views of human nature might be that people are basically good, or that human nature is plastic, and it only takes the right politics to perfect it. This is the view of communist governments, as Lenin expounded in the New Soviet Man. Such governments have never worked, and, in fact, caused some hundred million deaths during the last century.
b. Burke and Tocqueville both observed a new intellectual type: thinkers inebriated by revolution and the dream of a radically new social order, and dismissive of the inherited wisdom of the past.
3. The second principle is a belief in the sinful nature of man. They didn't buy the notions of the French revolutionaries that Man is basically good, or the Marxist revolutionaries a century later that human nature is perfectible. They knew that Man was as the Bible describes hima sinner, self-centered, corruptible, and not to be trusted.
(Sowell, "Intellectuals and Society")
a. For that reason, they knew Man needs governmentgovernment strong enough to preserve law and order. But also that Man needs to limit the power of government, because those who run the government have the same sinful nature as everybody else.
Here's the way that seminary student James Madison put it in Federalist Number 51, possibly the most often quoted phrase out of the Federalist Papers. He says, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the places. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. Citizens for a Fashionable Republic |
The Constitution is the attempt to produce equanimity through the judicious use of checks and balances.
