Quote:
Originally Posted by Jermyn Davidson
If all Americans are equal, then all Americans should vote, if they are able to.
Even if some voted on emotion, others have voted on lies-- the lies of politicians of whom they thought they were well-informed about.
There are certain benefits that should be freely afforded to ALL AMERICANS as these benefits are what make America, America and the dream, pride and / or envy of so many around the world.
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Jermyn, it is a common and sad misconception that you bring up here. All Americans are not equal. The founding fathers never assumed that all men were equal.
They believed that all men are created equal. They fought and some died for that belief. But it was not a belief that all men are equal.
The false notion of equality has done more damage to America and to Americans than anything I can think of in the modern era. Equality cannot be achieved nor should it be strived for!
Equality demands that success be punished and lethargy be rewarded.
What America does believe in is that all men are created equal. It is the guiding principle that separated the American concept from all others in the 18th century. The founders believed strongly that every man should have access to achieve, to live free and become whatever he set out to be and could by the strength of his own hand hold on to.
Americans are equal in access and where we fail in that, we must strive to overcome the failure. ACCESS and OPPORTUNITY are the places where all Americans are created equal.
I agree with those who say that not every American should vote. One who is ignorant of what America is, has no business intruding on the discussion about where America will go. No one who is utterly dependant on their fellow citizens ought to be involved in determining what charity they should receive. There was a day when such a thought was anathema.
The founders were not right in keeping women from voting. Nor were they right in allowing slavery. Many of the founders did not agree with those constructs so they worked to place building blocks that would eventually allow for suffrage and the end of slavery. But they also required that a man be an owner of property to vote. They wanted stakeholders in the American Dream to be in charge of the nation.
Fully half the country cannot tell you who the Vice President of the United States is. More than 60% cannot tell you who the Speaker of the House is, nor what the job of the speaker is!
Almost 90% of Americans cannot name the Supreme Court Justices much less tell you how many there are!
The concept of separation of powers is lost on most Americans. The difference between the Senate and the House is not known by most of the people who send representatives to Washington! More than 30% of Americans cannot even tell you which coast Washington DC is on!
We have become mental morons as it relates to how and by whom we are governed.
Yet we espouse the doctrine that we are all equal. We are certainly not equal.
Give yourself this test
1. Name your House of Represenative
2. Name your two Senators (most people don’t know they have 2)
3. Name the Supreme Court Justices
4. Name the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
5. Answer: What body has the greatest control on Federal Spending?
Very few Americans can correctly answer those questions. But we are equal? I do not think so.