Are conservatives undermining, and misunderstanding the viewpoint of our Founding Fathers?...?

Question

What can be done to better our society? In what ways has America changed (for the better or worse) since 1776?

This is long I know, but bear with me. I have a point somewhere... I promise!

When discussing politics with someone right-leaning, I usually hear something like "the Founding Fathers constructed American society on the idea that no matter where you're from people can reach their full potential by hard-work and....blah blah capitalism blah independence....BLAH....I don't want my taxes going to some lazy poor person without a job, on welfare...It just ain't right Y'ALL!" (Yeah..I'm from Oklahoma lol) 

The Founding Fathers were descendants of puritan escapists, therefore they were independent thinkers that realized a government's theory on how to organize, or rule a successful society is not absolute,  and usually is proven wrong. The fall of Rome, and the absence of tyrannical monarchies in developed nations to date are both examples. When writing the constitution they kept in mind the evolution a society and its core values, hence amendments, or changes to the constitution. Basically, they said "Who knows if this going to work for America in 250 years? This is what works now, and if they don't like it down the line they can change it". Inherently, the Founding Fathers were progressives. Trying to conserve the initial viewpoint of the constitution and applying that viewpoint in the present day is a slap in Thomas Jefferson's face, unrealistic, and blatant misunderstanding of this malleable document.

 Let's face it, people are essentially products of their environment. For example, a wealthy academic sends his son to a private school, so he can acquire a top notch college-prep education. He reinforces in his kid the importance of work hard and motivation. His son goes on to become a rich academic like himself. Likewise a women  poor, and addicted to drugs raises her son in an unstable environment. She never teaches him about the rewards of hard-work. He turns out to be a felon, and spends the rest of his life  in and out of jail. Both boys are products (slaves) of their environment, as one can not choose his environment as a child. There are exceptions though, some people are unnaturally self-motivated, and never let the environment sculpt their behavior. But a majority of people follow the trajectory of their environment. This is where society comes in. Instead of paying taxes to keep the misguided  boy in jail, why don't we spend our money on developing programs for children in his situation, or on research to alleviate poverty. I think this could greatly decrease crime rates, because the majority of people in jail come from poorer families. This proves people are in fact products of their environment.

 I think conservatives lack the capacity for empathy, and unfortunately propel themselves and the rest of America into this "Americans are selfish" brand. For a society to prosper and live happily, it is necessary that citizens look out for each others needs.  The Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand are just a few of the proven happiest places to live. Low crime rates, and reliable economies are common characteristics within these Nations. But the most important common factor is social tolerance. These nations are peaceful, and accommodate citizens that don't mind working for the benefit of each other, as its the only way to live happily. I'm not saying America should become socialist. I just want to propose an alternate lifestyle, where people work TOGETHER. We should strive for social cohesion and drift away from these silly political and social institutions that continue to divide us. We're all in this country together and that's not ever going to change, but our behavior can. Maybe someday we'll be able to come to terms with the fact that naturally we're all different, so naturally we should be sensitive, and empathetic to each others differing beliefs.   SO LET"S COME TOGETHER! Who's with me?

 Something has to be done to change people's scope of America, and American's scope of the world, but what? I want to hear from EVERYONE! I don't care what your political viewpoint is, or where you come from, I just want to know what you think.

Chip · Accepted Answer

The founders weren't perfect by any means.  They were revolutionary, in that they believed that people were more capable of governing themselves than those in the past had thought.  They still had their flaws but at the time the idea of self-government was pretty new.

I think the thing that people need to remember what the nature of government is ... and that is, in essence, domination of legal physical force over an area and its people.

Governments throughout history have not been kind or benevolent.  They have been very destructive.  They have killed their own people and they have killed people in other lands.  The people who are attracted to government are normally those who want power over others.  Various groups (especially bigger groups, i.e. corporations and labor unions) manipulate this power for their own ends.

Some conservatives lack empathy, as do some liberals.  But most conservatives would say that they do not lack empathy, but don't think it is the government that should be in the empathy business, because it's not the proper role of government.

If I take my gang of people, go take money from a rich man, and give it to the poor people in my neighborhood, that is wrong because I'm taking property that doesn't belong to me.  Even if my goal is benevolence, it's wrong to simply take the money and give it to something else.

That act - taking money from the rich guy and giving it to the poor folks - doesn't magically become ok because the government did it instead of my gang.  It's still morally wrong.

"Citizens looking out for each other" should not mean "citizens using the government to redistribute money."  It should mean citizens giving to deserving charities and helping out their fellow citizens voluntarily.

If a charity is badly mismanaging money, I can choose not to give money to it - if enough people do that, it will either reform or go out of existence.  That doesn't happen with the government.

I agree with you on social tolerance.  I think there are many conservatives and liberals who both need to work on tolerating those who don't disagree with them.  As much as social conservatives are intolerant of social liberals, social liberals are often intolerant of social conservatives too.  It would be great if we could all just get along.  :-)

What I think we need out of our government is one that provides equal justice and fairness to all.  It should defend the country but not attack other countries, provide for a free market but prosecute fraud, and allow people to generally be left alone as long as they aren't interfering with other person's lives.

Fed up! · Answer

The government is rife with corruption, and both parties are guilty. WE the PEOPLE have had enough, WE have made OUR voices heard during this election. Let's be clear, this is NOT a victory for the Republican party. What happened on Nov. 2, 2010, was a historical event that should remind ALL politicians & the government that THEY work for US!! For far too many years the American people have allowed the government to run amuck, and the results have been devastating. WE'VE been rudely awakened, thank God! WE have a LOT of work ahead of US to get OUR nation back on track. WE must continue to DEMAND that OUR voices are the ones that count, which means WE can't let up for one minute. The government has squandered OUR hard earned TRILLIONS, and THAT is proof enough that WE have to take the credit cards carte' blanche' away from these greedy bastards. It's OUR money, and WE want every dime accounted for!

Obama and his entourage of 3,000 or so, taking a trip on Nov. 6, that will cost the American people $200,000,000.00 per day, IS NOT a very good start. India want's to know what WE can do for THEM. They're suspicious about Obama's alliance with Pakistan, and they don't think the timing of his visit is good. I couldn't agree more. What do YOU think? We have to change our mindset when it comes to OUR government and DEMAND that OUR thoughts MATTER & COUNT! THEY WORK FOR US and WE can't afford 2 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY for Barry & Michelle to take their chefs, wardrobe & makeup artists on a trip to Mumbai!

How can WE the AMERICAN PEOPLE make sure our politicians hear us? Call, write, or visit EVERY DAY! Whatever you can do, whatever is within your means, make it a new habit to be in constant contact with your REPRESENTATIVES. The name speaks for itself, politicians are SUPPOSED to REPRESENT US!! WE can't EVER forget that again, WE can't afford to.

Here's a couple easy ways to start letting OUR representatives know what we EXPECT of them. THEY have to change their ways and WE have to MAKE them do it! Slack on this, and it will be business as usual. STOP with all the party division, the ONLY ones who benefit from dividing the American people are the politicians! UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL! We're ALL in this TOGETHER, this is OUR country, and WE are the ones that make America great. Now, let's get busy, we've got a lot of work to do.

http://www.downsizedc.org/

http://www.gradegov.com/

http://www.numbersusa.com/content/node

Sawyer · Answer

Did one of the founding fathers come back and tell you their viewpoints?

It seems everyone has a different perspective of their viewpoints and think only themselves, and those who agree with them, to be right.

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Are conservatives undermining, and misunderstanding the viewpoint of our Founding Fathers?...?

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