Hence, as all history informs us, there has been in every state and kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing and the governed; the one striving to obtain more for its support, and the other to pay less. And this has alone occasioned great convulsions, actual civil wars, ending either in dethroning of the princes or enslaving of the people. Generally, indeed, the ruling power carries its point, and we see the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied, but always in want of more. The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes, the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans, and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance and enable him to plunder at pleasure.
> Hence, as all history informs us, there has been in every state and kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing and the governed; the one striving to obtain more for its support, and the other to pay less. And this has alone occasioned great convulsions, actual civil wars, ending either in dethroning of the princes or enslaving of the people. Generally, indeed, the ruling power carries its point, and we see the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied, but always in want of more. The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes, the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans, and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance and enable him to plunder at pleasure.
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Definitely. Franklin was looking to the past to warn us of the perils of what we now face headfirst.
Hopefully we can revive the underlying culture and education needed to:
RESTORE THE REPUBLIC & KEEP AMERICA GREAT.
The Framers of the Constitution were not idiots. Just imagine, they did all that by reading books and shit and they didn't even have google or twitter to tell then what to think.
The instant gratification enabled by modern technology is a double-edged sword.
The intellectual and philosophical understanding of their day outclasses most of our contemporaries. We need to return to our founding principles to discover where we as a nation lost our course.
I studied some political philosophy back in my school days and it continues to astound me that these men had such a deep and comprehensive understanding of the political thought of their time. What is even more impressive than that is that they had the moral strength to return power to the people once it was gained.
Most of our leaders today are completely under-whelming and mediocre, in way over their heads. I think most of them are just resigned to lining their pockets, while they can, before they are discovered for the frauds they are.
The majority are philosophically bankrupt. Even more are morally corrupt and some even downright evil. Such a shame. Thankfully our natural rights and founding documents provide a plethora of processes for remedy.
Source:
https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/franklin-the-works-of-benjamin-franklin-vol-xi-letters-and-misc-writings-1784-1788#preview