Of Federalists and Anti-Federalists

I never realized how fascinating the whole Federalist/ Anti-Federalist debate was until I read Gordon Wood's "The Radicalism of the American Revolution." I can't recommend this book enough.

Apparently, the Anti-Federalists were not just beany states-righters from the South, but also included a lot of the emerging non-gentry middle class.

The problem for the Anti-Federalists is largely that they didn't have a really good writer. (This is also a problem for the Book of Mormon, but I digress). So, in the high school history way that these things are taught, Madison always wins. It also probably doesn't help their cause that they are "Anti" something and that the States Rights movement can be traced back to them.

Of course the Bill of Rights is theirs too, so we're at least a little indebted....

Got Democracy?

I just finished Paul Farmer's book on Haiti. He points out that we have consistently not wanted Haiti to be democratic, just as we have not wanted most third world countries in our sphere of influence to be democratic. Other people's democracies are inconvenient. Other countries have different national interests than our national interest. Assuming that democracies express the will of the people and the national interest, it is much more convenient to have a benevolent or not so benevolent dictator.

It is also very convenient to have third world countries. They make cheap things. They allow capitalists in developed countries to accumulate more capital. In a world of might makes right, it is nice to have a few countries who are 98 pound weakling. It wouldn't be so much fun to be a bully if you could get a black eye yourself.

I read an editorial in the Economist recently where the author came down on the anti-interventionist arguments of the American left. The author pointed out that the idea that you shouldn't get involved abroad because the United States messes up other countries (historically--very true) is unlikely to be sympathetic to Am-ur-I-can patriots at home.

And that's true. It seems that the people who wave the flag are not the same people who work to make the flag something to be proud of. They don't want to do the hard work. So, why should the left have to try to appeal to this cheap and easy patriotism anyways?

Soju With A Really Expensive Feeding Tube

Soju has liver disease. But she is doing OK with the feeding tube. She looks grumpy on account of her collar makes her hair stick up.

That Quaint Revolution

So I'm reading this book on the American Revolution and it strikes me that the terms of colonial debate are once again shockingly relevant.

The revolutionaries objected to a monarchs because they were corrupt and monarchies tended to have a bunch of ass-kissing sycophants collecting public money and giving no value in return.

The revolutionaries thought that men should own property in an ideal republic. People who are in debt to other develop servile personalities not suitable for voters and free men.

Finally, they thought that people should be able to rise on merit not just in science and art, but in politics, law, and other important offices related to the public welfare.

So today, we have a negative savings rate and a guy name George running the country as the most corrupt president in U.S. history. Kind of makes you wonder why we bothered with our little old revolution.