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One of the books I have on my phone is The Federalist Papers. It's a long read and I peruse it a bit at a time. Sometime I know I'm missing references and concepts that would require more legal or historical study but this just jumped out at me:
In The Federalist No. 35 Hamilton is talking about the general power of taxation. Within he talks about representation in the House of Representatives and how it is unnecessary to have a broad spectrum of different folks within, for example:
"Mechanics and manufacturers will always be inclined, with few exceptions, to give their votes to the merchants, in preference to persons of their own profession or trades. Those discerning citizens are well aware that the mechanic and manufacturing arts furnish the materials of mercantile enterprise and industry. Many of them, indeed, are immediately connected to the operations of commerce. They know that the merchant is their natural patron and friend:"
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
To the merchant, their employee is merely a cost sink to be shrunken and gotten rid of. Any study into the labor movement shows that that merchant or as we call them nowadays, "The Enterprising and Investing Class", would gladly shiv the mechanic and replace them with a machine or a cheaper body.
Hamilton continues this nonsense by later saying that the interests of the small farmer and the large land owner are the same and their mutual interests will best be served by... ta-da! The large land owner! This is nonsense as the landed gentry would gladly screw over the small farmer to steal their land.
Apparently, Hamilton never considered the reverse of the argument believing the Merchant and the plantation owner would either be naturally more competent or experienced with matters of government. Perhaps he thought the wealthy few would be perfect representatives of the poorer masses.
Our present Republican president and Senate (and formerly Republican House) has shown how _wrong_ he was.
-m
In The Federalist No. 35 Hamilton is talking about the general power of taxation. Within he talks about representation in the House of Representatives and how it is unnecessary to have a broad spectrum of different folks within, for example:
"Mechanics and manufacturers will always be inclined, with few exceptions, to give their votes to the merchants, in preference to persons of their own profession or trades. Those discerning citizens are well aware that the mechanic and manufacturing arts furnish the materials of mercantile enterprise and industry. Many of them, indeed, are immediately connected to the operations of commerce. They know that the merchant is their natural patron and friend:"
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
To the merchant, their employee is merely a cost sink to be shrunken and gotten rid of. Any study into the labor movement shows that that merchant or as we call them nowadays, "The Enterprising and Investing Class", would gladly shiv the mechanic and replace them with a machine or a cheaper body.
Hamilton continues this nonsense by later saying that the interests of the small farmer and the large land owner are the same and their mutual interests will best be served by... ta-da! The large land owner! This is nonsense as the landed gentry would gladly screw over the small farmer to steal their land.
Apparently, Hamilton never considered the reverse of the argument believing the Merchant and the plantation owner would either be naturally more competent or experienced with matters of government. Perhaps he thought the wealthy few would be perfect representatives of the poorer masses.
Our present Republican president and Senate (and formerly Republican House) has shown how _wrong_ he was.
-m
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