General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsyoung people today are more knowledgeable than founding fathers
*young people today don't believe slavery of humans is a morally defensible institution
*young people today know more about how human activities have an enormous impact on our planet
*young people today know that slaughtering indigenous people in order to advance white colonialism is wrong
Don't hold our founding fathers on too lofty of a perch. What they did regarding promotion of Democratic self rule and rejection of monarchy was ground breaking--but it birthed a very imperfect nation.
we have a right and an obligation to see those times and those people from a more enlightened perspective.
it is important we recognize those people knew so much less than we do today. It is similar to digging up artifacts from early humans. we know they were less intelligent and extremely primitive. we make allowances for that, but we see them with the clarity of scientific objectivity.
we must listen to the voices chanting for accountability. demanding a reckoning. don't use tradition as a cudgel. examine our nation and the people who led it. focus on how you can better our lives and our institutions.
that is a sign off true patriotism.
BComplex
(8,049 posts)dchill
(38,484 posts)stopdiggin
(11,302 posts)tanyev
(42,552 posts)We always see portraits of them as older men, but Lafayette, Burr, and Hamilton were 18, 20, and 22 in 1776. They birthed a great idea of a nation, but I agree with your comment, we have a right and an obligation to see those times and those people from a more enlightened perspective.
SiliconValley_Dem
(1,656 posts)MyOwnPeace
(16,926 posts)For example:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Let's not even begin to discuss/argue the "well regulated" part - but think about this: our dear "founding Fathers" had never heard of an AR-15, as well as an individual or groups having an "arsenal" stashed in the basement or available "on-line!"
They had muskets - fire and reload. No "quick-shooters" - no "laser-guided" weapons - just muskets and single-fire pistols!
Yes, the times have changed.
We need leaders in our government that recognize that and are willing to make the changes necessary to truly "Make America Great Again!"
THOSE PEOPLE WOULD TRULY BE PATRIOTS!
PTWB
(4,131 posts)While true the founding fathers never envisioned an AR-15 when they wrote the 2nd, it is also true they never envisioned the Internet when they wrote the 1st.
MyOwnPeace
(16,926 posts)Things change - we need leadership and legislation that works for the world as it is today.
We also need to work within the parameters of the constitution or change them. We cannot pretend they do not exist.
SiliconValley_Dem
(1,656 posts)the cases deeming a bunch of jackass hilbillies toting AR-15s as a "well regulated militia" are bullshit
PTWB
(4,131 posts)Until then it is the law of the land. There is much debate over the phrasing of the 2nd amendment.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)Were nowhere near perfect. We do not live up to all of our ideals, but we are WAY better now than we were in the 1950s and VASTLY better than we were in 1776.
-Laelth
Sneederbunk
(14,290 posts)SiliconValley_Dem
(1,656 posts)DavidDvorkin
(19,475 posts)Perhaps this is the year that will change.
Progressive Jones
(6,011 posts)brush
(53,776 posts)one fifth of populace was in bondage and they knew enslavement was evil.
Featured snippet from the web
Jefferson wrote that maintaining slavery was like holding a wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go.17 He thought that his cherished federal union, the world's first democratic experiment, would be destroyed by slavery.
Jefferson's Attitudes Toward Slavery | Thomas Jefferson's ...
www.monticello.org ... Jefferson & Slavery
Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men are created equal, and yet enslaved more than 600 people over the course of his life. ... Thomas Jefferson called slavery a moral depravity and a hideous blot,
What to do, what to think today, how do we evaluate them except to say they were imperfect men who could visualize a more perfect union. Sorry, but of the slaveholders among them, their hypocrisy was/is self evident.
Nitram
(22,794 posts)StarfishSaver
(18,486 posts)They have different values and more information, but neither is the same as having knowledge.
quickesst
(6,280 posts).... In 1776 compared to civilization and education in 2020.
"young people today are more knowledgeable than founding fathers" 🤔
One would certainly hope so.
Stuart G
(38,421 posts)The founding fathers of the U.S. were some of the brightest men alive in their day. One must ask, "knowledgeable"
about...."What"?....
If Washington & Jefferson were alive today, they would be our leaders now. To compare knowledge today with knowledge in 1750 is absurd...
It isn't the ..."knowledge" it is the ..... ability to...." learn knowledge."
Washington and Jefferson were brilliant, and would be brilliant today, if they were alive today..
... Who knows what they would accomplish today? No one knows...
SiliconValley_Dem
(1,656 posts)Stuart G
(38,421 posts)HotTeaBag
(1,206 posts)to look back on - and Wikipedia.
More courageous? Nah.
More willing to risk their lives to do what they believe in? Hardly.
Able to birth a fucking country? Um, no.
This is easily the most ridiculous OP amongst the newly minted 'anti-Founding Fathers sentiment' posts.
Utter nonsense.
SiliconValley_Dem
(1,656 posts)of time and new information. nothing about their courage or intellect will change the fact that they owned After ican Americans as slaves until the day they died.
Stuart G
(38,421 posts)2.... More willing to risk their lives to do what they believe in? Hardly.
3.......Able to birth a fucking country? Um, no.
Yes, and I also agree this is ..."utter nonsense"
pecosbob
(7,538 posts)I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world