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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (16604)	6/13/2001 6:32:51 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 82486

Yes "the people" have the right to break political bonds. Since when are you "the people?." You are one person. Almost every revolution starts with a small group of people. Do you think the American Revolution sprang full blown in an instant, nobody feeling the need to change government one moment and the next moment thousands on board? And even at the height of the revolution, there were a great many Tory sympathisers -- in some areas, majorities -- who opposed the revolution and wanted to stay British. Your argument isn't up to your usual standard. If you don't like the contract, you can get enough of the rest of us on board to change its interpretation or you can opt out by becoming a recluse or going somewhere else. You can't take it upon yourself to break or alter that contract on behalf of all of us. The Minutemen didn't get people on board to change the contract with Britain, they got a small number on board to reject it out of hand. Yes, there is a need to recruit others -- what do you think I'm doing here? But I feel no obligation to go somewhere else. This is where I was born, this is my country, it was founded on certain principles, and I have no sense that I need to abandon it and its principles just because it is trying to abandon those principles. I've never been a "love it or leave it" type of person.

To: Lane3 who wrote (16604)	6/13/2001 7:22:13 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 82486

We all share the identical contract with the government and we all have interpretations of what the contract means. If you don't like the contract, you can get enough of the rest of us on board to change its interpretation or you can opt out by becoming a recluse or going somewhere else. You can't take it upon yourself to break or alter that contract on behalf of all of us. I'd like to see where my signature is on this contract. As a purely practical matter I agree that violent opposition to the government usually causes more harm then good, and I also agree that conditions in the US are not such that they justify armed opposition, however in a more fundamental abstract sense I don't think I share any contract putting the US government over me or that it has any more right to tell me I have to wear my seatbelt or that I can't legally bet on sporting events without its permission then you have a right to so order my life. I am however unwilling to kill people without extreme provocation, so you don't have to worry about me blowing up any government buildings any time soon. Yes, there is. It's called the Supreme Court. It's up to them to rule on what's constitutional and what's not. Their opinion rules, not yours. Any individual who presumes to know best for all of us is a megalomaniac. Do you like that label? The Supreme Court is part of the government. (Also I think they often don't do a very good job but that is not directly relevant) Tim