Replying to LO28227 --
Hello Don,
Thanks for putting me in such good company. However, 1787, hmmm, nothing
new under the sun.
Perhaps that is the real strenght behind freedom of thought and speech: it
provides some space for rebellion. And perhaps we can use the repression
of rebellion as a sign of the weakening of a culture. There is also a nice
systemic loop there: more repression - short term - in order to keep a
culture for declining will hasten the decline in the long run.
Jan
Don Dwiggins wrote:
> This resonates strongly with Thomas Jefferson's comment of 1787: "I hold
> it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as
> necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical.
> Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on
> the rights of the people, which have produced them. An observation of
> this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their
> punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is
> medicine necessary for the sound health of government."
>
> (A good discussion of the context of this quote, and a later mellowing of
> Jefferson's views, is given in
> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7842/archives/revolutn.htm )
-- With kind regards - met vriendelijke groeten,Jan Lelie
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