What were they thinking ...
 

Some interesting facts regarding the US Constitution and the
status of the newly formed Union at the time:

When the Constitution was drafted and the founding fathers
debated, negotiated and finalized it's wording the total population
of the of the first 13 states was just under 4 million people.

Of them, about 700,000 were slaves.

The only people with the right to vote were male land owners.
Women, slaves, native Americans and males who didn't own land couldn't
vote. Native Americans didn't get voting rights until 1924.

This means that when the Constitution (as amended by the
Bill of Rights) was ratified, it permitted fewer voting people than
live in about 16-17 states today.

It is the world's oldest surviving written constitution.
It's also the world's shortest, consisting of 4 pages.

One of the first Congressional authorizations was the raising of a
5,000 man "standing army". George Washington sarcastically agreed
as long as the enemy had an army of 3,000 or less. Thus the need for
a "militia".

Although an amazing document, it wasn't perfect and the founding
fathers recognized the need for future changes. The Constitution
has been modified by Amendments 27 times (including the Bill of
Rights that make up the first 10 amendments).

Fast forward to today.

317 million citizens in 50 states. Slave ownership has been abolished.
Women can vote. Native Americans can vote.

Active duty military numbers around 1.4 million. Reserves number about
850,000.

New York City has over 7 times the number of police officers as the the
original "standing army" of the USA.

So what's all this talk about a "militia" ??????????

What were they thinking ...
 

Beats me Rick.

I'm not bothered by what's in there but it'd be interesting to see what's happen if they took it out. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the sharpest political tack inn the wall but Maybe it'd be better If they left the barn door closed on that issue.

What were they thinking ...
 

On 11/17/2014 11:06 AM, Tim wrote:
Beats me Rick.

I'm not bothered by what's in there but it'd be interesting to see what's happen if they took it out. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the sharpest political tack inn the wall but Maybe it'd be better If they left the barn door closed on that issue.



Yeah, I am not advocating the elimination of the 2A as it relates to the
right to gun ownership. I just think that times and situations change
and sometimes a little tweaking is in order.

What were they thinking ...
 

On Mon, 17 Nov 2014 10:32:42 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


Some interesting facts regarding the US Constitution and the
status of the newly formed Union at the time:
Jeeez...I thought you quit 'cause we were so screwed up!

What were they thinking ...
 

On Mon, 17 Nov 2014 10:32:42 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


Some interesting facts regarding the US Constitution and the
status of the newly formed Union at the time:

When the Constitution was drafted and the founding fathers
debated, negotiated and finalized it's wording the total population
of the of the first 13 states was just under 4 million people.

Of them, about 700,000 were slaves.

The only people with the right to vote were male land owners.
Women, slaves, native Americans and males who didn't own land couldn't
vote. Native Americans didn't get voting rights until 1924.

This means that when the Constitution (as amended by the
Bill of Rights) was ratified, it permitted fewer voting people than
live in about 16-17 states today.

It is the world's oldest surviving written constitution.
It's also the world's shortest, consisting of 4 pages.

One of the first Congressional authorizations was the raising of a
5,000 man "standing army". George Washington sarcastically agreed
as long as the enemy had an army of 3,000 or less. Thus the need for
a "militia".

Although an amazing document, it wasn't perfect and the founding
fathers recognized the need for future changes. The Constitution
has been modified by Amendments 27 times (including the Bill of
Rights that make up the first 10 amendments).

Fast forward to today.

317 million citizens in 50 states. Slave ownership has been abolished.
Women can vote. Native Americans can vote.

Active duty military numbers around 1.4 million. Reserves number about
850,000.

New York City has over 7 times the number of police officers as the the
original "standing army" of the USA.

So what's all this talk about a "militia" ??????????

All the rest of us.

What were they thinking ...
 

On 11/17/2014 12:32 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Mon, 17 Nov 2014 10:32:42 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


Some interesting facts regarding the US Constitution and the
status of the newly formed Union at the time:

When the Constitution was drafted and the founding fathers
debated, negotiated and finalized it's wording the total population
of the of the first 13 states was just under 4 million people.

Of them, about 700,000 were slaves.

The only people with the right to vote were male land owners.
Women, slaves, native Americans and males who didn't own land couldn't
vote. Native Americans didn't get voting rights until 1924.

This means that when the Constitution (as amended by the
Bill of Rights) was ratified, it permitted fewer voting people than
live in about 16-17 states today.

It is the world's oldest surviving written constitution.
It's also the world's shortest, consisting of 4 pages.

One of the first Congressional authorizations was the raising of a
5,000 man "standing army". George Washington sarcastically agreed
as long as the enemy had an army of 3,000 or less. Thus the need for
a "militia".

Although an amazing document, it wasn't perfect and the founding
fathers recognized the need for future changes. The Constitution
has been modified by Amendments 27 times (including the Bill of
Rights that make up the first 10 amendments).

Fast forward to today.

317 million citizens in 50 states. Slave ownership has been abolished.
Women can vote. Native Americans can vote.

Active duty military numbers around 1.4 million. Reserves number about
850,000.

New York City has over 7 times the number of police officers as the the
original "standing army" of the USA.

So what's all this talk about a "militia" ??????????

All the rest of us.


lol

What were they thinking ...
 

On 11/17/2014 9:32 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

Some interesting facts regarding the US Constitution and the
status of the newly formed Union at the time:

When the Constitution was drafted and the founding fathers
debated, negotiated and finalized it's wording the total population
of the of the first 13 states was just under 4 million people.


The only people with the right to vote were male land owners.
Women, slaves, native Americans and males who didn't own land couldn't
vote. Native Americans didn't get voting rights until 1924.

Although an amazing document, it wasn't perfect and the founding
fathers recognized the need for future changes. The Constitution
has been modified by Amendments 27 times (including the Bill of
Rights that make up the first 10 amendments).

And then comes the downfall.

"once the democracy shows signs of prosperity, citizens vote themselves
generous bounties from the public treasury."

Can democracies be saved?

How do you prevent citizens from voting themselves generous bounties
from the public treasury?

Can a democracy be saved by allowing only those that pay taxes to
support the government be allowed the right to vote?

If you can stir the pot...

Mikek





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What were they thinking ...
 

On Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:11:33 -0600, amdx wrote:

Can a democracy be saved by allowing only those that pay taxes to
support the government be allowed the right to vote?

If you can stir the pot...

===

As the country was originally formulated only land owners, i.e., tax
payers could vote. It's probably way too late to turn the clock back
on that without some sort of coup d'etat however. As Dick Nixon said,
"You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube."

What were they thinking ...
 

On Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:11:33 -0600, amdx wrote:

On 11/17/2014 9:32 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

Some interesting facts regarding the US Constitution and the
status of the newly formed Union at the time:

When the Constitution was drafted and the founding fathers
debated, negotiated and finalized it's wording the total population
of the of the first 13 states was just under 4 million people.


The only people with the right to vote were male land owners.
Women, slaves, native Americans and males who didn't own land couldn't
vote. Native Americans didn't get voting rights until 1924.

Although an amazing document, it wasn't perfect and the founding
fathers recognized the need for future changes. The Constitution
has been modified by Amendments 27 times (including the Bill of
Rights that make up the first 10 amendments).

And then comes the downfall.

"once the democracy shows signs of prosperity, citizens vote themselves
generous bounties from the public treasury."

Can democracies be saved?

How do you prevent citizens from voting themselves generous bounties
from the public treasury?

Can a democracy be saved by allowing only those that pay taxes to
support the government be allowed the right to vote?

If you can stir the pot...

Mikek





---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

We could probably help it by simply requiring an ID to vote. Ah, but
the requirement for an ID is an 'infringement' on the rights of the
people. I forgot.

But wait, filling out forms, showing multiple IDs, paying fees,
getting fingerprinted...none of those are 'infringements'.

I've just gotta wake up.