You never know what we'll churn up in cleaning a stall
… the liberties of Rome proved the final victim to her military triumphs … A standing force therefore us a dangerous, at the same time that it may be a necessary provision. One the smallest scale, its has its inconveniences. On an extensive scale, its consequences may be fatal.
James Madison in Federalist No. 41
The first is, that the Convention must have enjoyed in a very singular degree, an exemption from the pestilential influence of party animosities, the diseases most incident to deliberative bodies, and most apt to contaminate their proceedings. The second conclusion is, that all of the deputations composing the Convention, were either satisfactorily accommodated by the final act; or were induced to accede to it, by a deep conviction of sacrificing private opinions and partial interests to the public good, and by a despair of seeing this necessity diminished by delays or by new experiments.
James Madison in Federalist No. 37
… in the federal republic of the United States … the society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.
James Madison in Federalist No. 51
In a free government, the security for civil rights must be the same as for religious rights.
James Madison in Federalist No. 51
A good government implies two things; first, fidelity to the object of government, which is the happiness of the people; second, a knowledge of the means by which that object can be best obtained.
James Madison in Federalist No. 62
The House of Representatives … can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny.
James Madison in Federalist No. 57
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
James Madison in Federalist No. 51
Its origin, I’ve heard, arose in the Quaker peace testimony of 1662, with its refusal to swear oaths. Before that, political factions were supported by their own armies. The Quakers, or Society of Friends, promised to hold firm to their beliefs and yet not coerce others to their stand. Persuasion was another matter altogether. And William Penn, in the colony of Pennsylvania in the years we knew it as the Holy Experiment, insisted on having at least two candidates for every public office.
The Quakers not only refused to bear arms but also conducted their faith community business by consensus, without ever taking a vote. Minority opinions were respected, often leading to a third solution superior to the original options. This was not, do note, a compromise, seen as the lower common denominator, but rather something superior.
Theologically speaking, we sensed that Christ had a better answer for us, if we would only listen. “Mind the Light,” as we said.
Flash ahead to today’s death grip in the United States, where one party has steadfastly stood to obstruct anything proposed by an administration other than theirs. President Obama learned the hard way that they wouldn’t participate in crafting a third way. And he faced their open disrespect, which continued during President Biden’s term. Just look at the F— Biden flags for confirmation. Or their chants of “Lock her up,” regarding T-guy’s first opponent. Not that they would acknowledge the same for their guy, for far better documented reasons.
The Don Old, as we’ve seen, has significantly worsened the conflict and is threatening to imprison those who don’t agree with him.
The conundrum with a democracy could rapidly pivot on what to do with a disloyal opposition.
This could get very ugly, indeed. Before and after the national election.
Justice is the end [goal] of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued, until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit. In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign, as in a state of nature where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger …
James Madison in Federalist No. 51
If, therefore, … the people should in the future become more partial to the federal than to the State governments, the change can only result, from such manifest and irresistible proofs of a better administration, as will overcome all their antecedent propensities. … But even in that case, the State governments could have little to apprehend, because it is only within a certain sphere, that the federal power can, in the nature of things, be advantageously administered.
James Madison in Federalist No. 46
Jnana's Red Barn 