[lbo-talk] Re: Let Us Be Glad It Is Hard to Amend the Constitution

[Jim Devine]

On 5/20/06, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> That is exactly the rationale that Madison & Co. used, except their
> idea of "idiot passions" included any "wicked" attempt by the masses
> to expropriate the rich. The classic passage from Federalist 10
> <http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed10.htm>: "A rage for
> paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of
> property, or for any other improper or wicked project..."

they weren't just thinking this up, either. States like Rhode Island
waited a long time to ratify the Con because there lots of debtors
there, and they were organized.

-- 
Jim Devine / "FREE ENTERPRISE, n. A system in which a few are born
owning billions, most are born owning nothing, and all compete to
accumulate wealth and power. If those born with billions succeed, it
is due to their personal merits. If those born with nothing fail, it
is due to their personal defects." -- American Heretic's Dictionary