Thursday, December 22, 2005
Federalist No. 37, part 1
Carrying-on in that manner to which I am accustomed, i.e., having no rhyme nor reason but rambling about like an unsupervised three-year old burning off skittles and juice, I present some excerpts from The Federalist No. 37.
Madison, in attempting to "determine clearly and fully the merits of this Consitution, and the expediency of adopting it," rehearses the issues which faced the Constitutional Convention. His list includes the "stability and energy in government, with the inviolable attention due to liberty and to the republican form." Madison states, "Energy in government is essential to that security against external and internal danger, and to that prompt and salutary execution of the laws which enter into the very definition of good government." These are the fundamental purposes of government. A government without the power to protect the citizens against dangers from without and from within and to enforce its laws is little more than a pinata -- a painfully empty one at that. Madison follows with the argument for stability. "Stability in government is essential to national character and to the advantages annexed to it, as well as to that repose and confidence in the minds of the people, which are the chief blessings of civil society." A stable government affords the citizenry better opportunities for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, including commerce and property, than would insecure institutions subject to frequent change.
Madison also recognizes the inherent tension between liberty and the stability and energy in government. "The genius of republican liberty seems to demand on the one side, not only that all power should be derived from the people, but that those intrusted with it should be kept in dependence on the people, by a short duration of their appointments; and that even during this short period the trust should be placed not in a few, but a number of hands. Stability, on the contrary, requires that the hands in which power is lodged should continue for a length of time the same. A frequent change of men will result from frequent return of elections; and a frequent change of measures from a frequent change of men: whilst energy in government requires not only a certain duration of power, but the execution of it by a single hand."
In this paper, Madison does not reveal the constitutional resolution of the tension between energy, stability, and liberty. He simply states that the convention faced an arduous task. He goes on to describe the extreme difficulty in defining the line between the power of the states and the power of the federal government, and between the states themselves. He considers the nearly insurmountable difficulties faced by the convention and marvels that a resolution was obtained at all, noting: "It is impossible for a man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution."
Madison, in attempting to "determine clearly and fully the merits of this Consitution, and the expediency of adopting it," rehearses the issues which faced the Constitutional Convention. His list includes the "stability and energy in government, with the inviolable attention due to liberty and to the republican form." Madison states, "Energy in government is essential to that security against external and internal danger, and to that prompt and salutary execution of the laws which enter into the very definition of good government." These are the fundamental purposes of government. A government without the power to protect the citizens against dangers from without and from within and to enforce its laws is little more than a pinata -- a painfully empty one at that. Madison follows with the argument for stability. "Stability in government is essential to national character and to the advantages annexed to it, as well as to that repose and confidence in the minds of the people, which are the chief blessings of civil society." A stable government affords the citizenry better opportunities for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, including commerce and property, than would insecure institutions subject to frequent change.
Madison also recognizes the inherent tension between liberty and the stability and energy in government. "The genius of republican liberty seems to demand on the one side, not only that all power should be derived from the people, but that those intrusted with it should be kept in dependence on the people, by a short duration of their appointments; and that even during this short period the trust should be placed not in a few, but a number of hands. Stability, on the contrary, requires that the hands in which power is lodged should continue for a length of time the same. A frequent change of men will result from frequent return of elections; and a frequent change of measures from a frequent change of men: whilst energy in government requires not only a certain duration of power, but the execution of it by a single hand."
In this paper, Madison does not reveal the constitutional resolution of the tension between energy, stability, and liberty. He simply states that the convention faced an arduous task. He goes on to describe the extreme difficulty in defining the line between the power of the states and the power of the federal government, and between the states themselves. He considers the nearly insurmountable difficulties faced by the convention and marvels that a resolution was obtained at all, noting: "It is impossible for a man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution."
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice Brings Shortest Day Of Year: "The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice.
Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter. "
If it's the shortest day, it must be followed by the longest night, right? Is it somehow significant? If so, how?
Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter. "
If it's the shortest day, it must be followed by the longest night, right? Is it somehow significant? If so, how?
