"Madison and Hamilton had no damn interest whatsoever in freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly: none of that. And not just no interest in it, an antipathy to it..."
Illuminating, penetrating interview! His math is impeccable here:
"The innovation was baking oppression and brutality into the Constitution as a form of permanent political power, constitutionally guaranteeing slavery so that it would never end. If you take the influence of wealth and combine it, foundationally, with the influence of perpetual political power, the more enslaved people you have, the more you brutalize, the more political power you get. And that is not just undemocratic, it is anti-democratic. That means the more I do this, the more power Virginia will have over Pennsylvania, and the more power the enslavers will have. No incentive in the world can cut against those two powerful influences. None."
I messed up and didn’t say that the event was at Symposium Books Downtown. I had originally included the advertisement for the event and somehow removed it before sending it. My bad, and my apologies. Symposium is great!
Illuminating, penetrating interview! His math is impeccable here:
"The innovation was baking oppression and brutality into the Constitution as a form of permanent political power, constitutionally guaranteeing slavery so that it would never end. If you take the influence of wealth and combine it, foundationally, with the influence of perpetual political power, the more enslaved people you have, the more you brutalize, the more political power you get. And that is not just undemocratic, it is anti-democratic. That means the more I do this, the more power Virginia will have over Pennsylvania, and the more power the enslavers will have. No incentive in the world can cut against those two powerful influences. None."
Quite a stimulating, thought provoking discussion. Was that at Books on the Square? Wish I had known...
I messed up and didn’t say that the event was at Symposium Books Downtown. I had originally included the advertisement for the event and somehow removed it before sending it. My bad, and my apologies. Symposium is great!
And so is Books in the Square!