Thomas Jefferson Quotes
I am conscious that an equal division of property is impracticable, but the consequences of this enormous inequality producing so much misery to the bulk of mankind, legislators cannot invent too many devices for subdivisions go hand in hand with the natural affections of the human mind. The descent of property of every kind therefore to all the children, or to all the brothers and sisters, or other relations in equal degree, is a politic measure and a practicable one. Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions or property in geometric progression as they rise.
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd President of the United States (Democratic Republican, VA), Letter to James Madison,1785
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
“Profiteers” had two general meanings at the time: First there was the specific set of industrialists who had made large profits out of the First World War. For many it also included capitalists who made large profits.
It became a slogan and rallying cry for Long and his followers.
If I had the power I would steal all your royal wealth and give it to Christ’s brothers and sisters.
Her monasteries were organized into male and female sections with monks and nuns respectively—a complete gender reversal of control of religious institutions of the Catholic Church where until modern times females were subservient to males. Remarkably, Brigid controlled both as there was no abbot. She heard confessions, ordained clergy, and may have even celebrated mass. Her first biographer claimed that she had been consecrated a bishop. Bishops were occasionally elected by the people. Brigid was one of the first political advocates of redistribution of wealth.
Primogeniture is the system where property is inherited from the father to the first born son. At the time women could not own property unless they were widows. It is the basis of most aristocracies. See {627010} for an American view of primogeniture that was stated a little earlier.
In modern America, there are two political views of this notion. The one held by a small majority of the population is Trenchard’s quotation taken literally. Their view is that there if the is no way to maintain liberty if there is too wide a gap between the rich and the rest of the population. The second variant, held by many conservatives limits the equality to equality of opportunity. They are loathe to take any position that says that any gap between the rich and the remainder of the citizens might be too large. They would particularly disagree with the first sentence of another Trenchard quotation, {627024}.
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
