Aristocrats fear the people, and wish to transfer all power to the higher classes of society.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the fear aristocrats have of the populace and their desire to maintain power among the elite.
In this quote, Thomas Jefferson critiques the aristocracy's apprehension towards the common people, implying that the elite seek to control governance to safeguard their privileges. Jefferson's statement reflects a broader philosophical debate about power distribution and societal hierarchies, emphasizing the tension between the ruling classes and the masses.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of democratic governance versus elitist control.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
Hong Kong was promised democracy under the framework known as 'one country, two systems,' and China is ignoring this promise. The international community should be more attuned to this. It matters.
What is most troubling about Mr. Putin's aggression in Crimea is that it reflects a growing disregard for America's credibility in the world. That has emboldened other aggressive actors - from Chinese nationalists to Al Qaeda terrorists and Iranian theocrats.
Hamas is regularly described as 'Iranian-backed Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.' One will be hard put to find something like 'democratically elected Hamas, which has long been calling for a two-state settlement in accord with the international consensus'βblocked for over 30 years by the US and Israel. All true, but not a useful contribution to the Party Line, hence dispensable.
I'm not naive. All politics is about identity, right? Neighborhood politics, cultural politics, issue politics. It's not as though I don't get that. It's just - it has to be, I think, tempered in a way that is for our overall advancement and not to our detriment or obliteration. When I say 'our,' I don't mean just communities of color.
The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.
Where I think historians can help preserve and actually restore democracy is to remind us of how we got it.
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