"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."
"It is natural for men, who wish to hasten the adoption of a measure, to tell us, now is the crisis--now is the critical moment which must be seized, or all will be lost; and to shut the door against free inquiry, whenever conscious the thing presented has defects in it, which time and investigation will probably discover. This has been the custom of tyrants and their dependents in all ages. If it is true, what so often been said, that the people of this country cannot change their condition for the worse, I presume it still behooves them to endeavor deliberately to change it for the better. The fickle and ardent, in any community, are the proper tools for establishing despotic government. But it is deliberate and thinking men, who must establish and secure governments on free principles. Before they decide on the plan proposed, they will inquire whether it probably be a blessing or a curse to the people (pp. 259-260)."
Letters From the Federal Farmer, 8 October 1787
These thoughts are just as relevant as they were at their writing as Americans have considered the issues brought on by the financial crisis, bailouts, cap and tax, and health care rationing. The spark for radical transformation of America is claimed to be justified by the proclamation of a crisis, real or imagined. This has always been the realm of the tyrant in opposing a free Republic of people.
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