And also, what does "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" mean? If youre only gonna define 1, then tell me which one.
2006-11-24 16:03:35 · 7 answers · asked by Daniel 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Promote the gernal welfare simply means to be pro-active about making things better for the country and the citizens. Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity means to not put the nation in the position of being destroyed or taken over before our children's children's children are there to live in this country. Posterity is all the future generations.
Doesn't sound like much is being done about either in this country right now. Does it?
2006-11-24 16:08:34 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
The first, "Promote the General Welfare" means that the government (all three branches thereof) must work for the good and well-being of ALL people in the nation, the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the sickly and the healthy, the religious and the atheist/agnostic.
The second, "Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity" speaks of putting the Constiution and the government into place to protect the freedoms of those who were living ("ourselves"), and their descendents, those who would inherit the nation and its constitution whence they had departed the world ("our posterity")
2006-11-24 16:08:45 · answer #2 · answered by Firestorm 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Remember, the Preamble is an introduction to, or executive summary of, the Constitution. It is a statement of intent that attempts to establish the context for the body of the document.
"Promote the general welfare" means that the Constitution is intended to help people rather than hinder people.
"Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" means that the Constitution is intended to provide a framework that will keep us from self-destructing.
2006-11-24 16:15:09 · answer #3 · answered by ML 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means following the tenets of the US Forefathers, the founders of the country and authors of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.
If citizens work hard for prosperity for themselves, but always include talking and working towards the good of the community and the nation, the country will prosper in magical ways.
Securing the blessings of liberty is part of that goal. The freedoms outlined in the founding documents insured that if you follow what is said as a good citizen, almost spiritually, you would be raised and the country would receive benefits in the same way forever.
What you do with the highest intentions for yourself would spread like a wave to cover the good of the nation.
Americans to this day have never felt the need to read those documents because the blessings carried the nation this far-- until the Neoconservative fascists took over and destroyed that magic.
Take time to read, analyze and spread the word to your neighbors and find the names and write to your local, state and federal leaders. Take minutes of Yahoo Q@A time to write an e-mail to them.
2006-11-24 16:12:03 · answer #4 · answered by Reba K 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
#1 means make laws that allow people to do well.
# 2 means to safeguard all that liberty entails (freedom of speech, religion, unlawful searches, etc) for the Founding Fathers generation (ourselves) and the generations that follow (posterity).
2006-11-24 16:08:59 · answer #5 · answered by normobrian 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think both of them could be summed up by saying that the Founders wanted everyone in this nation to be able to secure equal rights, not just the rich landowners, and everyone be able to have the freedoms what they want to.
2006-11-24 16:08:10 · answer #6 · answered by amg503 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Firestorm has it correct. Bravo.
2006-11-24 16:12:58 · answer #7 · answered by Doc 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋