If Thomas Jefferson were alive today do you think he would be a libertarian?

Question

http://jpetrie.myweb.uga.edu/TJ.html

Answer 1

Thomas Jefferson was THE ORIGINAL LIBERTARIAN.



Main Entry: lib·er·tar·i·an
Pronunciation: "li-b&r-'ter-E-&n, -'te-rE-
Function: noun
1 : an advocate of the doctrine of free will
2 a : a person who upholds the principles of individual liberty especially of thought and action b capitalized : a member of a political party advocating libertarian principles

Answer 2

I don't now that he necessarily would have been a Libertarian, but he sure as heck would not be happy about the current state of affairs; no current party fits the bill of what the Founding Fathers wanted in a Govdernment. It is not to hard to see what they wanted, all one needs to do is read the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, among other founding documents.
I would not say that Jefferson would be opposed to the War on Terror. During his Presidency, a 14 year war against the Barbary Kingdoms in Northern Africa would be started. The direction that the war has taken, possibly. But defeat would never have been an option.
The Government's control over the Economy would flabbergast Jefferson.
The current tax system, even without knowledge of the rates would blow his mind.
The control that the governmetn has over our lives would be unacceptable to him. The amount of control that the Democrats continue to advocate would infuriate him. The Republicans in this case are just as bad.

Answer 3

He'd be on Bush's list of terrorists, because he was too honest to lie about the state of the republic.

Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.
Thomas Jefferson
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Thomas Jefferson

Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
Thomas Jefferson
Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.
Thomas Jefferson
Every generation needs a new revolution.
Thomas Jefferson
Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.
Thomas Jefferson
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson
I have sworn upon the alter of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
Thomas Jefferson
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.
Thomas Jefferson

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.
Thomas Jefferson

Answer 4

I think the myth that he executed someone on the white house lawn would become a fact.

He would horse whip the living snot out of our sitting president, vice president and sitting congress.

Where are the Thomas Jefferson's now, we need him and our founding fathers back. Or perhaps we just need to grow a set like they did and start all over again.

Answer 5

No
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government -- Thomas Jefferson.

Answer 6

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today he would seriously be pissed off.

Answer 7

He might be a libertarian if he were alive today.

I think people today make a bit too much of Thomas Jefferson.
He was a great man...but he was just a man.

His farts stank just like ours do.

Answer 8

Maybe, but George Washington did not like political parties!

' Let me now take a more
comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature,
having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.
It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or
less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the
popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly
their worst enemy.

. . .

It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble
the public administration. It agitates the community with
illfounded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity
of one part against another; foments occasionally riot and
insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and
corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government
itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy
and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and
will of another.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful
checks upon the administration of government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is
probably true; and in governments of a monarchial cast
patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon
the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in
governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a
free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with
its administration to confine themselves within their
respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise
of the powers of one department to encroach upon another.
The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers
of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever
the form of government, a real despotism."

George Washingtons Farewell Speech 1796

Answer 9

I don't know. All I know is the right would accuse him of being an America hater. After all he said things like "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism", and "It is the duty of a patriot to protect his country from its government."

Fox News would be screaming what a terrorist he is.

Answer 10

No. He would immediately call out the Militia (that's us) and purge the government of the liberals and socialists and closet communists. Then he would congratulate the Militia, and go back to his own time when men were men, not whiners, wimps and girly men.