A Jeffersonian Paralogism*

Thomas Jefferson's home and garden on the 'beautiful mountain.'  photo: Monticello.org

The third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, is being taken to task because he owned slaves and didn't free them upon his death.  He is being judged by people living in a far different time, who are largely ignorant of history.  Using this same stern scale of justice, what sins are we modern's committing that may be as abhorrent as Jefferson's?  We also support slavery because we buy a sizable amount of goods made by Chinese slaves.  How much sleep do we lose over that?  Is an offense less heinous because we live 12,000 miles away?  Is a fighter pilot less connected to deaths on the ground than an infantry soldier in hand to hand combat?  Or a computer operator controlling armed drones?  If we were truly as sensitive to any whiff of slavery, we would send an army of CNN or PBS reporters to the Chinese mainland to discern which businesses do this, so we may institute immediate, and hoped for transformational boycotts because of this despicable practice.  But we haven't, have we?  

Nixon opened the door with China 40 years ago.  Twenty+ years later, Clinton passed the North America Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, which opened another door to what Ross Perot called, “…That giant sucking sound you hear, will be our manufacturing jobs leaving America for Mexico, China, Asia.”  This gave the all-powerful Communist Chinese government reason to look the other way when factory owners lock factory doors to keep slave laborers in, so they can manufacture our clothes, cell phones, computers, and techie technology.  This heavy hand of crony capitalism-hybrid-communist-economy enables the billion dollar deals that supply the dazzle we can't live without.  

As I sort through my family's old clothes for the thrift store, I read label after label of garments from the 1990s—most were made by the International Ladies Garment Union, In America.  Yup, in the old days, that’s where our clothes were made.  And shoes. St. Louis was the epicenter of shoe manufacturing in America (St. Louis, and Milwaukee, made most of our beer too).  Sheets and towels were made first in New England, then moved to factories in the right-to-work Carolinas so owners could compete against steadily increasing cheap imports.  Pots, pans, tools and auto parts were made in the Ohio River Valley. Detroit: cars.  Seattle: planes.  All gone now, except for the planes in Seattle, and a fading beer industry.  The once dynamic, vibrant, largest middle class in the world, the American one, was supported by a throbbing economic powerhouse, now gone with the wind, replaced by a communist one in far off Asia, where people of color work in abhorrent conditions that the American OSHA would shut down in a heart beat.  And we have the nerve to look down on Thomas Jefferson.  

Considering Jefferson's gifts to us.  A powerfully stated idea, his Declaration of Independence, sent to King George III, the most powerful man in the world at that time, a document that led to the creation of a government unparalleled in history.  It would be magnanimous of us to cut Jefferson a little slack, by not judging him with our own hypocritically compromised standards.  He was one man.  We’re a whole society, doing what he did for exactly the same reason--economics. 

Today, there is an overwrought grievance industry in our country fomenting distrust.  It weaves disgruntlement throughout our schools, media, community organizations, government, even churches.  This  mindset is dividing us, instead of strengthening us. What might it be like if Americans spent less time parsing hateful messages about subjects most people know nothing about, of events that happened long ago?  The grievance muckrakers don't do this to enlighten us, but to hobble us with distrust and anger.  How productive--or happy--are you when you’re angry?  Fearful?  

Imagine, if we used our brainpower to research societies that have been successful?  Or studied what makes a society productive economically? Or simply read the Bible, for it gave us the principles to live well, and gave our founders the blueprint for our democratic republic, in 
Exodus 18:17.

Gregory Clark, in his book, A Farewell to Alms, cites 4 components of all successful economies:

1. Innovation
2. Hard work
3. An economic/government system that encourages these two
4. Avoiding conflict

You'd be surprised to find the country that has consistently fostered these 4 components best has been the U.S.A.  Why is our Constitution one of the most celebrated and admired form of government in history?  If you've ever stood in line at the National Archives on Constitution Avenue, Washington DC, to look at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, you will have rubbed shoulders with people from all over the world, who know firsthand what we in our own land fail to see:  The power and legacy of what it means to have a government based on having its citizenry free and independent.

Thomas Jefferson, despite his flaws, was one of the most brilliant men in American history.  His name, and his ideas hold what my Indian friend calls good karma.

In the 1770s, slavery or indentured servitude was the way of the world.  Slavery was an integral economic component of all cultures since ancient times.  It's mentioned as a fait accompli in the Bible and the Koran.  Paul, in the New Testament book of Philomon, was one of the first to encourage his disciple Philemon to treat his runaway slave with mercy, instead of with the traditional Roman Empire punishment, death.  Paul went one step further:  “…have him back for good—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.”  Philemon 1:16.

When Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776, all countries of the world were ruled by either a king or queen, a despot or a military junta.  I encourage you to read or even scan the first few paragraphs of Jefferson’s Declaration:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

It’s most famous and transformative passage starts in the second paragraph:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”

Aristocrats, despots, and military tyrants since Jefferson have shuddered at the thought that the masses should ever believe our rights come from God, instead of the power of government.

Only twice in history have people enjoyed anything as empowering as our Constitution.  The first time, described in Exodus 18:17, of the Bible, was given to Moses by God through his father-in-law, Jethro, to create a manageable government in the wilderness, after the Israelites escaped Egypt.  How could one man properly rule 500,000 people?  Exodus, chapter 18 describes the creation of representative government, which our Founders used as a model for our local, state and federal government.  

The second time in history, was during the the too brief rule of the Anglo-Saxons in England, 700 A.D. to around 1000 A.D.  They had slaves too.  But the majority of Anglo Saxons lived more freely than anyone since the Israelites, or until Americans after 1787.  The Anglo Saxons period died with the growth of the English aristocracy.  Little blips, such as the English Magna Carta (celebrating it’s 800th birthday this year!) and the softening of the grip of English aristocracy by 1688, created an intellectual foundation for the philosophy that enabled men like Thomas Jefferson to dream of a new form of government.   

The only reason people today freely discuss the validity of whether to honor Jefferson or not, is because of the government he helped create, an ideal that has spread throughout the world.  One must first understand how miraculous and unimaginable such a government was—and still is—to the majority of the world’s population.  We had to fight a brutal war to claim the right to establish the United States of America.  The British crown, then the most powerful country in the world, did not relinquish power easily.  England in time became our partner, despite what they saw as the horrible transgression of revolting from them, as we were still the most like them in the world.  They forgave us our wrongs, and we theirs, consequently becoming a formidable influence of good in the world.  We could not have defeated Hitler or the USSR without this partnership. 

Diplomacy is the art of seeing what benefits society while still gracefully interacting with others, even our enemies.  We bequeathed our governing principles to our arch enemies after WWII--Germany, Italy and Japan--and the world has lived in relative peace since then. 
 
Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant strategist.  As president, he doubled the land mass of the country with the addition of the Louisiana Purchase.  Imagine if Mexico had taken possession of those lands instead of us?  Today, there would be that much more land controlled by the ruling oligarchy there, that many more impoverished peasants sneaking across our border. Jefferson's personal library became the backbone of the U.S. government’s Library of Congress, and was reputed to be the finest in the Americas. 

Jefferson was all but bankrupt when he died.  His heirs had to scramble to keep Monticello intact for nearly 100 years, until a foundation took it upon themselves to restore it for posterity.  We should visit Monticello this summer.  It is there that I understood how multifaceted he was.  It is there that you can see for yourself a style of greatness that is as rare in the world of today as an ivory billed woodpecker.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker  photo: factzoo.com

Jefferson was president when the U.S. had it’s first foreign war, against the Barbary pirates, who were threatening our merchant ships and trading, off the coast of Africa, which is why he had a Koran in that splendid library of his.  He wanted to know what made them tick.  He was an infinitely curious man.

I propose you read his Declaration of Independence this 4th of July weekend.  Ponder the government he helped birth, a new form of government that gave a voice to the little guy, a voice that grew, and eventually shed the shackles of slavery. Arm yourself with knowledge**, instead of angry feelings.  

*paralogism |pəˈraləˌjizəm| 
A piece of illogical or fallacious reasoning, especially one that appears superficially logical or that the reasoner believes to be logical.

** Recommended reading:  the U.S. Constitution.  You can receive a free copy from Hillsdale College if you sign up for their free monthly magazine, Imprimis: 

 https://www.hillsdaleoffer.com/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=91