America’s Founding Fathers thought Economic Inequality would ruin the nation

By Robert A. Vella

The modern conservative movement, which is more radical now than conservative, has for many years kidnapped the legacy of America’s founding fathers as justification for their extreme ideology.  Their perfunctory rhetoric would have us believe Washington, Jefferson, et al were icons of conservative virtue, that the notions of unrestrained capitalism, decentralized government, Christian fundamentalism, and cultural homogeneity, constitute the core principles of America.

Conservatives have been largely successful at perpetrating this myth because Americans have forgotten their history, in addition to the narcissistic complicity of the corporate-controlled media.  In actuality, nothing could be further from the truth.  Although individually diverse in their thinking, America’s founding fathers as a whole promoted the philosophy of 18th century liberalism during the Age of Enlightenment.  They advanced the application of reason and science to self-governance.  They favored the rule of law over hereditary privilege and the Divine Right of Kings.  They promoted democracy, civil rights, secularism, and freedom of the press.  All these ideas are now either explicitly or implicitly opposed by modern conservatism.

You’ll never hear conservatives or the mainstream media admit to this, but the U.S. Constitution is probably the most liberal document ever devised to build a nation upon (at least up until then).

The current concerns over economic inequality were also shared by America’s founding fathers who had much to say on the topic.  They believed excessive concentration of wealth would be detrimental to a free and just society.  David Cay Johnston wrote an informative piece this week for Newsweek which superbly conveys their views on this matter.  I highly recommend reading it:  Why Thomas Jefferson Favored Profit Sharing