Warning from George Washington
"There is a fatal tendency ... to put, in the place of the delegated will of the Nation, the will of a party; -often a small but artful and enterprising minority ... by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the Power of the People and to usurp for the themselves the reins of Government; destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion ...
I have already intimated to you the danger of Parties in the State ... Let me now ... 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 roots in the strongest passions of the human mind ...
Domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension ... has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism."
No comments:
Post a Comment