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John adams predicted the direction of the US 226 years ago!

by seasoned
6 replies
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I won't delve into it, but he obviously thought about this a lot. He predicted the corruption of the government, the real estate bubble, the eradication of debts, levying of taxes, destruction of religion, etc... It was apparently in reference to comments made by Mr. Nedham earlier. That was 10 years before he was elected president. It even talks about seconds. For example, it says... "Debts would be abolished first; taxes laid heavy on the rich, and not at all on the others; and at last a downright equal division of every thing be demanded, and voted. What would be the consequence of this? The idle, the vicious, the intemperate, would rush into the utmost extravagance of debauchery, sell and spend all their share, and then demand a new division of those who purchased from them."

I just thought it was interesting.

Obviously, he had some experience here personally or through records of someone else. In flowery and concise language, it still fits in less than 1/2 a screen! It is published at the university of chicago, of all places. I WOULD provide a link but, well...

Steve
  • Profile picture of the author Young Financier
    A good read would also be his book titled "Wealth of Nations."
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    • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
      Originally Posted by Sean T Alexandre View Post

      A good read would also be his book titled "Wealth of Nations."
      Is that not Adam Smith?

      Dan
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      • Profile picture of the author Young Financier
        Originally Posted by jimbo13 View Post

        Is that not Adam Smith?

        Dan
        LOL. Thanks for catching that. I usually get John Adams and Adam Smith confused.
        Either way though, Wealth of Nations is still a good book in which the author discusses a similar style of economics.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Our forefathers were incredibly intelligent men........and some of them a tad corrupt in their own right, so they were familiar with how scenarios could play out. I also imagine that the general public was also easily led and mostly as stupid then as they are now. There are all sorts of political philosophers that were easily able to discern which way the psychosis for power and wealth would turn different hierarchies and classes of humans. Look at Marx's dialectics. Most of us will reject socialism - but if you look at what is going on in America today, you will see that his dialectics was a pretty astute assessment of the evolution of the country.

    If we had teachers who would promote reading the philosophies of politicians, we'd have much smoother running societies. Good or evil - those men were all brilliant.
    Signature

    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Check out a guy by the name of Alexander Tytler. Among other things he was a Scottish professor from the University of Edinburgh. He wrote a short essay on the lifespan and devolution of any democracy in 1770.

    Without getting into the particulars he said that democracy, all democracies in fact, begins to fall apart when the people realize they can vote themselves benefits out of the public treasury. Go figure, huh? No doubt the founding fathers were hip to this. He's a guy worth doing a little checking on.

    http://www.famousquotessite.com/famo...racy-1770.html
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      Check out a guy by the name of Alexander Tytler. Among other things he was a Scottish professor from the University of Edinburgh. He wrote a short essay on the lifespan and devolution of any democracy in 1770.

      Without getting into the particulars he said that democracy, all democracies in fact, begins to fall apart when the people realize they can vote themselves benefits out of the public treasury. Go figure, huh? No doubt the founding fathers were hip to this. He's a guy worth doing a little checking on.

      http://www.famousquotessite.com/famo...racy-1770.html
      Yeah, at least one founding father in the US said the same thing, and that paragraph I quoted part of, from john adams said as much ALSO. Even the part I quoted aludes to it. Look at the last word in "...and at last a downright equal division of every thing be demanded, and voted. ". It really is sad.

      Steve
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