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That's because virtually no one at the time of its writing would have understood the term to mean "wide-scale re-distribution."
by maehwasu 10y ago
That's because virtually no one at the time of its writing would have understood the term to mean "wide-scale re-distribution."
- zip1234 10y agoYes, the term refers to congress not passing laws just to benefit a few people.
- maxxxxx 9y agoHow do you know?
- AnimalMuppet 9y agoBy reading their writings (not just the Constitution, but the Federalist Papers, their letters, transcripts of their speeches, and so on).
- maxxxxx 9y agoWhat does "general welfare" then mean?
- AnimalMuppet 9y agoIt's a high-level goal or purpose for the government, right alongside "form a more perfect union", "establish justice", "insure domestic tranquility", "provide for the common defense", and "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity". It's a top-level overview to answer "Why the Constitution?" It is not a blank check to let the Government take everything it needs in order to provide everything everyone wants. Look at the size of the Federal Government before World War I (meaning, for more than a hundred years after the writing of the Constitution). Look at the lack of even an income tax before 1913 (except for briefly during the Civil War, IIRC). If you're going to argue that "promote the general welfare" meant redistribution, you're going to have to argue that for over a hundred years, everyone forgot about that and the government didn't do its job. But if you say that it's an explanation of the overall intent (as understood by the people of the time), but with a meaning that falls far short of large scale redistribution, then the historical actions of the Federal government make perfect sense, and the current understanding of that phrase is what's out of line.
- maxxxxx 9y agoI never mentioned redistribution but the phrase to me seems to mean that the intent was that the country should be governed in a way that benefits all and not just the few who have the money to pay for lobbying to get the laws they want.
- AnimalMuppet 9y agoI would agree that what you think it means is at least part of it - promote the general welfare, not a few specific welfares. I was arguing against redistribution because maehwesu raised that point (seven posts upthread from this one). I misread your comments as arguing that redistribution was the intended meaning of "promote the general welfare".