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> He would need to escape from poverty and free himself and his children from strangling debt. It seems like so many of the things we take for granted today co

• rjf72 7y ago
  One interesting distinction is that many of the modern protections that have in many ways shaped modern society, are not protections against other people - but protections against governments themselves. This is a recurring theme in the constitution. For instance the constitution does not grant you the right to free speech. It observes that you, by nature of being a human capable of speaking already inherently have the right to free speech. The constitution simply stops the government from passing laws to take that right away from people. Most of the bad acts people can commit against other people have been illegal for time immemorial. The revolution that started with the United States was the founders of a nation passing legislation to protect the people from the government itself. Things like debtor's prisons, as you mention, are of course state-driven institutions. There are also things now illegal that we can't even imagine. For instance the third amendment prevents the government from forcing you house soldiers which is so far away as to feel unimaginable. Other things we're constantly reminded of, but they have become so socially ingrained that we take them for granted. For instance protections against unreasonable search and seizure, protections against being forced to testify against yourself.