A Debate among our Founding Fathers

Only Americans have the humility to call the United States an Imperfect Union. Only Americans have the audacity to promise themselves a More Perfect Union. We don't even care if "More Perfect" makes grammatical sense. But then we are Americans. Grammatical sense be damned.

Grammatical sense be damned? Not so fast.

Actually, our founding fathers had quite a debate over grammar. Some of them argued for "inalienable rights" in the early versions of our Declaration of Independence. They conceded to the majority who voted for "unalienable rights" in its final version. Interestingly, our modern dictionaries prefer "inalienable" as a proper adjective. 

Inalienable or unalienable rights, however, have long been declared enough but not exercised enough. Accordingly, our American history shows a gnawing gap between rights declared and rights exercised. More importantly, this gnawing gap is narrowing. If that's not progress, I don't know what is.

Happy Father's Day!


Author: renqiulan


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所有跟帖： 

• 美國的國父們偉大就在於他們從舊陣營出來，看清弊病，全新建設。我曾在弗州兩年，去了所有前期總統的故居接受再教育！有博文 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 08:43:21

• 要看看花姐博文！李白《蜀道難》：“開國何茫然”。蠶叢是蜀國首位稱王的人。美國開國不茫然，因為沒有人稱王，沒有人敢於稱王。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 08:59:18

• 我希望你看，並給我指正。我一連寫了4篇，最早2000年是為國內而寫。都被封了。後轉過來的。鏈接在裏麵 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (248 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:03:45

• I think I'll learn a lot from your posts. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:06:27

• 不會呀，我隻是粗略知道一二，也許還有謬誤呢。所以小R一定要不吝賜教 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:33:43

• 花姐太客氣了。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 12:49:38

• 花姐寫得真好！ -nearby- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:14:03

• +100 -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:13:57

• I like more your input. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:12:34

• I always believe that General Washington is the greatest -nearby- ♂ (90 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:03:15

• At least, Washington was one of the greatest US presidents. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:04:58

• Fair and balanced. Thank you, Wei Wei! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:21:21

• +100 -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:17:43

• Thank you, nearby, for your comment! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:17:32

• We are missing you, nearby! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:26:49

• True. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:03:51

• Thank you for quoting Li Bai! -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:11:22

• +100 -nearby- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:02:16

• It's worth reading. Thank you! -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:09:54

• 謝謝秋蘭。It's very meaningful to talk about founding fathers in -唐宋韻- ♂ (350 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:16:46

• 謝謝唐宋君！個人認為沒有相宜的中譯。希望大家指教一下。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 12:52:50

• 是我沒有說清楚：“人人生而平等，享有造物主賦予給他們的不可剝奪的權利，包括。。。”是中文的對美國《獨立宣言》的 -唐宋韻- ♂ (321 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:41:00

• That's more like it. Thank you! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:11:15

• 謝謝秋蘭。 -唐宋韻- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:20:52

• I also like this interpretation of the Declaration. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:16:49

• I like this exchange of ideas. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:15:08

• 這是個值得深思的問題。秋蘭節日快樂！ -66的山梁- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:27:57

• 謝謝六六姐！美國真是個多元化的社會。不少美國人並不承認華盛頓等是美國國父們的。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 12:56:53

• Right on. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:18:29

• 謝謝，秋蘭的豪氣文章。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:34:49

• 我就住在維吉尼亞多年，華盛頓的家去過n次，有趣的是在各處扮農夫，勞工的小夥子，都是大學曆史係的學生。老公最愛跟他們談史 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:38:13

• 我最愛去的是Thomas Jefferson的家，他的烹飪書，還在研究“花生湯”的作法。。。。。。。。。。。。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:40:02

• Thomas Jefferson是個多才才子，他的家趣味多多，連離他家不遠處的女奴房，他在那兒的小妾生活，也栩栩如生。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:43:26

• 整個 Monticello 是他自己設計的。 -唐宋韻- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:48:37

• 最喜歡那時的玻離窗，好像刻有雨痕，看外麵特別漂亮。Monticello 裏麵每處都是設計學問。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:52:48

• 維州大學也是Thomas Jefferson設計的。 -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 09:53:47

• 對。包括傑佛遜在內，美國國父們都是啟蒙運動的實行家，對科學文史工藝都認真學習和發揚的。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:20:44

• 個人作野史看待。The history of mulattoes gives credit to the theory. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:26:53

• Mulattoes! They suffered a lot in the past. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:21:47

• This is quite an intriguing story. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:20:18

• 有沒有看看其莊外的黑奴小墓地呢？ -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:17:01

• 有啊！ -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 14:21:18

• History doesn't lie, but people may lie about history. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:23:57

• 我們住在弗吉尼亞時，我一是看總統故居，二是參觀南北戰爭所有的遺跡，寫了8篇呢，全麵接受美國愛國主義教育哈哈 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 11:53:58

• 花花，搬家多次啊！ -lovecat08- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 12:25:13

• 美國就住過弗州。。。。 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:22:32

• 讚花的愛國之心。 -AP33912- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 12:26:00

• Virginia 曆史文物之豐盛，足以媲美新英格蘭。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:29:59

• 是的，方圓之內都是美國曆史大事的發生地 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 14:48:32

• You must've taken a lot of notes.Keep them as your treasure. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:13:51

• I bet your posts are quite interesting. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:27:28

• 曆史短的美國，其國民偏愛談曆史，大概因為意識到曆史的重要性吧。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:15:19

• 謝謝貓姐！拙文短敘了這一段獨立史插曲。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 13:11:37

• Their grammar debate shows that they're serious men. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:29:07

• washington $1, Jefferson $2, Hamilton $10, Ben F $100, 何時Jeff 與B -AP33912- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 11:08:00

• Ben Franklin 鈔票同值？ -AP33912- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 11:09:00

• 1913年的兩塊錢值100塊，哈哈，不用找，周末愉快。 -AP33912- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 12:28:00

• 那時是美金，1970代就成了美元。 -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 14:07:40

• 石油危機cpi 超12%，但兩塊錢紙幣因發行少而值錢。 -AP33912- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 18:23:00

• Thank you, AP! Do you have faith in $US? I do. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:25:17

• 歐/日元都弱了，RMB過去50年年升兩分，未來或年升一分錢，so agreed. -AP33912- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 18:21:00

• Check out these 2 "National Treasure" movies. Interesting. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 14:05:52

• Money talks. Hahahaha...! -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:30:11

• I am jealous when you say 'our Founding Father' -老鍵- ♂ (364 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 11:30:59

• Unlike Napoleon,Washington picked citizenship over kingship. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 14:17:25

• True. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:30:42

• The sons of heaven might be prisoners of their egos. -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 14:20:31

• A gnawing gap: "rights declared and rights exercised." -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:07:37

• The above quote is a fair comment on the US history. -寒葦- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:09:07

• Yes, it is. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:31:25

• Thank you for quoting me! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:22:14

• 廣告一下：去讀花姐關於華盛頓將軍故居的文章，可以看到花姐的美人兒照片哈 -nearby- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:16:33

• I'm in a "gold rush"! -renqiulan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 15:19:46

• 啊？我記得照片都刪了呀！鄰鄰鑽我空子 -花似鹿蔥- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 16:56:26

• wish they would rise and lead us now -顫音- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/18/2023 postreply 17:19:28

• They're gone but still inspiring. -shuier- ♀ (0 bytes) () 06/19/2023 postreply 10:32:51