Ultimate Dinner & Smoke Invitation

[psychpipes]

I would like to hear his views on his devotion to Deism and The Enlightenment and how it influenced the writing of the Declaration Of Independence and his political views.

Thomas Jefferson was a great man, no doubt. Really though, the Declaration of Independence isn't a piece of originality. It was influenced by John Locke, well, more like Jefferson paraphrased Locke's work. In addition, a lot was taken from other colonial freedom writers. George Mason, for example, published a draft of the Virginia Declaration of Independence in a Virginia Newspaper the day Jefferson began writing the one for congress. Among his writings was the following:
"That all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity, among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."
...sound familiar?
I'm not trying to attack the man's (Jefferson's) overall contribution to the cause, but I doubt the document would have made it through a modern college plagiarism program. I think if I had a dinner and smoke with the former president, I might ask him how it felt writing documents on freedom and individual rights while simultaneously being a wealthy owner of nearly 200 slaves.
Damn, this got ranty. I just don't buy into the over glorification of our founding fathers.

 

[brdavidson]

Hmm, I've thought about this post a fair bit. I used to be very interested in politics and one of the most interesting Prime Ministers in Canada (perhaps an oxymoron, however) to me was Brian Mulroney. He helped draft the NAFTA agreement and fought the Quebec separatists and tried to finally get the Canadian Constitution signed by all the provinces, an attempt that ultimately failed. I think he would be a very interesting dinner companion with all the dirt and stories he could tell.
The other would have been my Grandfather as a younger man when he was still smoking his pipes. He lead a very interesting life, an accomplished professional musician, a large hydraulic engineer and successful property investor. I think it would have been a fantastic learning experience.

 

[fearsclave]

Ernest Hemingway, with noted safari writer Peter Capstick, fly fishing writer John Gierach, and Col. Jeff Cooper would make for some interesting table talk...

 

[warren]

psych: Slaves were not considered to be people or citizens 200+ years ago. There's your answer, problem solved!
The man was drafting a document, not writing a book. It wasn't something that needed foot noting or such as he wasn't claiming it as his own.
It is good to know that colleges are now providing classes in plagiarism. Although, judging from many published papers, the classes are skewed more to "how to" and not "one shall not steal" from the works of others, no matter how obscure. Brings to mind Doris Kearns Goodwin.

 

[rmason]

My choice would either be the father of the Atomic Bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer or the mathematical genius of Leonhard Euler, I would love to discuss physics or mathematical proofs with either of them.

~Ron

 

[kcghost]

I'd probably go with my first wife. I need to ask her what the hell she was thinking.

 

[flakyjakey]

Ha ha,me too !!

 

[ghost]

First choice would be Ronald Reagan (I'll bring the jellybeans), second choice would be Jerry Garcia for guitar talk and a jam session.

 

[rigmedic1]

Robert Heinlein would be my choice, though I am not sure he smoked at all. He was my icon of science fiction writers, and I would love to chat with him about how and why he wrote his works. His views on politics were quite controversial.