LoL I love this one. Was Jefferson speaking of liberal men?

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."-Thomas Jefferson





Answer :
Timidity comes in all political forms. Jefferson was a classical liberal, the meaning has changed over time.





Answer :
Yes, he was. Jefferson is the first liberal. It's the Bill of Rights that have caused conservatives grief from almost the founding of our nation. The conservatives by definition are "timid men" who resist change. They resisted the end of slavery, the woman's vote, civil rights, gay rights, Medicare, good benefits for veterans, government investments in rural areas, government programs to help poor kids, and so on. Conservatives are timid men. Why else do you think they're so afraid that they need to stock up on guns. I live in a big city, and I'm not afraid of all the diversity. Conservatives often live in a little towns with people just like themselves, but they're still "timid men."





Answer :
"Despotism is a form of government by a single authority, either an individual (Despot), or tightly knit group, which rules with absolute political power."

No, like modern day tea-baggers I do NOT think Jefferson was speaking of liberal Democrats! Though I/we admire Jefferson as the author of the Declaration of Independence, I/we should NOT condone his stance on slavery and being the Despot of his own plantation, Monticello, fathering babies out of wedlock with his female slaves, giving a new meaning to the term "founding father," being "liberal" with his morality and ethics but "conservative" with just how progressive his Republican thinking should be as to having other human beings subjugated as his own personal property, instead of as equal citizens enjoying "the [same] tempestuous sea of liberty" he and his Caucasian compatriot counterparts did!





Answer :
Ok, those who answered and said Jefferson was a liberal were correct but it is a mere technicality. Jefferson was a liberal....BACK IN 1776! By today's standards, he would have been considered a reactionary conservative and would roll over in his grave if he were here today to see what this country has become! The kind of liberal that Jefferson was...is called a "Classical Liberal"....liberals today are usually "Progressive Liberals". Technically, all conservatives are Classical Liberals.

Those who are timid are the progressive liberals. These apologists who travel about the world seeking forgiveness from our enemies while simultaneously stifling freedom and muzzling the self-expression of the people on the home front, prefer the comfort and job security of despotism rather than the insecurity and election inconveniences that are provided by liberty. That is what makes these men timid, because they are afraid of liberty and how it helps the people to topple despots...and I am not just referring to Liberal Democrats...I'm also referring to neoconservatives who have completely bastardized the very concepts of the conservative movement. I hope this answers your question.





Answer :
Quite the contrary, Thomas Jefferson was a liberal in every sense of the word.

"The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." Thomas Jefferson

"I trust that there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die a Unitarian." Thomas Jefferson

"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."
Thomas Jefferson

"But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State."
Thomas Jefferson (in a letter to S. Kercheval, 1810)





Answer :
Isn't it funny how liberals flip flop when it comes to our founding fathers?

One minute they were rich, slave owning, land stealing, indian slaughtering, aristocratic white men who didn't want to pay their taxes and founded this nation on racism and white supremacy. But they were "liberals" the next.





Answer :
Sadly no. He was talking about the vast majority of men. We are living under tyranny, but nobody is willing to do anything about it. They all say just "vote". Voting won't solve our problems, but doing what is necessary takes real courage, and nobody is stepping up to do it.





Answer :
Yes. He climbed into a time machine, rode forward to 2010, studied liberal men of the 21st century, then climbed back in his time machine, and wrote those words.

If that's what you want to believe, who am I to challenge it? Nothing would change your mind anyway.