Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Constitutional Amendment 14
I have written previously about the Fourteenth Amendment as an example of a law that declares a legal principle of equality but does not extend to defining a quantitative measure of the level of equality that is expected. This amendment is applicable to current political debates for two reasons. First, that we are grappling with…
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Constitutional Amendment 13
The Thirteenth Amendment is about as straightforward as any of the first ten amendments (I find it interesting to notice that the most obvious and natural amendments tend to be the shortest). Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the…
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Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
I was tempted not to include Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address among my review of founding documents, but I have become very interested in the parallels between the struggles over slavery and some of the struggles of our day. One question I asked as I read it again was, “have we learned anything in the last…
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The Opposite of Progress
I was just thinking today that there are two bills currently introduced in the House that clearly demonstrate how Congress acts in opposition to real progress. One is H.R. 1207 (text) and the other is H.R. 3200 (Table of Contents). Let’s have a look at some facts related to these two bills and what those…
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The Gettysburg Address
Everyone should already be familiar with The Gettysburg Address and have a basic understanding of the context in which it was crafted and delivered. I don’t think there is much I could have to add to that understanding, but I submit that the basic message of the address is still applicable today and that with…
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The Emancipation Proclamation
After 17 months of what had been expected to be a short war, Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation and gave a 100 day grace period before it was to be effective. I remember being taught that this was a publicity stunt with no effectiveness because it only applied to states that were in rebellion. I…
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Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
Context is everything so I thought it very appropriate that today was the time for me to review Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address right after reading State Sovereignty and the Senate with its review of the damage to federalism that was a result of the passage of the 17th amendment. The casket of federalism was virtually…
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An Inside View on the Honduran Situation
It’s always nice to have my positions validated by someone with more inside information than I have. I just learned that Tegucigalpa Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga has taken the same position as I have expressed on every point of the situation in Honduras. (You have to read my posts and my comments afterwards to see…
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Massachusetts Sues Over DOMA
Well, it didn’t take any special insight to know that this would be happening. One look at the similarities between the question of slavery in the 1850’s as related by Lincoln in his House Divided speech and the issue of gay marriage today had me predicting last week that this would be happening. Notice that…
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An Affordable Health Care System
On Sunday, July 5, Paul Krugamn laid out his argument that affordable health care for everyone was an achievable goal.[quote] Many people would be surprised to learn that I agree with him on that. He correctly argues that we already cover the bulk of the most expensive health care patients by covering the elderly under…
Got any book recommendations?