2004-07-05 - "PUBLIUS"

"To Thine Own Self, Be True", a line from Shakespeare is what I regard as the foundation for every journal or blog. Thank you for reading my web site and may this first entry serve as an introduction to you the reader.

The following will give a description of this site, a legal disclaimer, as well as an explanation of why I sign my journal with the name of "Publius". If you have any questions please contact me via email.

I will start off with 'thirteen' quotes:

"The fundamental source of all your errors, sophisms and false reasonings is a total ignorance of the natural rights of mankind. Were you once to become acquainted with these, you could never entertain a thought, that all men are not, by nature, entitled to a parity of privileges. You would be convinced, that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and that civil liberty is founded in that; and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of justice."
--Alexander Hamilton

Of note I will that "Buddha says the greatest joy in life is freedom: freedom from all prejudices, freedom from all scriptures, freedom from all concepts and ideologies, freedom from all desires, freedom from all possessiveness and jealousy, freedom from all hatred, anger, rage, lust... in short, freedom from everything, so that you are just a pure consciousness, unbounded, unlimited. That is the greatest joy, and it is possible -- it is within everybody's grasp. You just have to grope for it a little. The groping will be in the dark, but it is not far away. If you try, if you make an effort, you are bound to find it. It is your birthright." Okay, now back to the quotes:

"My creed is that public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people and to the nation with full recognition that every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration, that constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought, that smears are not only to be expected but fought, that honor is to be earned, not bought."
--Margaret Chase Smith

"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves."
--Henry David Thoreau

'The mind is like a mirror through which you can see infinity. But if you put the blackness of hatred over it, you will see nothing.'
--Yogi Bhajan

"An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."
--Martin Luther King Jr.

"Intellectual freedom is the only guarantee of a scientific - democratic approach to politics, economic development, and culture."
--Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov

"Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed --- and no republic can survive."
--John F. Kennedy

"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will."
--Frederick Douglass

"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual)."
--Ayn Rand

"If the law is of such nature that it requires you to be an agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law."
--Henry David Thoreau

"Freedom from the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of a problem."
--Jiddu Krishnamurti

"That Americans are entitled to freedom is incontestable upon every rational principle. All men have one common original: they participate in one common nature, and consequently have one common right."
--Alexander Hamilton

So why Publius? The name Publius was a relatively common first name in ancient Roman times, shared by the poets Ovid, and Virgil and Hadrian, Emperor of the Romans 24-76 AD. The historical record is unclear as to which �Publius� was the first to earn the reputation as a champion for the people, but the association between "Publius" and statesmanship was widespread in the ancient world. It is unknown whether the name was made famous by an individual, or was an honorary name derived from the same root as "Public," bestowed upon an individual after he had already distinguished himself in public service.

The association of "Publius" with public service lived on and was referenced in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Troilus and Cressida. Throughout history, the name Publius has continued to be associated with anything that may be within the public's best interest. Given its reputation the name Publius was often used as a pseudonym for authors of public statements who did not want their identity to cloud people's willingness to consider their ideas.

"Publius" also has a strong connection to the foundation of American representative democracy. Arguably the most famous Publius authors in history, were John Jay, James Madison and spearheaded by Alexander Hamilton, who in 1787-88 published a series of 86 articles entitled "the Federalist." Collectively known later as "The Federalist Papers", Hamilton wrote in defense of the federal republic created by the new constitution. Though much politics played into this, that is another story for another time.

The goal of "the Federalist" was to convince New York to ratify the proposed United States Constitution drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, as a replacement for the less binding Articles of Confederation. All three authors were high-profile public figures who did not want personal relationships or feelings to spill over onto the arguments for adoption of the Constitution, so they tapped tradition and used �Publius� as a pen-name. Their efforts were successful, and New York joined the other colonies in becoming the United States of America. The Federalist Papers are considered some of the most elegant arguments for the establishment of our country. New York's ratification of the Constitution is considered the critical factor in the establishment of the constitutional republic in which we now live.

The Federalist by PUBLIUS meaning Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, who were Nationalists

Though I am fond of the Federalist papers I also quite fond of the "Anti-Federalists Papers". So I will add one more qoute from Thomas Paine for good measure to my list above:

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself."

The Anti-Federalist Papers

On a side note, some libertarians today feel "The Federalist" is the start of a big government approach that has never ended. I agree that the government has continued to grow, but both groups present in the 1780's would be horrified and utterly disgusted by the size of government today. So I believe the founders would be more unified than ever before if they had another chance in todays America to go for a more libertarian/less-government approach, and that includes Hamilton (I know many may disagree but to take an absolutist approach is irrational, unrealistic, illogical and actually quite ignorant in regard to such prominent historical figures. After all Washington and Hamilton were realists though they still had there many faults, as that is problem all of humanity deals with on an individualstic level.)

This site taps into that same tradition. It is inspired by the authors of The Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers, so by using the name �PUBLIUS�, I encourage others to speak out in the name of public service and justice to enlighten everyones minds. This site pursues the idea that a truly self-educated citizen strengthens our Constitutional Republic. It is as Marianne Williamson stated "And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others." While I do not always use this site for those means I will at times and at my own choosing.

The opinions and thoughts expressed in this web site are the author�s alone. Readers are reminded that what they read is not what they get, and that the message these entries attempt to be portraying may be the exact opposite of what the author appears to be saying. This is what is known as �sarcasm� or �irony". If the reader chooses to interpret this journal on a purely literal level, her/his understanding of its contents may be different from what the author intends. Therefore while the sarcastically-challenged may infer that the author is precocious, cocky and mainstream, he may actually be polite, respectful of the right to free speech no matter how vapid the speaker may be, or simply not given to arguing with the defenseless.

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Lastly, the author is well aware that it is the readers who make his online journal possible and he thanks them and prays that their lives are more exciting than the stuff he writes about. After all, it�s only a journal.

I will part with the following statement by Walt Whitman:

"Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or number of men [sic] -- go freely with powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and with the mothers or families -- re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body."

Please remember that ALL content on http://hamiltonian.diaryland.com/ is � 2004, 2005 the sites author and this includes all comments left. Once again thank you for spending the time to read this page, and please enjoy your experience at *http://hamiltonian.diaryland.com*.

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Use of http://hamiltonian.diaryland.com constitutes agreement with terms on this page, which are displayed properly at the bottom of every entry page. Thank you and please try to remember it is as Jiddu Krishnamurti says that that:

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."

So what can one do against such incredible ignorance?

"Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici."

Simply translated as:

"By the Power of Truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe."

That comes from Faust, inparticular "The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus by Phillip Marlowe. There are answers, and they are there now. Bliss truly is a pathless land.

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