Subject:
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Re: Who the devil are we to lecture on 'nucular' non-proliferation? (careful, long rant)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 5 May 2005 18:00:34 GMT
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Viewed:
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949 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
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How did the founding fathers feel about private, individual ownership and
use of artillery pieces? Practically speaking, I think that these were the
pinnacle of land-portable weapons technology of the day; was ownership
permitted to anyone (well, to any white, land-owning male, I guess) who
could afford it?
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I’d refer you to the Federalist Papers for something a bit more authoriative,
but my guess would be no, their cutoff seemed to be “man portable” rather
than “portable if you have a whole team of horses”. Before you ask, that DOES
rule out “personal tanks” or anything that has a motor to move it around, I’d
say.
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Interesting (and, I note, consistent with your previously stated views). I
wonder if they might have considered relative firepower/destructive potential if
they’d known what would eventually be man-portable. That’s wonder-if question,
as below:
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On a philosophical note, if the FF could have foreseen the level of
man-portable destructive capability that would arise, might they have worded
the 2nd differently?
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Who, absent a time machine, can say for sure?
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Sure. Fun to speculate, though (for me, at least).
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Which is a greater power, in real-world terms: the
ability to tax interstate commerce, or the ability to blow up a city?
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The former, as it has no check.
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Maybe it’s a question of power in-the-aggregate vs.
power-in-raw/immediate-terms. Me, I’d rather pay an extra $.20 for a can of
soup than see a city laid waste in a blast, but I think, frankly, that this
would qualify as an anecdotal objection.
Thanks for the speedy input.
Dave!
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