James Madison - Federalist Paper 10 WIP

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federalist-no-10/
http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm
"Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed union, none deserves to be more accurately developed, than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice."

Oh, one vice people are getting alarmed over the government getting in the way of getting things done, so there's that.


REWRITE: The friend of popular governments never finds himself so alarmed for the character and fate of said government than when he contemplates the propensity of factions to engage in the dangerous vice of violence. One of the advantages of a well-constructed union is to break and control this vice.


"The instability, injustice, and confusion, introduced into the public counsels"...
Yeah, violence from factions isn't the sole source of that.

"The valuable improvements made by the American constitutions on the popular models, both ancient and modern, cannot certainly be too much admired;"

Uh huh. Language of a confidence trickster. Instead of telling us the advantages and letting us weigh their value for ourselves, he is telling us to take his word for it that they are there, and furthermore there is no extent admiring it could be too much.

[It would be a mistake] ..."to contend that they have as effectually obviated the danger on this side, as was wished and expected."

Assuming that they aren't making these sorts of problems actually worse. But he wouldn't even consider that possibility.

"Complaints are every where heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens"...

Yeah, more confidence game talk. It just so happens that the people who have the views he wants validated are the most considerate and virtuous. Surprise, surprise. And "everywhere"? Where do they find the time?

"It will be found, indeed, on a candid review of our situation, that some of the distresses under which we labour, have been erroneously charged on the operation of our governments;"

Really? Which ones? I think he expects us to assume all of them, since he can't be bothered to specify which ones, or even which ones are legitimate, or acknowledge the possibility that some distresses not blamed on government may actually belong there.

"These must be chiefly, if not wholly, effects of the unsteadiness and injustice, with which a factious spirit has tainted our public administrations."

Yeah, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for proof that unsteadiness and injustice are due to the human tendency to form factions and not due to a lack of a sense of fair play.

"By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."

Yeah, well sorry, just because everyone isn't linked up into some hive mind, it doesn't mean that they are out to get everyone else.