by Matthew Piepenburg, Gold Switzerland:

Below, we consider just how far America has fallen from its founding vision (and something we can do about it).

Union Matters—Poor Ol’ Jefferson

When sitting down to “channel the people’s will” through his own pen, the author of the American Declaration of Independence, Virginian Thomas Jefferson, had one key principle and theme in mind, namely: Union.

According to University of Virginia scholars, Garry Gallagher and John Nau, this concept of Union was premised upon the ideals (and “experiment”) of: 1) equality (despite, of course, can-kicking the slavery issue…); 2) compromise and 3) a fundamental disdain for any form of coercion (or “capture”) by a centralized body (or bodies) within an otherwise fragile republic based upon a federalist structure.