Adams and Jefferson on Equality

[Zzzptm]

I just read a short essay about the disagreement between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on equality and the American polity.

Jefferson, a slaveholder born into a wealthy family, held the view that because America was so vast, there would be property for all and a sort of egalitarian society would be the natural result.

Adams, a son of a New England farmer, held the view that because property was not limitless and that, indeed even if all men were created equal, they were not all *born* equal - witness the inheritance of Mr. Jefferson, not to mention his slave holdings - wealth would still flow to wealth and that, regardless of society, there was a strong tendency toward inequality and concentration of wealth in a few families.

Adams said to Jefferson, "You are worried about the one. I am worried about the few." Meaning, Jefferson was most opposed to a tyrant while Adams saw a greater threat in an oligarchy/aristocracy.

Fascinating read, I think I'll be diving deeper into this area in the days to come.

[Billy Underdog]

Nice to see one of your founding fathers have such socialist views...

[Zzzptm]

Nice to see one of your founding fathers have such socialist views...

Well, not entirely... Adams' solution to oligarchy was to have an elected king and a House of Lords to send the powerful to languish into irrevelance.