quote for the day

"The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations."

Thomas Jefferson

via

Okay, seriously, this is lovely, but I cannot help but wonder if it is real. I mean, it's just so convenient. Though it might go a long way towards explaining why the educational destructors in Texas dont seem to fond of poor old Tom. I'd research it, but I'm too lazy, especially when I can just tack on a simple disclaimer.

This is a job for sbh.

Addendum: Yay! I was right, it was a job for sbh, and he has come through with his usual* talent (taken from the comments):

Fortunately the researchers at Monticello have already covered this one (see http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/end-democracyquotation). They refer it to Noam Chomsky's 1994 book Keeping the Rabble in Line:

"This exact quotation has not been found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson. It may be a mistaken amalgamation of the author's comments in the above 1994 reference with a real Jefferson quotation. Jefferson wrote in 1825 to William Branch Giles of 'a vast accession of strength from their younger recruits, who, having nothing in them of the feelings or principles of '76, now look to a single and splendid government of an aristocracy, founded on banking institutions, and monied incorporations under the guise and cloak of their favored branches of manufactures, commerce and navigation, riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman and beggared yeomanry.' Chomsky's 1994 book quotes Jefferson's 1825 letter to Giles and then comments that '[Jefferson] warned that that would be the end of democracy and the defeat of the American revolution.'"

For me the phrase "end of democracy" is a red flag; I haven't seen it in Foundation Era documents. It's more of a twentieth century concern.

I dunno if it was the phrase "end of democracy" that made me suspicious (probably not), but I'm glad to see that my caution was not misplaced.


* or perhaps unusual, since this sort of thing seems to fool a lot of people.