What Would the Founding Fathers Think of America Today? (ep. 629)
About this episode
The episode imagines the Founding Fathers' perspectives on modern America as the nation approaches its 250th birthday.
As America approaches its 250th birthday, we fire up a (mostly) reliable time machine and imagine what the Founding Fathers would think if they could see the United States today. Would George Washington be amazed by America's military power? Would Benjamin Franklin marvel at electricity, space travel, and modern technology? Would Thomas Jefferson recognize the federal government they created—or wonder what happened to the republic they envisioned? Over a German wheat beer, Pigweed and Crowhill explore questions the Founders might ask about: * The Constitution and the Bill of Rights * Free speech and religious liberty * The Second Amendment * Taxes and the growth of government * The Tenth Amendment and states' rights * Originalism vs. the "living Constitution" * The rise of the federal bureaucracy * Presidential power * Political parties (which many Founders distrusted) * Whether America has fulfilled—or departed from—the Founders' vision Along the way, we also review a classic German Weissbier and finish with another round of "Satire or No Satire?" — where today's headlines are sometimes stranger than fiction. Whether you agree or disagree with our…
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