50 Questions

[wkmac]

Stumbled on these 50 questions out on the net. A number of thought provoking ones to say the least.

1. Forget when the Declaration of Independence was signed; tell me why it was signed? What were the signers trying to accomplish?
2. What happened to the men who signed the Declaration? Did they go on to be heroes and live happily ever after?
3. What does the Declaration of Independence say the people can do when a government becomes destructive to the ends of liberty?
4. What would happen to anyone who tried today to alter or abolish our government if it became destructive to idea that government derives its powers from the consent of the governed?
5. Which articles of the Constitution grant specific powers to the federal government?
6. Which article of the Constitution restricts the powers of the government to only those specifically set forth in the Constitution?
7. Describe the circumstances under which Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner?
8. Do you believe people living in a free country ought to be compelled to recite a pledge of allegiance to that country? Why?
9. Was the Revolutionary War supported by a majority of the Colonists?
10. Where in our Constitution is it stated that anyone has a right to vote for the office of President of the United States?
11. How did our original Constitution provide for the appointment of Senators?
12. Most foreign countries appoint an ambassador to be their official representative before the government of the United States. Who officially represents the 50 state governments before the government of the United States?
13. Explain the difference between a rule of law and the rule of man.
14. Explain the difference between a democracy and a constitutional republic.
15. Was our country founded to be a country of majority rule?
16. Can you imagine what our country would be like today if the majority did rule?
17. Aren't you glad the majority doesn't rule?
18. Why does it matter in the grand scheme of things who the governor of North Carolina is?
19. Isn't a governor something you put on a state to keep it from moving ahead very fast?
20. What possible benefit could you gain by memorizing the motto of the State of North Carolina, or any other state for that matter?
21. How many times can the word "democracy" found in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution?
22. How many times can the word "democracy" found in the constitutions of any of the 50 states?
23. What does this tell you?
24. Define "civil war."
25. Was the war between the northern and southern states in the mid-1800s a civil war?
26. Who is third in the line of succession to the presidency?
27. Based on your answer to the foregoing question, would you demand that George Bush and Dick Cheney never eat from the same container of potato salad should the Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives in the next election?
28. How did the political class manage to fool the people of the United States into supporting a Constitutional Amendment creating an income tax?
29. How do most people get their news on a daily bass?
30. Does the "freedom of press" clause in the First Amendment apply to the broadcast media?
31. So, do most people get their news from agencies licensed to operate by the federal government?
32. Why were the words "under God" placed into the Pledge of Allegiance?
33. Do you think that it is proper for the federal government to compel students attending government schools under compulsory attendance laws to acknowledge the role of God in the formation of our country? Would this constitute "effecting an establishment of religion?" If not, why not?
34. Do Americans derive their basic rights from the Constitution?
35. If we don't derive our rights from the Constitution, just why was the Bill of Rights added anyway?
36. Define a system of government where the means of production are owned and controlled privately.
37. Define a system of government where the means of production are privately owned but controlled by government.
38. Define a system of government where the means of production are owned and controlled by the government.
39. What percentage of total income is earned by the top one percent of income earners.
40. What percentage of total income taxes collected by the federal government is paid by the top one percent of income earners.
41. Where in our Constitution does it specifically state that only U.S. citizens may vote for the office of President of the United States?
42. Name one right that a state government can exercise without interference from the federal level.
43. Where in our Constitution does it specifically state that only U.S. citizens may vote for members of the House of Representatives?
44. Look at the Bill of Rights. List any Amendments in the Bill of Rights that were ratified for the purpose of limiting the powers of the government.
45. If our Constitution provides for equal protection under the law, why, then, does the Voting Rights Act only apply to certain states who were held in political disfavor in the 70's?
46. List any Amendments in the Bill of Rights that were ratified for the purpose of limiting the rights of individuals.
47. If the Bill of Rights was written to limit the rights of government and to guarantee certain rights in the individual, try to explain why so many people seem to think that the 2nd Amendment was written to limit the rights of individuals and guarantee the rights of government?
48. Does the First Amendment protect speech that some people might find offensive?
49. Explain how our Republic was threatened when Janet Jackson showed the world that she likes to wear a Japanese throwing star on the nipple of her left breast.
50. What is the one exclusive power our government has that no individual or business can legally exercise?

 

[ben schreilavoge]

The answer to fifty is the right to privacy. If they want to know your business, you better beleive there is nothing you can do to stop them. But good luck trying to know their business. Any of them. They love to not comment.

 

[tieguy]

The answer to fifty is the right to privacy. If they want to know your business, you better beleive there is nothing you can do to stop them. But good luck trying to know their business. Any of them. They love to not comment.

the right to try and punish the citizenry for criminal behavior.

 

[Jones]

The answer to fifty is the right to privacy. If they want to know your business, you better beleive there is nothing you can do to stop them. But good luck trying to know their business. Any of them. They love to not comment.

I think it's the power to levy taxes, though I could be mistaken.

 

[wkmac]

The answer to #50 is force. Only the gov't can compell you to do something, in some cases that is not even in your best interest and no other entity has that power. Paying taxes, observing or surveilling you or compelling you to conduct yourself in a non-criminal manner are all possible when the citizen knows that if they don't comply and taken to the extreme, gov't will either use force to make them comply or remove them from society outright by means up to and including death. Failing on their part to do so could embolden citizen non-compliance and then threaten their planned society and public policy.

Do the 50 questions have a specific correct answer? Yeah, many do but the real purpose of the questions are not so much to see who the smartest in the class is (I think who the smartest is would move around depending on the question)but rather to make us all ponder and think about who we are, where we came from or what we were and then where are we going with present course. Even those opinions will vary but the idea again is to think on them. With thought from all you might be surprised at how much common ground there is among us. It's on the specifics of public policy and how to get there that presents the most difference.

JMO.

 

[susiedriver]

Never mind that these "questions" were raised by one Neal Boortz in response to an article in the Asheville newspaper.

Point being, there is an agenda behind the questions.

 

[tieguy]

Never mind that these "questions" were raised by one Neal Boortz in response to an article in the Asheville newspaper.

Point being, there is an agenda behind the questions.

Thats a no brainer. There is always a point behind any question asked.

 

[wkmac]

Thats a no brainer. There is always a point behind any question asked.

Very true Tie. Everyone has an agenda, even Susie. Her problem is she's not for placing all ideas on the table to discuss and only wants the ideas that she approves of to get any "net play!" I may not agree with her and agree with you and even visa-versa and you and I have probably disagreed more than agreed in the arena of politics, etc. but I still afford you the respect to post and express your ideas no matter what they were and I hope you will call me on it if I ever violate that condition.

Sure I saw the questions on Neal Boortz' site and for the record I think Neal is a libertarian sellout to the Neocons but I stll felt many of those questions were very valid to consider with one's overall thought and still consider them good questions for anyone to ask themselves no matter their political beliefs. Susie likes to accuse many of being Fascist and yes, we all can be that way at times and some more then others but I think it's a result of human nature and cultural conditions rather than pure ideological when we act this way but in Susie's case I think she's smart enough to know the difference but still wants to exert that thought process in the arena of ideas. I might at times act the fascist out of ignorance but she's a purist at heart IMO. This includes debasing herself to the level of name calling instead of ignoring admittedly stupid or unneeded remarks or rising above that level with some other intelligent remark that she is more than capable of. I agree MoreLuck's comment to Susie was unnecessary but the remark back from Susie calling Moreluck a "bigoted racist" was IMO totally uncalled for. Moreluck may have committed sin but IMO Susie's was the greater sin!

Although I "respected" Susie (past tense and yes I know you and others can't understand that point of view but hey that's life pal) and in some areas agreed with her, I lost any respect after her departure and then her posts under aynomous names claiming to have been dismissed from the site by Cheryl only to have her recently reappear under the susie handle thus proving her claim was a lie. We then had the Slothrup days and even though Slothrup denied, I'm not one at this point to believe that denial. Yes, I do think Susie and Sloth were one and the same. With all the other events, I'm left with no other conclusion to come to as much as I might like to come to something else.

It just came down to all these acts of questionable integrity (not her various beliefs whether I agreed or not) that just finally did it for me. She accused me under a veiled post of being Brutus to her Ceasar but I wonder if she ever considered the fact that she first weiled the knife of lies! I'm sure she never consider that point of view!