The American Constitution--For and Against: The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers

The debate over how to create an efficient system of government without sacrificing the sacred rights of the individual; how to make government serve society and advance its "general welfare" with a degree of competence while still harboring deep suspicions about the inherent unbound power of government per se. How three million people (only about 60% of them even literate let alone well-read) could produce writing of such informed elegance and tight logic is one of the mysteries and miracles of history. Reading these essays and then listening to the poll constrained mutterings of modern politicians world over is like first soaring along at a hundred miles an hour and then hitting a giant sludge puddle. The principles debated here have never been more relevant to the human condition. Would that this book be translated into Hebrew and made compulsory reading for the modern Israeli politician. I discuss some of these issues in my own book "The Optimistic Jew: a Positive Vision for the Jewish People in the 21st Century".