I’ve read pretty much every recent book on Franklin, including in the past year, books on Franklin authored by Walter Isaacson and Gordon S. Wood (the latter of which won the Pulitzer Prize). Franklin organized militias a number of times in his life and disliked the dilletante-style of pacifism that the ruling Quakers of Philadelphia often espoused.
In fact, I’d go as far to say that Franklin, as a self-made man, would have voted for Reagan and his trickle-down economics that modern liberals foam at the mouth over! He was also against raising the minimum wage. These opinions are reinforced in Isaacson’s book in my quotes below (and he is no conservative–used to lead CNN).
Sorry, Franklin would look at present day gun control in a similar way that he looked disdainfully at the ruling Quakers of Philadelphia. He would say it was social engineering from the top and he had little time for such elitism. In fact, so much of his writings lampooned such pretensions.
Try lecturing to people that don’t know US history! (hope you haven’t put me on ignore yet :roflmao: :roflmao: --some people really hate to learn).
[quote=“Benjamin Franklin in Walter Isaacson’s book on Pages 267 and 268”]
The rich spend their money is ways that enrich the labouring poor…A law might be made to raise their wages,but if our manufactures are too dear, they might not vend abroad." [/quote][/quote]
As usual you head off in your own multicolored tangent. He was a man of his times, and we should be of ours.