A classic is a book you can reread and have new discoveries.

In other words, it holds timeless value.

Upon the continued study of George Washington’s Farewell Address the more convicted I become that it’s a classic.

“…overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.”

Obviously the question here is, “How do you define overgrown?” And why is this such a danger?

“In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.

In short, union supports liberty, our mutual love of liberty preserves our union. I don’t know that we do have a mutual love of liberty today. Especially considering the void of a common definition of liberty.

“…a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced.”

I’ve often considered what other forms of government might be ideal and if a central form of government is best. As so well portrayed in the Hamilton musical “Are we a nation of states? What is the state of our nation?” George Washington declares: having a unified government is best. From history and people’s natural tendency to form subgroups, which he discusses later on, having a unified government makes sense.

“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. “

What changes need to be made today?

Another thought provoking adventure in the writing of George Washington.

Photo by Lucas Ludwig on Unsplash.