Andrew Jackson's farewell address

We are living in an historic era important as any other in American history and led by a president brilliant as any other that preceded him unique in his way sorely misunderstood and mischaracterized by everyone including leadership within his own party.

This photograph taken yesterday is with Chinese delegation following trade negotiations with Trump's team directed by Trump himself. The next day after this meeting Trump addressed the press about human trafficking and the need for border protection [transcript] after which a journalist asked him an unrelated questions as their wont, "Mr. President, are you thinking of adding on a meeting with Xi Jinping on the back end or the front end of the meeting with Kim?"

Trump took the long way of answering, "Yes." Then Trump joked about Da Nang, "Gee, who does that remind you of?" To slide away from his answer and reroute the line of questioning.

So we see for ourselves in real time a portion of Trump's strategy with the unintended help of media who is against Trump succeeding at anything. Trump is breaking the well known utility for China in using DPRK as tool against the U.S. in their own trade discussion strategy. The meeting with Kim occurs a few days before the China tariff deadline. Trump merged the meeting with Kim and the U.S.-China tariff deadline. The announcement of the Kim meeting negated Xi Jinping's leverage of using DPRK in their trade negotiations for the month of February.

That is, China leadership cannot instruct N. Korea to do anything ridiculously aggressive while Trump and Kim are planning their summit.

The portrait of Jackson looks over the meeting. Not the usual portrait that hangs there. [oval office jackson portrait] This one is different. Apparently they switch them out. Can you imagine having multiple original Jackson portraits in your house? Look again for this Jackson portrait in browser images and you'll see the browser images are reversed. The one shown above is correct because the lettering on the flag is correct.

Here is Jackson's farewell speech published on thelastoutpost. The introduction and the postscript are also rather insightful. Reading it you might think as you go, goodness this man does go on, but then as you stick with it you'll realize, holy moly Andrew Jackson is smart. This speech could have been written yesterday. It applies directly to us. This man saw 180 years through the haze of the future to now! He visualized strains of various possibilities and followed them along with his comprehension of human nature along with his direct experience and connected to Trump.

And Trump looked backward through time and recorded history and connected with Andrew Jackson. By this last speech delivered by Jackson it's easy to see a link to Trump. In a way, Jackson created the presidential version of Trump, and Trump used Jackson as template.

It's useful to read the whole speech. It's rather long, erudite and antique and it's also clear as a ringing bell. As you go the speech becomes exceedingly modern its resonation profound as ever.

Key points:

* We behold systematic efforts publicly made to sow the seeds of discord between different parts of the United States and to place party divisions directly upon geographical distinctions; to excite the south against the north and the north against the south, and to force into the controversy the most delicate and exciting topics—topics upon which it is impossible that a large portion of the union can ever speak without strong emotion. 

* Mutual suspicions and reproaches may in time create mutual hostility, and artful and designing men will always be found who are ready to foment these fatal divisions and to inflame the natural jealousies of different sections of the country. The history of the world is full of such examples, and especially the history of republics. 

* The first line of separation would not last for a single generation; new fragments would be torn off, new leaders would spring up, and this great and glorious republic would soon be broken into a multitude of petty states, without commerce, without credit, jealous of one another, armed for mutual aggression, loaded with taxes to pay armies and leaders, seeking aid against each other from foreign powers, insulted and trampled upon by the nations of Europe, until, harassed with conflicts and humbled and debased in spirit, they would be ready to submit to the absolute dominion of any military adventurer and to surrender their liberty for the sake of repose. 

As Jackson talks about the absolute necessity of states being true to federal laws I keep thinking of my own state disregarding federal law about marijuana and people feeling strongly about abortions and about immigration. Jackson was obviously thinking about slavery. He continues at length about freedom and armies being raised by states and dissolution of the union. He sees the country coming to war with itself.

The next paragraphs are apparently ancient wisdom received by leaders as they experience it.

It is well known that there have always been those among us who wish to enlarge the powers of the general government, and experience would seem to indicate that there is a tendency on the part of this government to overstep the boundaries marked out for it by the Constitution. Its legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient for all the purposes for which it was created, and its powers being expressly enumerated; there can be no justification for claiming anything beyond them. 

This section is particularly good.

So is the next section as he moves on to taxation.

There is, perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on the federal government so liable to abuse than the taxing power. The productive and convenient source of revenue were necessarily given to it, that it might be able to perform the important duties imposed upon it; and the taxes which it lays upon commerce being concealed from the real tax payer in the price of the article, they do not so readily attract the attention of the people as smaller sums demanded from them directly by the tax gatherer. 

Jackson does not mention overregulation as a form of outrageous taxation because America hadn't developed that far.

Here comes Trump.

When, however, this is ascertained, it is easy to reduce them, and in such a case it is unquestionably the duty of the government to reduce them, for no circumstances can justify it in assuming a power not given to it by the Constitution nor taking away the money of the people when it is not needed for the legitimate wants of the government. 

... 

Plain as these principles appear to be, you will yet find there is a constant effort to induce the general government to go beyond the limits of its taxing power and to impose unnecessary burdens upon the people. 

Really, this also happened 200 years ago? This whole time I thought it was just us.

Many powerful interests are continually at work to produce heavy duties on commerce and to swell the revenue beyond the real necessities of the public service, and the country has already felt the injurious effects of their combined influence. 

His discussion of tariffs is quite good. It predates the use of temporary tariffs to force countries to reduce their own tariffs with the ultimate goal of genuine free trade that is liberated from global manipulation by international entities larger than nations.

Incidentally, watching NHK World out of Japan today reporting on elimination of tariffs between Japan and Europe and all the consumables that are now considerably less expensive there is no mention of Trump as it occurred independently of the United States. As if that would have happened without Trump making a gigantic and destabilizing issue with  both Japan and Europe over their tariffs with the U.S. Watching it felt like them both saying, "Well, we'll show you by remaking our own agreements with each other." To the result of genuine free trade, Trump's ideal. Trump wins again, for them, both, and neither can even acknowledge him. Yet Trump is characterized as the small minded man that all other nations must now tolerate for his term.

Jackson goes on to discussing the National Bank and the creation of paper money.

It was not easy for men engaged in the ordinary pursuits of business, whose attention had not been particularly drawn to the subject, to foresee all the consequences of a currency exclusively of paper, and we ought not on that account to be surprised at the facility with which laws were obtained to carry into effect the paper system. The specious and plausible statements of the designing sometimes mislead honest and even enlightened men. But experience has now proved the mischiefs and dangers of a paper currency; and it rests with you to determine whether the proper remedy shall be applied. 

We failed. Our paper money can now pave a road to Jupiter and back. There is a lot more on this subject. He talks about banks. And when he talks about the National bank he is speaking obliquely about the future FRB that was established later in 1913. Jackson predicts the FRB in the following paragraphs.

It is one of the serious evils of our present system of banking that it enables one class of society—and that by no means a numerous one—by its control over the currency, to act injuriously upon the interests of all the others and to exercise more than its just proportion of influence in political affairs. 

After a lengthy discussion of the evil influence of paper money Jackson discusses the protection of borders.

It is unquestionably our true interest to cultivate the friendliest understanding with every nation and to avoid by every honorable means the calamities of war, and we shall best attain this object by frankness and sincerity in our foreign intercourse, by the prompt and faithful execution of treaties and by justice and impartiality in our conduct to all.  

But no nation, however desirous of peace, can hope to escape occasional collisions and the soundest dictates of policy require that we should place ourselves in a condition to assert our rights if a resort to force should ever become necessary. 

He talks about seacoasts.

And then his farewell, rather hard chiseled and somewhat cold until this:

My own race is nearly run; advanced age and failing health warn me that before long I must pass beyond the reach of human events and cease to feel the vicissitudes of human affairs. I thank God that my life has been spent in a land of liberty and that He has given me a heart to love my country with the affection of a son.