Quote Originally Posted by Reenk Roink View Post
I'll let ACIN speak for himself but I'm not replying to the author's criticism of Jefferson supporting such things that the author doesn't such as the French Revolution by noting that Jefferson was an idealist. I'm saying that Jefferson being "idealistic" was likely not due to any naivety as the author seemed to imply in the first quote.
When I say Jefferson was an idealist, I simply mean that he put ideals above practicality, which makes for some decisions that in hindsight could be viewed as "stupid" or "idiotic". If you put practicality above ideals you can get equally "idiotic" decisions such as not rebelling against England in the first place, because which is more practical, accepting the taxes or potentially dying in a prolonged war that could easily destroy your economy and wealth faster then any tax could.