Also in the convention on modern liberty, George made (the germ of) an important point, about how the movement for rights hobbles itself by being so conservative in its demands. Talk is usually of defending and preserving liberties, not of claiming the ones we want. Rights are justified because we, supposedly, always had them, not because they are, well, right.
This conservative tendency is probably inherent in a lot of politicl movements. Think of how many English riots - not merely reactionary ones - were held under the banner of 'church and king'. One fringe benefit of the lack of a British written constitution is to keep a lid on this kind of obsession, compared to the American worship of the founding fathers. Appeals to Magna Carta can only happen on a purely emotional level, since so few of us have any idea what was in the thing.
Rhetorically useful as this trope may be, if we only demand the status quo that is the best we can get. That's perhaps enough for tories, but not for me.
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