Negro citizens, North and South, who saw in the Thirteenth Amendment a promise of freedom freedom to "go and come at pleasure" and to "buy and sell when they please"—would be left with "a mere paper guarantee" if Congress were powerless to assure that a dollar in the hands of a Negro will purchase the same thing as a dollar in the hands of a white man.
The diva acts, but she doesn't really need to; her mere presence guarantees dramatic consequences.
Throw in ridiculously overhyped accolades like Mr. Basketball — isn't Player of the Year prestigious enough? — and it's no wonder a deluded kid like Jereme Richmond shows up in Champaign believing his mere presence will guarantee greatness as he uses college to tune up for the pros.
Addressing the vanquished 29-year old directly, he made what seemed even then, never mind now, more of a cast-iron guarantee than mere prediction: "You'll win yours, you'll win yours".
In the Far East, very poor countries are becoming more affluent through capitalism, and the Koreans and the Indians would probably think it is a salvation and reckon those in the West who see "mere affluence" as no guarantee of the quality of life are being patronising and smug.
The (almost) binary grouping that motivated this post is between those who reckon that banks, debt and money are of no real consequence in capitalism, and those who believe that the mere mechanics of banking guarantee that capitalism is doomed.
Although technological means of improving the environmental performance of many industrial activities already exist, their mere existence does not guarantee that they will be adopted, especially by small firms.
Mere wishing won't guarantee anything- hard work will.
But the involvement of Mr. Abrams, who was also instrumental in the artful oddness of "Lost" and "Fringe," guarantees that mere time travel is only the beginning.
The New York Racing Association's jockeys are guaranteed a mere hundred dollars per race for taking part in what is one of the most dangerous of professional sports.
