Sunday, November 01, 2009
The Constitution vs. Dictatorship
"The Constitution is a document formulated by land/slave-owning class interests to oppress 'the people'."
...The alternative to the values in the Constitution is dictatorship.
"The Constitution is the product of `dead white males'."
...The alternative to the values in the Constitution is dictatorship.
“The Constitution was created over 200 years ago and is no
longer relevant to the social problems of modem times."
...The alternative to the values in the Constitution is dictatorship.
Some dead white males (is that a comment on the content of their character?) lived 200 years ago and sought to create a governing structure in which human beings could express their unique views and potentials freely. Although the individuals who wrote the Constitution were exceptionally intelligent, they were human and, like everyone, flawed.
The Constitution doesn't promise that everyone will have the nicest car. The Constitution doesn't promise that human suffering will magically dissipate. The Constitution doesn't promise that, if you're poor, the government will hit a rich person over the head, take their wallet, and give the products of their efforts to someone else. It doesn't promise to bring God to earth and put him or her in your face (or your bedroom). It doesn't promise that the state or a particular leader will become God and thus bestow infallible wisdom upon all decisions concerning the lives of others.
Since its inception, the values in the Constitution have been the object of derision from elements of extremism. Some utilize elaborate mental gymnastics or intellectual labyrinths and abstractions. Some use the passion and power of emotion and appeals to morality or spiritual imperative. They all demand that the individual submit to a contrived and imposed version of "truth" -- their truth, with no provision for opting out.
The Constitution has hardly fulfilled all that it promises. It will likely never give us utopia. The Constitution only seeks to manifest individual freedom, and
... The alternative to the values in the Constitution is dictatorship.