1 of 1- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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Let's Give Up on the Constitution
Te
Last edited by Goose (3/06/2016 7:10 am)
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- Just Fred
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Re: Let's Give Up on the Constitution
Wow, alot to discuss here, but possibly a great springboard for conversation if it could be done rationally and objectively. "Rationally and objectively" is the key.
I'm beginning to draw some parallels between the Bible and the Constitution as far as how interpretations are used to justify what one already believes. I particularly like his "Excerpt 1" pointing out that right from the start there were speedbumps to overcome.
- Tarnation
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Re: Let's Give Up on the Constitution
Goose,
You raise an excellent point about viewing the details of the Constitution through the "lens" offered by its Preamble.
Such a pinricple of interpretation would need to be taken cautiously, however, because that lens may have an opacity absent in the Founding Fathers' day.
For example, can we really appreciate "a more perfect union" having not recently emerged from a convuluted confederation of independent states? Can we hear the words "the general welfare" without the connotation of eight decades of Social Security and nearly a half century of the "Great Society" programs? What does the "general defense" mean after the seemingly endless Cold War and "mutually assured destruction"?
Words meaning evolve over time. I'm not advocating the "organic document" approach by any means; but recognize that "welfare" and "defense" have entirely differnent connotations 2 1/2 centuries later.
Life is an Orthros.
- Just Fred
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Re: Let's Give Up on the Constitution
Seriously, what a great intellectual exercise this could be. You take the constitution and place it on a shelf for a moment. Then you imagine yourself establishing a government for these United States.
Agreed. We need to be reminded that the constitution was written by men ............ they weren't gods. They had the same strengths and weakens as anyone else. It would be interesting to 'put the constitution and place it on a shelf' for a moment as you suggest.
For example, would women and minorites who had roots somewhere else other than Europe be included at the table? Who else might have a voice in the construction of such a document? Would we include a provision to completely re-examination the document every few decades to see if cultural and societal changes require major or minor changes to meet the needs of an ever evolving world?
Lots to consider, but a great exercise, and I'd really like to see what might become of such an experiment.