The Constitution Is Just Parchment, Get Over It

[ecarina]

...This was a significantly flawed document in 1787, and is even more so today. What really matters is not what they did so much as that they did it. The really amazing thing about the Founders and the Enlightenment movement of which they were leading lights, was the transition they provided to the concept of self-rule, and to the notion of governance based on the principle of reason, or rational analysis based on empirical observation.

This idea was almost wholly foreign to their time, and their broader ethos that humans could be trusted to think for themselves and govern themselves was truly a gigantic leap out of the dark ages and into modernity. Indeed, Enlightenment ideas arguably represent the most significant development in all of human history.

For this, I truly admire the confidence, courage and ingenuity of Founders’ generation, and I’m truly grateful for their contribution.

In light of this, then, how much more absurd and sad is it that we – centuries further down the road – dishonor their contribution by continually trying to make policy on the basis of interpreting some über-text written by some quasi-deities from a wholly different culture and time, instead of following their prime directive and thinking for ourselves?

I’m pretty confident that the Founders would agree that in slavishly seeking to decipher their ancient words and letting those govern us today, we have in fact missed the very core essence of what they were trying to say.

Much more where this gem comes from: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/10

(Few have perfected the art of the internet rant better than Dr. Green. Mark Morford comes to mind).

[xedniw]

Do agree or disagree with this article?

[ecarina]

There are a lot of points in the rant article.

I agree with almost all of them, except that he glosses over the fact (if not always by law, then by prevailing ethos) that most 21st Century parliamentary systems are constrained by an independent judiciary and public, i.e. civil service.

The central theme though- looking around, seems undeniable, don't you think?