Grading the Constitution’s preamble: Close to a failing grade

 

Grading the Constitution’s preamble: on what ‘we the people’ now have.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

“We the People”  C+:  Just over half of the voting population even bothers to show up at the polls. And most of them vote their gut or single-issue priority.  Most resist understanding the range of interconnected vital issues or simply don’t care given their selfish emphasis on personal individualism.   Their mind’s priority for defending biased opinions existentially threatens everyone’s freedom, security, and prosperity, as well as our environmental sustainability.  

“United States” C:  We barely remain united as families.  Many distain their own political party and our dysfunctional 2 party system.  Even those calling for the creation of a third political party cannot unite on what that party platform would prioritize.  Even after Trump’s assault on “self-evident” truths we remain vehemently divided in holding him accountable for lying, creating conspiracy theories, and multiple acts of inciting violence.  Thus, we are increasingly divided on what we believe the truth is while forgetting that there are “Truths” that we hold as “Self-evident”.

“to form a more perfect Union” D-:  Before Trump’s election our nation’s own national security experts put our own “government dysfunction” as the second greatest threat to our national security.  Their survey today would likely put it as our greatest threat as Congressional cooperation is likely to continue despite the unsustainability of nearly 100 precarious interdependent trends (debt; the evolution of weapons, war, and pathogens; environmental deterioration, economic disparities, crumbling infrastructure, cyber insecurity, food security, reactionary government policies; rise in obesity, suicides, opioid deaths, and other preventable health problems…)

“establish Justice” F: Ignoring the quote engraved above the entrance to the U.S. Department of Justice, “Justice is the great interest of man on earth.   Wherever her temple stands, there is a foundation for social security, general happiness and the improvement and progress of our race.”  We do not have a justice system. It is a legal system where a US citizen is better off being wealthy and guilty than innocent and poor.  And if you are not a US citizen you and your innocent family are routinely denied inalienable human rights and can easily be slaughtered and labeled “collateral damage” in an undeclared war (against unbeatable tactics) proclaimed to protect American freedoms while persistently abusing of freedoms of anyone not a US citizen.

“insure domestic Tranquility” (excuse me while I laugh before thinking about this grade) … D+.   We are not yet close to a violent civil war that our nation experienced after our Constitution calculated Blacks to be counted as 3/5s of a human being. But a race war is the goal of a few violent extremist groups within our nation.  Some with US military training and connected to similar genocidal extremist movements globally. I’m shocked that the institutionalized rigging of our economic system by those in power has not yet led to a more focused and effective movement to unrig it.  Or, that a few warped souls so outraged by the rigging (and resistance to unrigging it) that they would turn to sniper rifles or IEDs to send a more effective message - that only unrigging the system can ensured tranquility.  COVID19 demonstrated how effective a virtually invisible weapon can be at disrupting tranquility.  It is only a matter of time before other warped souls turn to these cheap and replicable biological weapons (nature’s or human engineered) to accomplish their mission.  And even believing that God is on their side in doing it (now excuse me while I start growing my own food while stockpiling more toilet paper and bottled water).

“provide for the common defence” D+:  Our nation’s military, the most powerful in the world (for now) when pitted against any traditional military threat, does swear an oath to protect our constitution.  But remember that the rich and powerful used it to rig a system that is now incapable of providing for any common defense against pandemics, natural disasters, a national or global economic collapse, or any catastrophic human induced environmental crisis.   A rigged system that in fact, exacerbates some of these threats.   When these events inevitably happen, our military will be used in an attempt to control the chaos and the fearful, heavily armed, and distrustful people within it.   Don’t count on all those military forces obeying their pledge to defend the constitution – confusing orders will likely violate several passionately held inalienable freedoms (privacy, movement, assembly… to bear arms).  Could it be that real security is not a function of armaments or disarmament? But instead, a function of obeying the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” as our Declaration of Independence stated.

"promote the general Welfare” B-:  Our nation’s welfare programs do provide welfare in general. However, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other ‘welfare’ programs have serious problems beyond being difficult to manage fairly.  First, they contribute significantly to our nations economic debt and are thus unsustainable.  Second, our welfare programs are the result of - and continue to foster – a society/culture that fails to effectively address root systemic causes of preventable problems.  Our habitual individual and government reactionary problem-solving method regarding almost any slight discomfort is simply unsustainable.   

“secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”  F:  I base this on the testimony of others much wiser and credible than I.

 

"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt." - Samuel Adams 

"Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.  The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty."  -- John Adams, June 21, 1776

 

"The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them." - Patrick Henry, American colonial revolutionary

 

“The real freedom of any individual can always be measured by the amount of responsibility which he must assume for his own welfare and security.”  – Robert Welch

 

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.  –  Benjamin Franklin

“But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint:" -  Edmund Burke - Source: Reflections on the Revolution in France

"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up … this is a frightening prospect.” Eleanor Roosevelt

 

“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” 
― George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

 

A hero is someone who understands the responsibility

 that comes with his freedom. Bob Dylan

Responsibility is the price of freedom. Elbert Hubbard

"The fact that most people think that being selfish means harming one's fellow man, that pursuing one's own self-interest equates to behaving brutally or irrationally, is, as Ms. Rand noted, a 'psychological confession' on their part.  In fact it is against one's own long-term self-interest to behave irrationally or trample others. Such actions are the exact opposite of selfish -- they're self-destructive."   -- Wayne Dunn  Source: The Rational View

"Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one's own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind.  Universal responsibility is the key to human survival.  It is the best foundation for world peace." H. H. the Dalai Lama

"Americans cannot escape a certain responsibility for what is done in our name around the world. In a democracy, even one as corrupted as ours, ultimate authority rests with the people. We empower the government with our votes, finance it with our taxes, bolster it with our silent acquiescence. If we are passive in the face of America's official actions overseas, we in effect endorse them." -   Mark Hertzgaard

“In simple terms, freedom and responsibility is a car and its steering wheel. The car is freedom and the steering wheel is responsibility.  If you have freedom (car) but no responsibility (steering wheel) it is dangerous. It will create a mess (imagine driving a car without a steering wheel). Similarly if you have responsibility (steering wheel) but no freedom (car) it is useless.”  Bhavik Dhanki, Kriya Yogi 

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility,

and most people are frightened of responsibility.” ― Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents

 

"It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives."   -- Dorothy Thompson  (1894-1961)   Source: Ladies Home Journal, May 1958

“Human rights' are a fine thing, but how can we make ourselves sure that our rights do not expand at the expense of the rights of others.  A society with unlimited rights is incapable of standing to adversity. If we do not wish to be ruled by a coercive authority, then each of us must rein himself in...A stable society is achieved not by balancing opposing forces but by conscious self-limitation: by the principle that we are always duty-bound to defer to the sense of moral justice.”   ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Rebuilding Russia: Reflections and Tentative Proposals

"We demand entire freedom of action and then expect the government in
some miraculous way to save us from the consequences of our own acts....
Self-government means self-reliance."  -- Calvin Coolidge  (1873-1933)

“We aren’t responsible for everything that happens to us in life,

but we ARE responsible for how we think and respond to everything that happens.”  Matt Furey

"Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience." - George Washington  - 110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, 1737

 

"The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a great Measure, than they have it now. They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. "  -- John Adams   (1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President   Source: John Adams, letter to Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776

 

“If you build the guts to do something, anything, then you better

save enough to face the consequences.” ― Criss Jami, Killosophy

 

“Eventually we all have to accept full and total responsibility for

our actions, everything we have done, and have not done.”  ― Hubert Selby Jr., Requiem for a Dream

 

“[F]reedom isn't free. It shouldn't be a bragging point that "Oh, I don't get involved in politics," as if that makes you somehow cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn't insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.” ― Bill Maher, When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism

 

"Responsibility, in order to be reasonable, must be limited to objects within the power of the responsible party, and in order to be effectual, must relate to operations of that power, of which a ready and proper judgment can be formed by the constituents."   -- Alexander Hamilton
(1757-1804) American statesman, Secretary of the Treasury
Source: Federalist No. 63, 1788

 

"So let us regard this as settled: what is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

 

Every man has freedom to do all that he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man.  – Herbert Spencer, Social Statics [1851]

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me.
If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them;
if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.
I am free because I know that I alone am
morally responsible for everything I do."
-- Robert A. Heinlein   (1907-1988) American writer

US Democracy Hypocrisy

 

Most pundits noted the resilience of our democracy in the days following the lethal violence within our nation’s capital.  They, like almost everyone, believe that democracy is our nation’s bedrock principle.  Without question we believed our democratic republic was the global gold standard for any stable government. 

That shine should now be gone.   And our national hypocrisy exposed.   An instigated mob of Trump supporters and enablers used their view of ‘democracy’ to bring this fool to power and then sustain his abuse of that power for four increasingly dangerous years.  It would be laughable (and is from the capitols of other nations) if his persistently proven lies, immoral exploits, and abuses of power were not so dangerously foreboding.  

There should be no doubt that it is important for people to have a say in the laws of any government they will be forced to obey.  It would be wise to grasp the fact that what they have to say needs to match with reality.  Not just their own, but those of science and the basic foundation of every major religion – the golden rule.  But what is far more important is for everyone to know that history has repeatedly proven that democracies have never worked.  Like houses built with flawed materials democracies always collapse under stress.

There are a few undeniable truths that have fueled dozens of succinct quotes by respected political analysis, philosophers, and even our nation’s founding architects.  My favorite being Thomas Jefferson’s “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch.  And a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” 

Another is the persistent economic, social, and political stresses that remain rampant in our federal democratic republic 232 years later.   Most of these stresses can be pegged to the word ‘injustice’ - and an unequal enforcement of an incomplete list of fundamental human rights.  Rights that are essential to protecting the life, liberty, and pursuit happiness (however you want to define that sloppy word) for all.  (I find it profound that the author of our Declaration of Independence didn’t listen to his esteemed friend and eventual signer of that Declaration, Dr. Benjamin Rush, when he suggested replacing the word “Happiness” with “Health”.   Image where we would be today…if he had.)

Our nation has routinely praised similar violent displays in other nation’s capitols as valid outpourings of anger against other ‘undemocratic’ regimes.  Nearly 70 million Trump supporters believed the last election was undemocratic.  Too few Biden supporters failed to learn (or want to remember or believe) that our November election was a bit cloudy.  Numerous states understandably changed voting rules for ‘this’ election so it should be understandable for Trump’s supporters to feel cheated.  But the validity of Biden’s eventual clear victory, should have been accepted.   And minor flaws in that, or any election, should never excuse and exacerbate the cognitive dissonance (a mental flaw we all share) that drove Trump, and a majority of his followers and enablers, to clung to challenging the outcome of an election - until after it resulted deadly violence in our capitol.

Remember when protesters in Hong Kong violently broke into the city’s legislative building in 2019?  US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “a beautiful sight,” and Mike Pompeo, our nation’s Secretary of State said that the US stood with them and supported their “freedom of expression”.

Before the deadly violence in our capital it would be difficult to find many US political makers justifying the muzzling of both protesters and the President.  The 1^st Amendment is a bedrock of human rights in any valid democracy.  But popular pressure inspired major social media platforms to purge both Trump and his extreme supporters from their sites.  Even before January 6 Trump himself claimed those platforms were working against him.  After the attempted insurrection Jafar Blori wrote in Kayhan, an extremely conservative Iran newspaper, “Yes, you heard right, the biggest pretender to democracy and freedom of expression in the world,” the one that censures others for attacking the free press, “overnight became the biggest censor in the world!”

How many Americans remember that the US was largely responsible for the overthrow of Iranian’s legitimately elected progressive President?  Or, the many other popular democratic elections around the world our nation has undermined?

Then there is our nation’s 2^nd Amendment -- based on the fundamental principle of self-defense and our only real protection of ‘we the people’ against a tyrannical government.   I dare to believe this amendment still holds.   And that nearly every elected official at every level of government who opposes allowing firearms into their house of decision making (and passes laws to enforce it) is a hypocrite.

 Going way out on a limb I suggest that if guns were allowed without restriction into these institutions (and even corporate board rooms) we would live in a far more just society where those not abiding by the golden rule would have inspiration to reconsider.

If our elections continue to fail in ensuring such a culture of fairness and respect at local, state, national, and global levels -- there are no laws capable of preserving the stability and security that we all desire for ourselves and our children.   Something is clearly needed to demonstrate the need for our responsibly exercising our freedoms - in this increasingly interconnected world.   

That said, real security is essentially an illusion.   Without expanding our responsibility to live our lives in ways that enables the lives of others to thrive, our freedoms and our security will not be sustained.

There is a viable alternative to democracy as the most important guiding principle in our American brand.  It is phrase frequently used but rarely defined or understood.  Note how often you have heard the phrase “the rule of law”. 

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy once offered the most useful definition of this phrase when asked by an international audience “what makes the rule of law most effective?”  He said it requires “three basic elements”.  First is democracy.  People want a say in the laws they will live under. But that is not enough. Hitler had that. Second is justice.  The laws need to be applied equally upon everyone. But that still has problems if basic rights are ignored.  The third, is that the laws must be protective of certain inalienable rights.  Rights that everyone has because they are born.  Rights they have regardless of their skin color, age, sex, religion, ethnicity, or nation of birth.

To survive, we grasp the fundamental reality that we must unite in making a basic decision on how we organize and manage our interactions with each other (known as politics). In addition, we only have a simple spectrum of options we can chose from.   At one end of the spectrum is completely unlimited individual freedom. No enforceable rules or laws.  At the other end?  All out war.  With no means of effectively limiting the means of mass murder or mayhem without abolishing nearly every human freedom.

If our minds can grasp these fundamental facts, then we can see we need to engineer a political system we can live in that maximizes both our freedom and our security.   

Tragically, the concept of democracy is closer to the war end of the spectrum.  The “Rule of Law” is in the smack in the middle. 

If you haven’t noticed, the world is increasingly chaotic, dangerous, and politically unstable.  This is due to several basic factors.

1.       The evolution of multi-use technologies and their global spread, affordable access, and anonymous use as a weapons of mass destruction, death, delusion, or distraction.

2.       A persistent global system of governance that is unjust, undemocratic, and unenforceable, while increasingly influenced by populist movements that divide people instead of united them.

3.       Increasing global threats that can require unified global solutions effectively addressing root causes.

4.       The evolution of pathogens regardless (and sometimes exacerbated by) our reactions to them and the unsustainable degradation of our planet’s/species’ life support systems.

5.       The resistance of democratic nations (and our minds) to adjust to these accelerating changes and threats.

In a nutshell “Things change.  Can we?”

 

“Catastrophic moral failure!” WHO Director tells us what we do not want to hear.

 

The creation of life saving vaccines to defeat Covid19 is science at its best.   And it exposes our failure to abide by our most fundamental principles.  Particularly, the principle of the golden rule.  Wealthy and powerful nations are doing to others what they have always done.  Allowing poor people do die simply because we believe our lives are more valuable and more important than theirs.  

Deciding who gets the first wave of vaccines is being based a national’s wealth.  That is a crime against humanity that represents a catastrophic lethal failure of moral principle.  This will not end well.

We say we believe and feel in our hearts that all people are all created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights.  But our actions prove just the opposite.  We believe that because of our nationality we deserve more than certain others.   We believe without reason that we have really earned it.

Capitalism has not really made the world a better place.  Greed, waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, selfishness, wars, and putting the protection of national sovereignty and corporate power above the protection fundamental human rights and the environment has put our species on an unsustainable path. 

The failure of blending democracy and capitalism to achieve a better world will continue to fail. Covid19 has exposed the weakness of both.  And tweaking either will not fix the fundamental problem.  Our values suck.  Look in your check book and at your calendar.  How many days or dollars have you invested in ‘life, liberty, and justice for all’.   I’ll wager most of these resources are devoted to that ‘happiness’ thing. A fleeting feeling for which there is virtually no definition.  No definition that can be reached without a full belly, a warm bed, and a flush toilet. 

Tom Bodett claims “They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”

Tom has obviously never gone without food, safe water, or clean air.  Or had a serious injury and no doctor. 

In fact, there are three things most Americans want.  Freedom, security, and independence.  But, in reality there is only one that really makes sense.  And we are quickly learning (or should be learning) in this increasingly chaotic world that the only thing we really need – is a sustainable balance between freedom and security.  

 

There are trite phrases we know and repeat often.  We whole heartedly agree with them but fail to put them into action.   Then we wonder why things are not working.  

Check these off your minds list of ‘self-evident’ truths.

‘United we stand, divided we fall.

‘Do unto others.’

‘What goes up, must come down’

Better late than never.

Use it or lose it.

Freedom isn’t free.

In God we trust.

Put your money where your mouth is.

No man is an island.

….

Now.  Is there really any question why things keep getting worse? 

History and reality will not treat us well if we chose to vaccinate the world’s people based on the antiquated value of nationalism, exceptionalism, and patriotism.  Walls and weapons will not keep us safe as this virus mutates or another more virulent/lethal virus evolves -- while we keep doing the same freaking thing over and over again expecting a different result.

Abraham Lincoln wrote that our Declaration of Independence is our “Apple of Gold” and our Constitution it is frame of silver.  Until we full grasp and act on this fundamental value of what it really means to be an American, don’t expect the constitution to ever really protect our freedom, security, or prosperity. 
There isn’t enough money in the world to address the coming chaos unless we start investing in what’s need to prevention it.   Liberty and justice for all.  We failed after the second world war to codify the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  And now we ignore the need to fund the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  These are the only comprehensive approach to preventing the continued evolution of pathogens, war, weapons, AI, and hate.

Time is not on our side.  I don’t believe God is either.

How do you think Jesus would distribute the world’s limited supply of vaccine?

What do you think the consequences will be if we keep ignoring the tale of the Good Samaritan?

You don’t have to be religious to grasp the consequences of continued global injustice and violations of the Laws of Nature.  

A new Administration isn’t going to fix things.  That will require a transformation of the system we now worship without question.  A democratic republic without liberty and justice for all.

Keep your pledge!