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