Democracy. Freedom. Security. Pick two.

 It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've been doing the last edits on my book I started over 24 years ago.  Below are ten flaws of the US Constitution which is in the 7th chapter before I dive into the cognitive reasons collected to better understand why we don't learn to change our mind when our life and lives depend on it. Feed back is always welcomed.  Even anonymously. 

The fundamental principles found in the Declaration of Independence can lead us to a sustainable future.

It is our flawed Constitutional principles that dictate who and where we are now. 

Democracy.  Freedom.  Security.   Pick two.   

Nature holds all three as incompatible.  Because a majority of people still believe they are independent. 

FYI:  There is one way to have all three.  Just remember that Nature always gets the last vote.

The American people and the rest of the world need to make an urgent decision about democracy.  You might sense that with all the acerating chaos in the world that time is running out.  Your senses are correct.  Nearly everything humanity is doing as nations and collectively now is simply unsustainable.

With the evolution of weapons, wars, pathogens, environmental degradations, violent extremism, refugee flows, failing democracies, polarizing partisan politics, and economic gap are all connected, interdependent, and vulnerable - the solution must be global.  This is not my view. 

It was the assertion of Jen Easterly, the Director of CISA (the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency October 29, 2021).  CISA is the newest US Federal Agency, established by the Trump Administration in 2018.  “Everything is connected, everything is interdependent, so everything is vulnerable.... And that’s why this has to be a more than whole of government, a more than whole of nation [effort]. It really has to be a global effort....”

This reality was echoed again this week on C-Span MARCH 11, 2024. everal high-ranking US Intelligence officials testified on Global Threats before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. Their introductory remarks are the most complete, accurate, comprehensive, and brief assessment that I've ever heard in the dozens of briefings of threat hearings I've listened to over the last two decades.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?534027-1/intelligence-officials-testify-global-threats-senate-cmte

 

Chairman Senator Warner (D) briefly summarizes the threat environment we have today and how threats are rapidly changing, increasing, speeding up, and connected -- in addition to traditional national security threats we still have.

 

Vice Chair Mark Rubio (R) introductory remarks on various threats were long. His conclusion was short  ‘one of the greatest dangers we face is the inability to see how all these things are interconnected...and one of the greatest challenges we face is to deal with them as if they are interconnected...that’s what life will be like on this planet for the next generation.  It will be determined very much by what we do or fail to do here over the next 2 to 3 years ... with all the issues ... before us today.

 

So what two are you choosing?  Democracy, Freedoms, Security?

Or Freedom, security, and the Global Rule of Law?  With the RoL merging enforceable laws made by a democratic process, applied equally to all people, and limited to protecting human rights and the environment globally.

 

Democracy is an ambiguous word meaning different systems and priorities for different local or national governments.  So as a noun democracy always turns to tyranny of the majority.  Thus, Thomas Jefferson defined democracy as ‘two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch.  And freedom being a well armed lamb contesting the vote.’   The Rule of Law is democracy as a verb, with liberty and justice for all.

The choice between these two options should not be difficult.  It is shocking how resistant people are having heaven on earth. And instead insists on an ambiguous word where a majority system dictates the laws. 

Ever wondered why our Constitution as a Democratic Republic has always had problems?   Or why no other democracy has ever been sustainable? 

 

The reality is that our US Constitution has at least ten serious flaws. And anyone of them make it unmanageable when competing in a rapidly changing and troubled world.   While there are rules for Amendments within it - at this stage of our polarized Democracy an Amendment won’t happen and a constitutional convention could lead at best to dissolution of our union. And at worse, to another civil war.  With the very real chance of another World War breaking out before that.

The greatest flaw with democracy is that ‘we the people’ of the US and the world are so different in beliefs, culture, religion, and wealth that it is would be highly likely to unite and form a consensus rule of law. As long as people hold in their mind different truths (political, religious, economic...) with the capacity to believe anything.  Literally anything!  And then kill or die to defend it .... partisan elections will always divide.  But the greatest barrier to people coming together is the belief that they are separate from other people and the environment.  And that separation will have harmful consequences in every aspect of life.  Because everything is connected, interdependent, and vulnerable.  And a global system of liberty and justice for all is the only moral, ethical, and logical path forward.  United we stand a chance.  Divided we will continue into further chaos.

 

Forging unity was accomplished with the idealism expressed in our nation’s Declaration of Independence.  It started and remained a universal document.  And those who signed it failed to keep the spirit and intent of that profound document when the created the US Constitution.  The Declaration expressed self-evident truths.  Like everyone has natural inalienable rights.  And one of those rights is to say your opinion or deeply held beliefs.  No one has the right to make others agree to the same beliefs.   And that voice is everyone’s sovereign agency to decide what rules they want to live under.  But no one is obligated to subjugate their right to a different belief.  And if people want to disagree they can. But they must agree on some rules to live by...or serious problems will likely evolve.  And without an agreed upon means of settling such problems, violence will likely result.  And people will start picking sides and war will follow.  

 That is Democracy without the Rule of Law. 

Below is ten inherent flaws in the US Constitution.  And without amending them our nation will continue to implode.  Please provide your feedback.  I may have made errors or forgotten some.   Populist movements are rising.  What solutions or self-evident truths do you have that can change this? 

Remember three things.  1) the words Abraham Lincoln wrote ‘the Declaration is our “Apple of Gold” and our Constitution it’s “Silver Frame”.  Which is more valuable to you?  2:  The earth belongs always to the living generation…not the dead. Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19. years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force and not of right.”   Thomas Jefferson in a 1789 letter to James Madison    3.  Everything is connected, interdependent and vulnerable. 

Constitutional Flaws:

The earth belongs always to the living generation…not the dead. Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19. years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force and not of right.”   Thomas Jefferson in a 1789 letter to James Madison

1.     It was framed on top of an illusion.  The human delusion that things are independent of other things.  They can certainly be separate.  But independence is a flawed mental construct that exists nowhere in the known universe.  Only as a risky concept in our mind our speech, and our documents.

 

2.     It codifies states’ rights over human rights.  The civil war mostly changed this regarding slavery.  But most voters are still restrained by the chains of a state’s right to Gerrymander Congressional Districts.  This strips many Americans of their representation to influence the outcome of a state’s electoral college law.  So until every state changes this system that rigs the power by one partisan political party to reside over the rights of others in that state, with the state’s electoral slate deciding which Presidential candidate wins the general election (as what happened in Florida in the 2000 election determining the final outcome for all US voters) and impacting everyone in the US and the world, that is simply wrong.

 

3.      It has no justice.  If you go to trial in the US, you would be better off being rich and guilty than innocent and poor.  The one time I experienced a legal problem and lost because I didn’t have a lawyer.  I complained to the judge that the judgment was not just.   He said “we have a legal system.  Not a justice system. “ 

 

The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., features the following inscription on its exterior: "Equal Justice Under Law." This phrase reflects the principle of justice being applied equally to all individuals, regardless of their background or status.  This is laughable if you go to court without a good lawyer or against the US government.

 

Agent Orange was a herbicide used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to clear vegetation. Its use has been controversial due to its harmful effects on human health and the environment.

There was a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese citizens against several chemical companies, including Dow Chemical and Monsanto for their role in producing Agent Orange. The lawsuit alleged that these companies were responsible for the health problems and environmental damage caused by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.  In 2004, a group of Vietnamese plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. federal court against the chemical companies. However, the case was dismissed by the court, which ruled that the chemical companies were immune from lawsuits because they were acting under the direction of the U.S. government during the war.   Despite the dismissal of this lawsuit, the issue of Agent Orange and its effects on the Vietnamese population and environment remains a contentious and unresolved issue. 

There have been legal cases related to the use of Agent Orange by U.S. military personnel and its effects on their health. One significant case was the class-action lawsuit filed by Vietnam veterans against several chemical companies that produced Agent Orange. The case was settled out of court in 1984 for $180 million, which established a fund to compensate veterans and their families affected by exposure to Agent Orange.  The Supreme Court has not issued a ruling specifically addressing the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

“Equal justice under law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building. It is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society. It is one of the ends for which our entire legal system exists…it is fundamental justice that should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.”  Lewis F. Powell, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. 

The Department of Justice building, also in Washington, D.C., bears three inscriptions:  JUSTICE IS FOUND IN THE RIGHTS BESTOWED BY NATURE UPON MAN.  LIBERTY IS MAINTAINED IN SECURITY OF JUSTICE. This is engraved into the exterior marble of the US Justice Department. 

"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." 

"The commonwealth endures only in proportion as the guarantees of the rights of the people are faithfully maintained."  This quote underscores the importance of upholding the rights of the people as a foundation for a strong and enduring society.  But outcomes in this court are more money dependent than just.

Summary This lack of justice in US laws (domestic and international) is simply unsustainable. 

 

4.        Zero-Sum budgeting between “Independent” agencies: Some agencies require secrecy and/or complete separation from other government agencies in competition with them.  With all agencies overlapping on different issues with different rules and priorities, this competition for the same limited financial resources essential to achieving its own departmental priorities – is simply sustainable.  And ineffective in addressing irreversible interconnected and interdependent problems with everything being vulnerable. 

 

5.       Dangerously slow weapons procurement process when competing militarily against an autocratic or dictatorial government that can change budget priorities on a dime.  This story in the Washington Post Opinion,   March 6, 2024   “Let AI remake the whole U.S. government (oh, and save the country)”    By Josh Tyrangiel      https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/06/artificial-intelligence-state-of-the-union/  Detailed earlier the growing national security threat of competing with other governments weapons procurement process (both ally and enemy). Especially enemy’s that are non-democratic and not inhibited by oversight safety or environmental regulations.  This problem is more serious, larger, and applicable to our entire government management and funding system.

 

6.       Catastrophically slow and troublesome law making - or amending – a democratic system engineered intentionally into the US Constitution from its creation.   The intention was to keep a balance between the three legs of government and prevent fast reactionary laws demanded by majorities without sufficient vetting.   In a world of exponential and rapid change, unpredictable superpowered enemies with hyper speed weapons systems, and our own legislative machine increasingly paralyzed by polarized dysfunction, and political parties more committed to protecting its power than the security of our people or defending the constitution.

 

7. Democratic Republic with Lawmakers elected by a majority of ignorant voters with most votes based their personal gut feeling, party affiliation, misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theory, special interests, self-interests, or not voting at all out of protest.  And the likelihood that only half of the voters decide to turn out at all.  Then there is the issue of each Congressional district now having over 700,000 constituents when originally there were only 20,000.  This leaves each voter with the accurate feeling that their individual vote means next to nothing.  This enables those with big money to more easily rig the rules for themselves.  Which hurts most other constituents in a zero sum budget. 

“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance. No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.” - H.L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy

"[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mold itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable cruelty of one or a very few."   -- John Adams  (1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President.   Source: An Essay on Man's Lust for Power, August 29, 1763

8.  Secrecy: This makes it virtually impossible to know the truth about what our government is doing.  Or has done with our tax dollars.  This undermines the trust of voters and the value of voting when valid signs or even accusations of corruption or waste is reported.  Secrecy also prevents citizens from holding government agencies, their leaders/policymakers accountable in a timely manner or at all, if at all.

“Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show it can bear discussion and publicity.” - Lord Acton 

“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 

Read:  America’s Secret Government Crisis, by Patrick Eddington Posted on January 20, 2022, https://original.antiwar.com/patrick_eddington/2022/01/19/americas-secret-government-crisis

“It’s important to remember that the Constitution only mentions secrecy once, and not in connection with the executive branch but Congress – Article I, Section 5. Congress was the original arbiter of what should or should not be kept from the public, and if America’s governmental secrecy sickness is to be cured, it must reclaim that leading role.” Patrick Eddington

9. Ambiguous words and phrases in the Constitution - or with the meaning or context of those words changed over time. This has led to various altered interpretations over the years. Some of the most notable examples include:

1. "General Welfare": The Preamble of the Constitution states that one of its purposes is to "promote the general Welfare." Its meaning has been the subject of debate, with some interpreting it broadly to justify a wide range of federal government activities and others interpreting it more narrowly to limit the scope of federal power.

 

2. "Commerce": The Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. The meaning of "commerce" has been the subject of numerous Supreme Court cases, with the Court often expanding the definition to encompass a wide range of economic activities.

 

3. "Necessary and Proper": The Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18) grants Congress the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the enumerated powers. The meaning of "necessary and proper" has been debated, with some arguing that it gives Congress broad discretion to enact laws to achieve its goals, while others argue for a more limited interpretation.

 

4. "Cruel and Unusual Punishment": The Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of "cruel and unusual punishments." The meaning of "cruel and unusual" has evolved over time and is often subject to interpretation based on contemporary standards of decency.

 

5. "Due Process": The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee that no person shall be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." The meaning of "due process" has been the subject of numerous Supreme Court cases, with the Court interpreting it to encompass both procedural and substantive rights.

 

These are just a few examples.  There are many other words and phrases in the Constitution that have been subject to interpretation and debate. 

 

SUMMARY:  You wouldn’t fly in an airplane or spacecraft engineered and constructed using with ambitious words for systems and structures it depended on to bring you back to earth safely. Why on spaceship earth (thank you Bucky Fuller!) would you believe and trust this method of engineering to work at all? 

10.         The unstoppable partisan stacking of Supreme court appointees.  This increases the loss of trust in and stability of its decisions.

CONCLUSTION:  "America does not need another political campaign based on denial and avoidance of some of our real problems. It needs a crusade to reform and renew our country, its institutions and political system." - Richard Lamm   Reform Party's nomination for President of the United States in 1996.

"I would not use the US Constitution as a template if I was creating a new constitution."    Justice Ruth Bader Ginzberg

 

 

The Declaration of Independence is the foundation of thought that uniquely represents the original American ideal.  It has inspired billions of people globally.   It represents the simple yet profound concept that government exists to ensure people’s innate freedoms and inalienable rights.  In short, securing everyone’s “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” within the context of “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God”.

 

“We therefore believe in liberty because we believe in the harmony of the universe, that is, in God. Proclaiming in the name of faith, formulating in the name of science, the divine laws, flexible and vital, of our dynamic moral order, we utterly reject the narrow, unwieldy, and static institutions that some men in their blindness would heedlessly introduce into this admirable mechanism.”    – George B. De Huszar

 

Sadly, many Americans have difficulty distinguishing between our Constitution and the Declaration.  Abraham Lincoln made it easy.  He wrote that our “Declaration of Independence is our Apple of Gold” and our “Constitution” its “Frame of Silver”.  A biblical reference with poetic and functional meaning.

 

"If all men are created equal, that is final.   If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions."  Calvin Coolidge   (1872-1933) 30th US President.  Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.