I started writing this about five days prior to the 2016 Presidential Election; I state this because, obviously, I don’t know what the result will be. I have my own political leanings but, frankly, they are irrelevant in the context of the disgraceful situation this country has allowed to develop.
The citizens of the United States have eroded the intended values of the US Constitution and the perceived hopes of the “founding fathers”. Note that I point to the citizens and not the politicians because we elected and re-elected them over and over again – Oligarchy!
Joseph de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) a French lawyer, diplomat, writer, and philosopher is credited with remarking, “Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite.” Which, roughly translated means “Each country gets the government it deserves”. Accepting this truism can open a lot of closed doors in a lot of closed minds.
If I were asked to characterize this 2016 election, these are the words that I would ascribe: Ignorance, Arrogance, Dissimulation and Violence. You can draw your own conclusions as to which of the two main candidates best wears these characteristics – this is not the objective of this article.
Something has gone terribly and tragically wrong. No ifs or buts, it’s unequivocal. It only remains to be seen whether or not the situation can ever be rectified. The founding fathers were keen to keep the three branches of government as separate entities – nothing new in this, sages as far apart as Aristotle, John Locke and Charles Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu were promoting this long, long before James Madison adopted it.
Probably before the ink was dry on the constitution, members of each branch were trying to figure ways around it that would benefit them; and they’ve been doing just that ever since.
Remember the bit above about opening closed doors? Let’s consider the Supreme Court. Okay, I don’t care about the current members, it’s not the issue. Every member of the USSC is labeled as either “Liberal” or “Conservative” When it’s up to its full complement of nine and depending whether there are five conservatives or liberals, we pretty well know which way, in advance, each decision is going to go. And that is exactly what the USSC should do – Go!
If legislatures pass good, well-thought out laws and appoint apolitical judges, capable of honest interpretation of the substance, spirit and intention of the law, the USSC becomes redundant. Other civilized countries manage this – why can’t the US? Maybe if we got rid of State laws and had one national system of criminal and civil law codes 90% of the problems would disappear. It would certainly save billions of dollars!
Since when did (and who decided that) religion enter into politics and elections. Religion should be a private matter between one’s conscience and beliefs. The USA came into being to promote religious freedom, right? Not quite. It came into being partly because groups of people wanted to worship in their own way without the persecution experienced in their homeland. Did that mean they accepted the faiths of others who arrived later? Hell no! To them, religious freedom meant, “worship God, my way” and religious intolerance has been part of the US way of life for four hundred years or so. Time it was dealt with once and for all. Most religion is not evil, it’s simply the followers who pervert and corrupt for their own ends – bit like politicians!
Here’s how we can start to put it right.
- The Constitution – It’s an anachronism, no disrespect, it has to be. It was written by well-meaning people nearly 230 years ago who could only know what they knew AT THAT TIME! It needs to be rewritten in clear and concise terms reflecting the spirit of the original but translated into the knowledge of the twenty-first century. “Sacrilege”, I hear you say. “Bull feathers”, I respond. Would you like your next surgery carried out with eighteenth century expertise?
- Bill of rights (and wrongs) same as above.
- President should either be stripped of all legislative powers and just be a nominal head of state OR chosen by the elected representatives of congress from within congress – instant accountability! Ask yourself this. Why don’t quality individuals with intelligence, experience, worldliness, honesty and integrity put themselves forward as candidates for the presidency? Draw your own conclusions or just look at the last four or five presidential campaigns. If you don’t immediately see the answer, you didn’t understand the question.
- US representatives should be elected for four years not two – they currently spend all their time worrying about re-election rather than running the country. Four years should show us their worth or otherwise!
- The Senate – get rid of it or find a different and more constructive way of selection. If they just exist to either “rubber-stamp” or kill legislation, you have to ask yourself, why bother? An upper house can be of enormous value to a national government; but not if it is as bitterly polarized as the lower house.
- Stop the “schoolyard bullying” of other nations. The USA is not the “best” country in the world – whatever that means. For a start it depends on what criteria you use and what weight you give to different parameters. The US government and people should curb their inherent arrogance and recognize that we can learn from other nations. No nation, including ours, has all the answers. Look where trying to impose our values and aspirations on other nations has gotten us – into unwinnable conflicts!
If there in one overriding flaw that the founding fathers left us, it is that radical change is almost impossible to effect. As a totally unknown political science professor once (or several times) said to me, “Congress exists to kill legislation.” That’s why we get impetuous executive orders and why we get rotten legislation – and it’s our own damn fault for not speaking out or being willing to change!
