Constitution for the 21st Century
A Constitution for the 21st Century
The US Constitution has to change.
Based on this Constitution the country has a dysfunctional Congress, a looming theocracy/plutocracy, huge wealth disparity, and an environmental disaster in the making. And that is just a short list. This is not a great country; it is not a nice country; it is not one I choose to belong to. I have lived here for 30 years, so it is home. But a home that needs a serious upgrade, one that can, I believe, only be achieved by changing the Constitution.
The US Constitution was written by very well-intentioned men as a way to launch a new country. They produced a remarkable document and launched a remarkable nation. In the 18th century. But we are now in the 21st century. Times have changed in ways that the Founding Fathers could not have imagined in their wildest dreams. At least one of them – that great intellect and visionary Thomas Jefferson – acknowledged that developments in the future would necessitate changes to the Constitution. Jefferson suggested, with little support, that the Constitution should be revised every generation (at that time considered to be eighteen years). That means we should have had some 13 REVISIONS by now, not just the 27 amendments that have been ratified.
It might be helpful to look at the country as a not-for-profit organization with a board of directors (Congress) governed by a set of bye-laws (the Constitution). Members of the Board serve a fixed term, usually without remuneration, for the good of the organization. Bye-laws are revised as and when circumstances change. New bye-laws need to be approved by a quorum of the membership.
There are many thinking people who acknowledge that this country has problems which cannot be resolved with the Constitution as it stands. However, few are willing to take on the challenge of changing it. The biggest stumbling block is determining who is qualified to draw up a new document.
There is, however, a remarkably qualified group of men (and a few women) who could do the job. They have been acclaimed as leaders in their field by impartial, non-political, external sources. They are, ipso facto, highly intelligent. Their expertise covers the full range of human endeavour.
They are the living Nobel Prize recipients.
The other option is to ask the people what they want.
