July 4, 2022
Today we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain 246 years ago on July 2, 1776. As critical thinkers, let us stop and examine what and why we celebrate today.
The Declaration of Independence was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson with edits by four others who comprised the Committee of Five: John Adams of Massachusetts; Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania; Roger Sherman of Connecticut; and Robert Livingston of New York. This Declaration committee operated from June 11, 1776 until July 5, 1776, the day on which the Declaration was published.
Several events in this country since 2016 have led me to examine our “democracy”, and I have concluded that the writers of the Declaration, and of the Constitution that followed, intended the Constitution to be a guide for a new nation, but also desired it to be a “living” document to be amended to serve the “people”. Let’s examine the following language from the Declaration:
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
From my understanding of this passage, I argue that Jefferson would be appalled at the present state of the powers of our government and, like myself, would advocate for a new Government, [that lays] its foundation on [the] principles [of] Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness and [that would organize] its powers in such form, as to … effect [the] Safety and Happiness of the People.
Oil on canvas painting of the signing of the Constitution by Howard Chandler Christy that hangs in the Capital. It was commissioned in 1939 and completed in 1940.
Originalism is a concept demanding that all judicial decisions be based on the meaning of the US Constitution at the time it was adopted. Originalists contend that the Constitution should be interpreted strictly according to how it would have been understood by the Framers.
Originalism as a concept is brainless!
"Our Broken Constitution", Illustration by Barry Blitt from The New Yorker
If we believe in true democracy, steps should be taken to modernize the Constitution.
Pamela Paul wrote in the NYT this week:
It’s worth asking ourselves, as a nation, what it is about our political and legal systems that leads to so many policies that we Americans — even at our worst — don’t necessarily support.
How do we ask young people just starting out, or older people who have seen so much progress reversed, to care about a country that seems so determined to care so little for them? How do we celebrate on the Fourth of July a country whose laws and institutions so often fail to bring out the best in us?
-Pamela Paul, NYT, 6/26/22
With Ms. Paul’s questions in mind, I propose two bold changes to our governmental systems that would strengthen democracy.
· Abolish the Electoral College
· Overturn Citizen’s United
I agree with Pamela Paul when she writes:
fixing the outdated Electoral College that allowed presidential candidates who lost the popular vote to take office and nominate five of the justices who agreed to end the right to an abortion [is paramount].
The Electoral College
As background, I refer you to: https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/history
The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. However, the term “electoral college” does not appear in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to “electors,” but not to the “electoral college.”
Since the Electoral College process is part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution it would be necessary to pass a Constitutional amendment to change this system.
The ratification of the 12th Amendment, the expansion of voting rights, and the States’ use of the popular vote to determine who will be appointed as electors have each substantially changed the process.
Many different proposals to alter the Presidential election process have been offered over the years, such as direct nation-wide election by the eligible voters, but none has been passed by Congress and sent to the States for ratification as a Constitutional amendment. Under the most common method for amending the Constitution, an amendment must be proposed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the States.
Obviously, abolishing the Electoral College is a giant undertaking, but doing so would bring more power directly to the people and reduce power from Congressional representatives whose primary intent seems to be retaining power in order to line their pockets. The possibility of a sycophant like J.D. Vance being elected to the U.S. Senate is chilling.
Citizen’s United
In a 2010 ruling, the Supreme Court by a margin of 5 to 4 ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a controversial decision that reversed century-old campaign finance restrictions and enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.
While wealthy donors, corporations, and special interest groups have long had an outsized influence in elections, that sway has dramatically expanded since the Citizens United decision, with negative repercussions for American democracy and the fight against political corruption.
A Brennan Center report by Daniel I. Weiner pointed out that a very small group of Americans now wield “more power than at any time since Watergate, while many of the rest seem to be disengaging from politics.“
“This is perhaps the most troubling result of Citizens United: in a time of historic wealth inequality,” wrote Weiner, “the decision has helped reinforce the growing sense that our democracy primarily serves the interests of the wealthy few, and that democratic participation for the vast majority of citizens is of relatively little value.”
Before concluding, let’s define systems of government other than democracies.
Aristocracy
A system of government ruled by an elite or privileged upper class
Plutocracy
A system of government in which the wealthy class rules and there is little regard for the poor
Oligarchy
A system of government in which a dictator surrounded by a wealthy cohort wields power over the people
Fascism
A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
Communism
A system of government in which the state plans and controls the
Economy and a single, often authoritarian party hold power,
claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all
goods are equally shared by the people.
Capitalism
An economic system in which the means of production and
distribution are privately or corporately owned and development
occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained
in a free market.
From Merriam-Webster:
Is the United States a democracy or a republic?
The United States is both a democracy and a republic. Democracies and republics are both forms of government in which supreme power resides in the citizens. The word republic refers specifically to a government in which those citizens elect representatives who govern according to the law. The word democracy can refer to this same kind of representational government, or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly.
I posit that if we the people want a true democracy, and a republic on which “to stand”, we must advocate to abolish the Electoral College and overturn Citizen’s United. If campaign finance were limited to a maximum of $1,000 per citizen and $1,000 per corporation/pack, power would return to the people.
Who’s afraid of democracy? The rich and powerful.
I leave you with a poem by Amanda Gorman.
Surviving
These words need not be red for our blood to run through
them.
When tragedy threatens to end us, we are flooded by what
is felt;
Our faces fluctuating, warped like an acre passing
Seasons. Perhaps the years are plotted & planned
Just like seeds in a fresh-plowed field.
When we dream, we act only on instinct.
We might not be fully sure of all that we are.
& yet we have endured all that we were.
Even now we’re shuddering:
The revelation aching.
It didn’t have to be this way.
In fact, it didn’t have to be.
The gone were/are no threshold.
No stepstone beneath our feet.
Even as they did not die
For us, we shall move for them.
We shall only learn when we let this loss,
Like us, sing on & on.
CPW
P.S. I want to preserve our republic for three very special firecrackers: Joy, Eva, and Asa.
Excellent!!!