Constitutional Concern (1-page)

This is a 1-page paper for school. One page is hard to snap off, but too short for me to get carried away, so it's a good exercise for me. Enjoy the read.

Constitutional Concern

Although the vast majority of Americans today are not familiar with the Constitution as a whole, almost all carry with them the clause, “All men are created equal”.

            This stems from the written Constitution of America. I say written, because that is an important fact. America was essentially the first country to develop based off of a written document. A document compiled to designate how America was to be run, and also how it was not supposed to be run. “In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” (The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Annals of America, 4:66.)

            How so? Today the government is so large it’s difficult to see clearly how it is bound by the Constitution anymore, much less working with it. This is due in part to “Executive Orders” issued directly from the president. These used to be mere changes to department policies, or instructions on how to go about duties. By the federal courts though, they became as legally forceful as laws passed by the congress. Exploitation of this fact followed; the number of executive orders issued in a year ballooned quickly from about seventy, to around a thousand.

            This is important because executive orders come directly from the president, with little to no checks with the power to halt them from going through. It’s a micro-sized form of dictatorship, which results in harm to the people when the implications are not carefully considered.

            The implications are limitations of freedom. As we love the thought of equality among men, we forget what that equality means in action. Equal rights does not mean equal things. Executive orders aren’t the only thing used to benefit specific groups with unequal things, just as the majority decision doesn’t always result in exploitation of the minority. The danger lies in the character of the one who holds power.

            Ideally, these select few are of good character and capable leaders. Combined with the intricate, yet robust system of checks and balances placed on them by the Constitution, an effective government results. To say that this is not true due to the constitution being “outdated,” begs reason for why. The Constitution was not created to change over time. The Golden Rule, “love your neighbor as yourself,” is universal; in that it applies to everyone, regardless of the circumstances. Likewise, the Constitution  is written the same way. Written not for a specific time and way to run government, but a how to run government.

Many of the Founding Fathers who contributed to the Constitution expressed concern for future government, fearing that it would become corrupt. This made its way into the final draft, in the form of a clever system of checks and balances. Spread over the three departments of Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, they keep the branches of government reined in by each other, while still retaining strength in their respective areas.

All men are created equal, and a written Constitution protects that. We should not declare the very document that brought our country so much prosperity, to be swept away by those who do not first have a strong understanding of it. The key to this is understanding it ourselves, so that we are not ignorant, and therefore incapable of protecting what protects us. As a sword, or our minds, or muscles, or beliefs, that need tending to remain strong, so to, must we tend to the Constitution that protects our liberty.

Written by Benjamin Bretey, with information taken from many textbooks, including the 5000 Year Leap.