(Not a student yet? Enroll for free at www.gwschool.net.)
Love is, perhaps, one of the more misunderstood words in the English language. It's used quite often, as in "I love this song", "I love the way your hair looks", or "I am in love with my girlfriend", reinforcing the misguided notion that the word is either a noun or a passive verb devoid of any actual action.
Properly understood and applied, love is a verb with concrete action. If I love my wife, then I must do far more than simply say the words on a regular basis. It would be inconsistent and hypocritical for me to say I love her when my actions do not reflect that feeling. Thus, to love someone is to do those things which tangibly demonstrate that the loving feelings do exist.
So, too, with inanimate things such as the U.S. Constitution. I love the Constitution, but strive to apply those feelings in a consistent and effective manner. Because I love this great document, I strive to promote it, to defend it, and to do whatever is in my power to see it succeed. I write about its virtues, help others understand what it says, oppose policies that run counter to its mandates, and support candidates for office who have its best interests at heart.
I do this for many reasons, not the least of which is that this document, if followed correctly and fully, will help "secure the blessings of liberty" for myself, my family, and every individual which lives under its protection. I love the Constitution because I love liberty, and because no other political effort in history has so effectively created a foundation for liberty to be maximized and political power reduced and diffused. The government's track record since that time has been far from ideal, of course, but the written mandates in the Constitution provide us a method to directly appeal wrongful actions on the government's part.
I love the Constitution because it restricts the government, rather than the people. As Ayn Rand once wrote:
"Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals - that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government - that it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizens' protection against the government."1
Few other attempts throughout the world's history have so effectively dismantled political power in order to respect and protect the private and natural rights of each citizen. "The Constitution is not neutral," wrote Justice William O. Douglas. "It was designed to take the government off the backs of people."2 Any review of history will demonstrate that some (if not most) of the most violent, tyrannical oppressors have been leaders of government and heads of large standing armies. The Constitution aims to prevent this by providing us a method by which to restrain the individuals we elect and who are appointed to operate the government. "In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution,"3 wrote Thomas Jefferson.
I love the Constitution because of the wisdom it contains. It has served as a model for the constitutions of countless other countries. Its framers were students of history and observed the positive and negative aspects of monarchies, republics, and democracies throughout history. As Jefferson observed, "History, in general, only informs us what bad government is."4 Likewise, J. Reuben Clark observed that "The Constitution was born, not only of the wisdom and experience of the generation that wrought it, but also out of the wisdom of the long generations that had gone before and which had been transmitted to them through tradition and the pages of history...."5 With the intent of excluding the shortcomings of past governments and instead forming a "more perfect Union", the delegates to the Constitutional Convention debated heavily over the specific words included in the document, and sought to ensure that the product of their efforts was as solid and enduring as possible. It is, opined Chief Justice John Marshall, "intended to endure for ages to come."6 I love the wisdom this document contains, and want to preserve it, for as Daniel Webster is alleged to have once said, "Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6000 years, may not happen again."7 Such wisdom should be expounded upon, and not disregarded as so many are eager to do.
I love the Constitution because, rather than enumerating our rights, it exists to secure them. Our rights come from our Creator, and not from legislators or bureaucrats; the founding documents of our nation declare their correct source and institute a government to protect them. The Constitution lists in detail what powers are delegated to and authorized for the federal government. It does not portend to enumerate the rights (among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) of each individual, since that list would be infinitely long. As James Wilson, a member of the Constitutional Convention later wrote, "Enumerate all the rights of men! I am sure, sir, that no gentleman in the late Convention would have attempted such a thing."8 Rather, it created and empowered a federal government that was to be small, yet powerful enough to secure those rights. It separated spheres of political power into distinct bodies with limited, delegates powers--the balance of which were reserved to the states and the people themselves. Its purpose, as it states in its own preamble, is to secure for us the "Blessings of Liberty". The many ways in which these blessings have been denied to us result primarily from our collective unwillingness or inability to hold those individuals accountable who are elected and appointed to positions within the government it created.
The ways I show my love for the Constitution are not influenced to any great degree by the fact that the document is not perfect. I am able to love my wife--to serve, protect, and provide for her--even though she, like I, has plenty of flaws. I have many goals and aspirations, and though I often do not live up to them, my wife still loves me. Similarly, we as a nation have repeatedly fallen short of the lofty goals the founders had in creating the Constitution. Though many might argue that this increasing separation is cause for a proverbial divorce, I contend that loving the Constitution--promoting it, defending it, and doing whatever is in our power to see it succeed--can once again restore its intent and realize its goals to secure for each of us the blessings of liberty.
(Not a student yet? Enroll for free at www.gwschool.net.)
1 Ayn Rand, "The Nature of Government," The Virtue of Selfishness, 114
2 The Court years, 1939-1975: the autobiography of William O. Douglas (1980), p. 8
4 Letter to John Norvell, 14 June 1807
5 Stand Fast by Our Constitution, p. 137
6 McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheaton, 1819
7 Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 108th Congress, Second Session (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 2004), Vol. 150, p. 17247, Representative Franks quoting Daniel Webster, July 22, 2004
No comments:
Post a Comment