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One had high hopes for TFA, only to discover another tired hagiography of wise "Framers" whose perfect work (which mentions, let us recall, both "free Persons"

One had high hopes for TFA, only to discover another tired hagiography of wise "Framers" whose perfect work (which mentions, let us recall, both "free Persons" and "other Persons") has been failed by its stupid unworthy subjects. Bullshit. The constitution was a conspiracy of rich assholes who were tired of state legislatures occasionally favoring the interests of poor farmers, workmen, and merchants over those of rich assholes. They rammed through the constitution, and never again had to worry about legislatures cancelling debts owed to them. Forget amendments. The whole rotten thing should have been thrown out in 1790, and in every year since then. If we have ever made any progress, it has been in spite of the constitution, not because of it.

SaberTail 4y ago
Yeah, exactly. There's so much propaganda in the USA depicting the constitution as some sort of inspired document written by enlightened men, and then most people don't bother reading beyond what they learned in school. One only need look at how undemocratic the constitution was. Only one federal office, the House of Representatives, was elected by the people (and at the time the constitution was written, only men with property could vote). The president and vice president are elected by an electoral college. Senators were elected by state legislatures. Supreme Court Judges are even further insulated from the people, being appointed by the President. "The People" had extremely little influence on the federal government, and it's only gotten marginally better since. Hopefully everyone understands how much the constitution did to protect the wealth of slave owners, since this is taught in schools. But it also made western land speculators richer by creating a government capable of exerting sufficient power over those western lands to open them up for settlement. It made the holders of revolutionary war debt richer by creating a government that could assume that debt and pay it off. It made owners and investors in manufacturing enterprises richer by creating a government that could protect industry with tariffs while keeping states from taxing the flow of goods or interfering with contracts. Every framer of the constitution belonged to at least one of these groups, and they benefited when it was ratified. The book An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States by Charles Beard goes into great detail on this. It's out of copyright and freely available online: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Economic_Interpretation_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Economic_Interpretation_of...

SaberTail 4y ago

Yeah, exactly. There's so much propaganda in the USA depicting the constitution as some sort of inspired document written by enlightened men, and then most people don't bother reading beyond what they learned in school. One only need look at how undemocratic the constitution was. Only one federal office, the House of Representatives, was elected by the people (and at the time the constitution was written, only men with property could vote). The president and vice president are elected by an electoral college. Senators were elected by state legislatures. Supreme Court Judges are even further insulated from the people, being appointed by the President. "The People" had extremely little influence on the federal government, and it's only gotten marginally better since. Hopefully everyone understands how much the constitution did to protect the wealth of slave owners, since this is taught in schools. But it also made western land speculators richer by creating a government capable of exerting sufficient power over those western lands to open them up for settlement. It made the holders of revolutionary war debt richer by creating a government that could assume that debt and pay it off. It made owners and investors in manufacturing enterprises richer by creating a government that could protect industry with tariffs while keeping states from taxing the flow of goods or interfering with contracts. Every framer of the constitution belonged to at least one of these groups, and they benefited when it was ratified. The book An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States by Charles Beard goes into great detail on this. It's out of copyright and freely available online: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Economic_Interpretation_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Economic_Interpretation_of...