Ironically the real problem with the U.S. constitution is that it’s much too hard to modify. The text is arcane and vague and often meaningless in a modern cont

Ironically the real problem with the U.S. constitution is that it’s much too hard to modify. The text is arcane and vague and often meaningless in a modern context, so courts can make up any interpretation they prefer. Does the constitution contain a right to privacy that allows abortion? It did for 50 years, then it suddenly didn’t. What’s a “well-regulated militia”? Anything that a particular court wants it to be. What about “emoluments”? Same. Instead of trying to squeeze new meaning out of 18th century vocabulary, a constitution should rather have a self-destruct clause. Rewrite it completely every fifty years or so. There are nations that do this kind of constitutional reset when times are good (e.g. Finland whose latest constitution is from 2000), and they seem stronger for it. Of course this is not possible in America also because culturally the constitution is much closer to scripture than to ordinary law. The Puritan heritage is in plain sight in how a legal text is treated like Moses had brought it down from the mountain.