4 ms·

We're living under a flawed Constitution. Let's start over. Rewrite it

6 points by howard941 2y ago

oldpersonintx 2y ago
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h2odragon 2y ago
Or, we could trim away all the things the federal government currently does that aren't mentioned in the Constitution. We aren't currently living under the Constitution. Our government is outlined in a bewildering array and mass of laws now. One of the fundamental documents is the "Annotated Constitution" [1], which is the original document as interpreted by courts for two centuries, and doesn't have much to do with the source text anymore. "Congress shall pass no law" was not the limit the founders hoped it would be, alas. [1] https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/ https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/
almatabata 2y ago
He does not make a very good case as to why we need to rewrite it completely and not simply update it. A lot of the principles still hold up to this day. Why make a completely new document if the basics still work. New does not necessarily mean better. Honestly in this case I will take an old and tested constitution over a brand new one where we have to re-examine and find all the corner cases all over again.
Mobil1 2y ago
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jfengel 2y ago
I don't see any way to rewrite it. If you assembled a convention, it would begin like this: Half of the people: We absolutely, positively must allow unrestricted gun ownership. The other half: I will absolutely, positively never vote for a Constitution that doesn't contain at least some way to restrict gun ownership. And then it's over. Maybe there's more shouting, but we're never going to get past that. There are plenty of other equally-intractable sticking points. But you might as well face this one head on and save yourself a lot of time. The only other alternative is one that starts "Let's give up completely on the idea of being one country." At which point everybody starts shouting about who owns what.
- h2odragon 2y ago
  First time round, everyone thought slavery was going to be an intractable question. One can argue they turned out to be right; but it took ~50 years for the bubble to pop.

6 points by howard941 2y ago

[dead]

Or, we could trim away all the things the federal government currently does that aren't mentioned in the Constitution. We aren't currently living under the Constitution. Our government is outlined in a bewildering array and mass of laws now. One of the fundamental documents is the "Annotated Constitution" [1], which is the original document as interpreted by courts for two centuries, and doesn't have much to do with the source text anymore. "Congress shall pass no law" was not the limit the founders hoped it would be, alas. [1] https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/ https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/

almatabata 2y ago

He does not make a very good case as to why we need to rewrite it completely and not simply update it. A lot of the principles still hold up to this day. Why make a completely new document if the basics still work. New does not necessarily mean better. Honestly in this case I will take an old and tested constitution over a brand new one where we have to re-examine and find all the corner cases all over again.

Mobil1 2y ago

[dead]

jfengel 2y ago

I don't see any way to rewrite it. If you assembled a convention, it would begin like this: Half of the people: We absolutely, positively must allow unrestricted gun ownership. The other half: I will absolutely, positively never vote for a Constitution that doesn't contain at least some way to restrict gun ownership. And then it's over. Maybe there's more shouting, but we're never going to get past that. There are plenty of other equally-intractable sticking points. But you might as well face this one head on and save yourself a lot of time. The only other alternative is one that starts "Let's give up completely on the idea of being one country." At which point everybody starts shouting about who owns what.

h2odragon 2y ago
First time round, everyone thought slavery was going to be an intractable question. One can argue they turned out to be right; but it took ~50 years for the bubble to pop.