It’s clear we need a new constitution, taking the best from our founders and adding the best in light of all we’ve learned in the last 240 years.
Our founders were wealthy land owners who sought to reduce their tax to the British Crown. At the time, other monarchs were beginning to be challenged as well, as the Enlightenment Period took form.
This was in the 1770s. We had not even yet reached the Industrial Age. It was later stage medieval culture. These were men were mostly English yet wanted to create a system that was at least superior to a colonial monarchy. And yet, products of their time, Negros weren’t fully human and women had no voice in this constitution, though both had plenty of abuse. Ignored as well were any potential rights of the Native Americans, who were considered Indian Savages.
It’s curious that even in that long ago era, our founding fathers were apprehensive about corporations. Corporations had already proven their power and destruction. The East India and Hudson Bay Corporations had already shown their worth and problems they create. And with that, corporations did not hold a strong place in our constitution.
Thomas Jefferson declared… “I hope we shall crush, in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country.”
That said, Jefferson was no fan of the final version of The Constitution.
Some 130 years later, the great socialist Eugene Debs declared The Constitution to be “an autocratic and reactionary document” written by aristocrats and “in every sense a denial of democracy.” Here’s a reference from Jacobin.
It remains that we live under the knee of corporations and more importantly, the ultra wealthy (the point one percent) Rothschilds and Morgans and Rockafellers and Sinclairs and so on. This is some cases has been going on for hundreds of years. And their primary tool beyond all others, the ‘The Corporation’. It kills capitalism and thwarts socialism. We need fundamental change.
Here’s what The Atlantic’s Alex Sites-Wald had to say about it in 2013…
Noam Chomsky states that since 1975, somewhere between 70 and 80 trillion dollars has been stolen from the American people and given to the top less than 1%. We might consider this alone as reason enough for a new constitution.
And so it is we require the revolutionary act of creating a new constitution. We have the oldest constitution in the world, and can learn much from what other countries have done since our inception 240 years ago.
This effort is clearly a monumental task. It has no chance in our highly polarized political environment. It has no change in our corrupt, two party system. So we need to take a number of steps. But before we get to steps, we must find our ground.
Our ground is Life itself, Now, this fine point in time that separates future from past, and yet it’s the one point we share. This recognition helps us see past our differences to live, work and play together.
We are many tribes, but one people and we share this Earth.
Governance
The role of government is simple in concept – it is the arbiter between community and commercial interests. Regardless of scale or complexity, balancing these two great priorities are what is required.
Sadly, in our broken culture community interests are completely subjugated to commercial interests. This should not be construed as a recent phenomenon.
In our long history, money has been the driver. Elitist and commercial interests have controlled the culture for a couple of millennium now, and it’s difficult to see how that will change, if one is stuck in the World4 paradigm. From the World5 perspective we see the consistent failure of government, especially the nation-state system we live under, as but prelude to a highly decentralized yet global system of governance that is soon to emerge. This area of focus will help us to create governing systems where true balance exists between community and corporate interests.
The notion of the separation of powers, with executive, legislative and judical seems wise, while our corrupt two party system seems otherwise. And of course at the core of the problem is, same as it ever was, elitism. Call it plutocracy or oligarchy, behind the words is the same awareness. The old system cannot continue.
As we find our ground we’ll have cogent political and community information that can help us create the systems of government where integrity and transparency are, not only the desire of we the people, but also the law of the land.
Principles
Integrity | Ethics | Transparency
We must start here, with personal integrity, ethical systems and transparency to ensure integrity and ethics.
Inalienable Rights
We, the citizens of the United States, are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as free people. All our localities and ecosystems must have a voice.
Three Branches
The three branch system of government, with executive, legislative and judicial branches seems wise as a fair distributor of power.
Corporations
A corporation is not an ethical system, it has no legal place in our new constitution. Indeed, corporations destroy not only our social fabric, but capitalism itself.
Earth
The Earth is a living being, of which we are all part. Her restoration is a prime directive.
Strategies
1) Mobilize the citizens of this country to support this effort.
2) Create a new political party to champion and embody this new standard.
3) Work together to create a document that is built on clear principles like integrity and ethics.
4) Build support for localism and against globalism into the new constitution.
5) Have the new constitution enacted.
Okay, we need a minute. Or a generation. This is a truly monumental task. But the clear and pressing need for this Constitution 2.0 already exists, so what are we waiting for? Please join us here at World 5.0 for updates and to further the efforts!
https://world5.org/user/register
CONSTITUIONAL STRUGGLES ARE HAPPENING GLOBALLY
This is a piece about what’s happening in India…
Living Constitutions
And here’s the link to Chili’s new constitution, which could be a model for many other nation-states…
Chili’s New Draft Constitution