Constitution boot camp: Day One
A reflection on the power of words and the real contract with America

Today marked the start of the constitutional theory seminar that I am taking at Loyola Marymount University this month. The professor has referred to it on several occasions as “constitution boot camp,” which is a phrase that, so far, seems appropriate to me. This afternoon, the professor discussed the reading of theoretical texts, focusing specifically on the writings of Cicero and on the Declaration.

When discussing theoretical texts and democracy, he mentioned the relationship between the word and the world. In scientific study, the idea is that the world exists and we must find the words to describe/explain the happenings therein. In many classical and pre-classical societies the world simply existed: governments were created and implemented via direct action, but with people of the book (whether that is religious text or not), the word comes before the world. That is to say, you can build a world with words.

I have long believed in the power of words and so this line of reasoning really struck me. Consider this: for thousands of years men (and cities) had broken free from rulers (oppressive or otherwise) through warfare. It would follow, then, that the colonies, when finally fed up with the tyranny of Britain, could simply have waged war against their oppressors and, has they won, been free. Why, then, did they feel the need to declare their intent and the reasons for it on paper? It is because the framers believed, as do many, that if you can word it right, it will work. This is constitutional principle as firmly rooted in our founding documents as any other, this belief in the power of text.

While it is true that the founding documents are important (our professor called them sacred) because of the ideas they express, they are lasting because the text is binding. No matter who is in office or what crises we endure, those texts live on and continue to speak to the people of this country and this world. Our professor argued that the country is in crisis because people have forgotten how to think and I agree with him. But I also think a large part of the problem is that people have stopped listening to the founding documents.

The Declaration, the Constitution, these texts speak about “we,” the “one people” of the country – all of us – and they set forth a contract between the government and the people. The people have given up absolute freedom for protection of their natural rights. What I think many people have lost sight of is the notion that we, as one people, have already given up what we need to give up and it is unacceptable for our current government to expect us to give up any more in the name of anything. The fact that more people in the United States aren’t outraged by this idea that we must sacrifice our basic rights for more security is what makes me agree, more than anything, with my professor: even as we become more sophisticated and more educated, our country lacks wisdom and it lacks the ability to truly debate and, finally, it is quickly losing its commitment to the very ideas on which this country was founded.