Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Our country was founded on the concepts of freedom & liberty: every person can do whatever they please as long as it does not affect another person, and if it does then the conflict goes to the Courts. Total freedom & liberty, however, means every man is an island, without much hope of rebelling against a troop of Girl Scouts, let alone Great Britain, so we added an exception to “total freedom & liberty” and begrudgingly accepted a weak representative form of central government based on democracy. Unfortunately, exceptions invite exploitation: in the case of democracy, the majority could simply vote to take all the minority’s stuff. Hence, to prevent exploitative democracy, we protect the minority with a guarantee called the “Constitution.”

The U.S. Constitution was the first one, and as great a concept as it is, there were flaws: Blacks were equivalent to 3/5ths of a White; women couldn't vote; the Vice President was the 2nd place presidential candidate; Senators were appointed, etc. Even in the beginning, the Amendments were a sign of this, they were added to fix the original document. Over the years it's gotten better, and sometimes worse, for example, Prohibition. Our republican form might be a bit dated, and economics, science, and law have certainly advanced beyond what John Lock, the philosopher who's ideas were incorporated into the Constitution, was thinking, but mostly the new Amendments have kept up.

The U.S. Constitution makes "liberty" the primary goal, where liberty is defined as the rights of the individual come first unless due process of law. Other cultures are socialist, where the rights of the group outweigh the wants of individuals. If you're a "liberty" person, those other documents may seem inadequate. It was only chance that America ended up with a "liberty" constitution. That would not have been possible if Blacks and women were able to vote at the time. Liberty, personal empowerment, is much better for the advantaged, which is good for you & me but not so appealing to a slave, either in chains or in the kitchen. We were and are very lucky, there won’t be anymore modern day “liberty” constitutions.