Wednesday, June 11, 2008

What if the framers of the Constitution could step into a time machine, set 2008 Washington DC as their destination, and take a crack at a new Constitution? Would they set down the same rights and privileges as they did in 1787? Somehow, I doubt it.

Because the context of the country is different than it was in 1787 (or 1791 when the Bill of Rights was adopted), I think we would end up with different rights. Some rights identified then, make no sense in today’s context. Some rights we would insist on today would have seemed ridiculous in the 18th century.

Take the right to bear arms, for example. In 1787, the country was primitive. You could literally be eaten by the wildlife. A settler could be attacked and killed by Indians. Parts of the continent were colonized by different nations whose colonists sometimes attacked neighboring colonies. Law enforcement was far from a ubiquitous presence throughout the country. The “right” to bear arms and more generally the necessity of a well regulated militia made complete sense.

Today, the American context is entirely different in every important respect. I’m reasonably sure “the framers” would skip the Second Amendment!

In 1787, we had no telephone service (we barely had mail), a primitive banking system, and a fledgling criminal justice system. There were no computers to keep records and data. There was no internet with which to commit data theft. If you wanted to be a private person, you simply didn’t tell anyone about yourself and your privacy was all but assured. Consequently, there was no notion of the “right” to privacy.

Today, the American context is entirely different in every important aspect. I’m sure “the framers” would go well beyond the Fourth Amendment and insist on including the “right” to privacy in the Constitution for the new Century.

I’m not suggesting that Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Madison (et. al. or their 21st century counter parts) rewrite our constitution. It has been perfected by 221 years of amendment and interpretation and works pretty well for us.

But it gives me pause when I think about the US trying to impose an American-style constitution on Iraq. It gives me pause when I observe America trying to impose an American-style democracy on Iraq.

If we believe in democracy, maybe the Iraqis should be free to develop a Constitution that is relevant to our times. Maybe the flavor of democracy they choose should be relevant to their context. Maybe we should let them experiment with a 21st Century implementation of a free and democratic state and stay the hell out of their way.

Maybe we would learn something … important … in the process.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Politics
(3) Comments • Permalink