New Constitution

Human rights and the well-being of people should be the highest Constitutional goals, more important than property or national sovereignty.

End the “Citizens United” Ruling with a “Democracy for All Amendment” (3/1/2023)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Constitution was written to protect property, which is why it needs revision to be moral. It has brought on corrupt, dysfunctional government that increasingly is gamed for the wealthy. It does not work for the well-being of the people.

Ohio had a question on the ballot to change the Constitution to make abortion legal. Because it is likely to be successful, Republicans decided to have a special election with only one question: whether to revise the Constitution to require 60% majority to make change. With only one question, the GOP expected low turnout and only very active voters. But the election was said to be a ‘blowout’, with people voting the Ohio Constitution will continue to be changed by a simple majority.

The lesson: a Constitution that is hard to change enables minority rule. The US Constitution is almost impossible to change, but just as in Ohio, if it did change by simple majority of the national popular vote, people could regain their voice in government, very unpopular Supreme Court decisions overturned, and the Constitution altered for the modern world, failing that, the US will continue it's slide into fascism, corruption, and dystopia.

The Constitution should be amended by the national popular vote.

If all people are created equal, every citizen should have the right to an equal vote. Real democracy requires all votes are equal: One person-one vote. Today the people of Wyoming have 70 times the say in the Senate than the people of California. Meanwhile, the National Popular Vote initiative could make the Electoral College irrelevant.

Two parties are not part of the Constitution, but are a constant source of election problems. The GOP capture of the Supreme Court made it an enemy of democracy, since it overturned the Voting Rights Act, allowed gerrymandering, opened the floodgates of corrupting, big, dark money, loosened rules about corruption. SCOTUS appears to be corrupt itself. Congress should be able to over-ride the Courts with a majority but is gridlocked. Ranked Choice Voting could break the two party monopoly and, along with paper ballots, ought to be a national standard.

Citizenship should be open to every adult resident without regard for race, gender, sex orientation, or disability. Inclusiveness is essential for democracy.

States compete for lowest taxes, restrictive voting laws, worst labor laws, most stingy social programs, lax environment regulations, corporate welfare, and, particularly in red States, keep most people down. States rights propel a beggar thy neighbor, race to the bottom, and they enable a minority to win office.

Republican States are poorer, more polluted, have stricter voting rights, looser gun laws, harsher abortion regulation, poorer healthcare, worse virus response, lower education levels, higher religiosity, higher taxes on the poor, and worse right-wing government. GOP claims they don't like government, which explains why they are bad at it. They want to take control anyway, by any means necessary including election law modification, insurrection, or violence. They are armed.

Strong social supports should provide everyone the basics. A wealthy, developed country ought not to have large numbers without healthcare, housing, food, or other essentials. Education is a beneficial public investment and should be free, and public as it is in most developed countries. Nordic countries are the best at governing and the US could learn a lot from them.

Mass migration from increasingly uninhabitable areas is inevitable as climate continues to deteriorate, immigration policy should reflect our dedication to human rights.

Unregulated capitalism is not moral because it results in extreme wealth disparities, a volatile economy in which a handful of people own much more wealth than the majority of the population, leaves many in poverty, has toxic side effects, and leads to right wingpolitics inclined to violence, misery, and unrest.

Corporations are regarded as persons in the law, but are mostly charged with enhancing shareholder value, so they tend to be sociopaths. They can be more powerful than governments.

Wealth disparities soar with toxic side effects. A wealthy minority, opposes democracy at home or abroad. They need to motivate voters with appeals to the very worst including racists, nativists, super-patriots, religious zealots, or other authoritarians. The GOP doesn’t talk about the problem.

Concentration of wealth seems inexorable. but may be controlled by highly progressive taxes. Extreme wealth disparities are not compatible with democracy, result in oligopoly, a sign of corrupt government, leads to rule by a wealthy minority, and right wing government (aka fascism). National borders become strongly fortified to protect wealth. Expansion leads to militarism, empire, frequent wars, and inevitable collapse.

Government should be by "We the People", not We the market. When the market takes over government, that is fascism.

Dark money should be banned from politics.

Religion has NO place in government which is why the First Amendment forbids it. It is a continuing force for superstition, fear, and authoritarianism.

Religion is dragging us down and must be eliminated for the sake of human progress, the best thing we could do would be to diminish, to the point of eliminating religious faiths. E.O.Wilson

Government is only as good as the decisions it makes. The US is not very good. It does not serve the people very well. Failed major wars, an empire in decline, and falling standard of living has brought on nativism, racism, antipathy to immigrants, militarism and fascism, broadly defined as rule by the wealthy. It is a pariah that can not join the International Criminal Court, refuses to pay UN dues, and violates international agreements it has signed, including torture, assassinations, and others.

Good decisions can only come from an unpolluted information ecology that includes education, reasonably open information streams, and media. Most major US media is run by billionaires who have their own agenda. Advertising is inherently corrupting, which is why strong public media is essential. The Post Office was media for the original Constitution, and pamphleting was free.

US Presidents have a history of waging wars to win elections. which is why the Presidency should be a ceremonial office, like European royalty. We should break our addiction to militarism, gratuitous war, and respect international law. We would be much safer.

Nordic countries are structured better, perform better, their people are more satisfied and better off. We should learn from them.

It's long past time for a revised Constitution, but it is unlikely, so the outlook is bleak. The kids are probably doomed. Here's a forecast.