Immediately before the day of the 2008 US federal election, I posted this article in which I said I wouldn’t be voting, and listed three major problems with the Constitution. The gist of the problems were these:
1. Majority rule leads to tyranny of the majority over minorities.
2. Government should be by the consent of the governed — but I am not allowed to withdraw my consent.
3. The Constitution violates basic tenets of almost every religion — for example, the War Powers clause blatantly violates injunctions against murder.
Slavery by the Consent of the Enslaved
These flaws were literally on parade during the Civil War. The Constitution did nothing at all to help those who were bound to servitude, forced to live, eat, and work by the whim of the master; whose families were broken; who were abused, physically and emotionally, and packed on trains or forced to march hundreds of miles away, and told they were doing all this for the good of the country, and then lined up and shot. If they were lucky, they died quickly; if not, they were frequently captured and sent to prisons that would make Guantanamo Bay look like Club Med.
Yes, I’m talking about the draft, too. There are many kinds of slavery.
» Read the rest of this entry «
Similar Posts
- How I’m Voting II: Cracks in the Constitution
- How I’m Voting I: No Lesser Evil
- Vaster than Empires and More Slow
- Bring Back the Tribe!
- The Victory of the Sioux
- Obama’s Best Speech Never: What the President Should Have Said
- Six Arguments Against Religion III: Think For Yourself