Two Articles From the News This Week

It was a week of interesting news articles and two stuck with me in particular:

First of all, the horrific developments in the story of the Powell family. Specifically, Josh Powell apparently attacking his sons with a hatchet and exploding the house with all of them inside. I can't think of a set of news items that emotionally affected and disturbed me as much as these events.

The article in today's New York Times: 'We The People' Loses Appeal Around the World also bothered me. The article began with something interesting and valuable: coverage of a recent study showing that countries aren't using the U.S. Constitution as a model like the used to. That's definitely worth knowing. But as the writer, Adam Liptak, goes on and tries to explain why this might be, I saw him inserting his opinion into the piece carelessly and jumping to conclusions about what should be in a constitution.

Liptak quotes Thomas Jefferson's remark that every constitution “naturally expires at the end of 19 years” because “the earth belongs always to the living generation.” Just because Thomas Jefferson has a (well-deserved) place in the pantheon of American founders doesn't mean his opinions were all gospel truths.  If every generation had to relearn and establish the hard lessons of establishing and maintaining an effective democratic republic we would lose all of the benefits we currently enjoy from the toils of our forebears. The idea is to continually improve from generation to generation, not continually to restart. 

Liptak also writes that:

"Americans recognize rights not widely protected, including ones to a speedy and public trial, and are outliers in prohibiting government establishment of religion. But the Constitution is out of step with the rest of the world in failing to protect, at least in so many words, a right to travel, the presumption of innocence and entitlement to food, education and health care.

It has its idiosyncrasies. Only 2 percent of the world’s constitutions protect, as the Second Amendment does, a right to bear arms.  "

In conceding that the U.S. Constitution protects the many rights that other nations neglect (speedy and public trial, religion, right to bear arms) Liptak seems to really weaken his argument that our Constitution is failing to protect basic rights the rest of the world now expects.

Also, entitlement to food, education, and healthcare are all very controversial as civil liberties. I want everyone to have the necessities of  life, too; I'm just not convinced that the government should assume that responsibility on the scale Liptak implies. Entitlement is a dangerous beast to enthrone in a national consciousness. It promotes selfishness and removes incentives to work hard for one's self. Most of what the Constitution guarantees are protections against government intrusion, not promises of government assistance.

The first, second, fourth, fifth amendments and most others are examples of protections against government intrusion. About the only real things the Constitution says Americans are positively entitled to are a republican form of government, confrontation of witnesses, and protection by the military. 

I think the study Liptak was reporting on is good to know about, but I don't think that he left political bias out of his coverage.