CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS
Millennials and the Founders
by
- E. Boyd, Esq. “Miss Constitution”
We have all seen the interviews, usually on the beach, with simple questions being asked young adults, such as “When did America declare her independence?” or “For which country was America a colony?” or “What is the name of America’s national anthem?” The responses often range from shock to awe. The more interesting interviews, however, include reading a statement that is thought by the interviewee to come from the right when actually the statement comes from the left. A disconnect of major proportions occurs.
Miss Constitution has been thinking about this generation and has come to the conclusion that in spite of all the assumptions made about this group of Americans they may, in fact, have more in common with the Founders than one might think.
Here are some of their concerns:
- the President’s generation, the millennials’ grandparents, appear to have taken more than their fair share out of society materially; in fact, materialism is a priority to them
- capitalism, their highly vaunted economic system, leaves too many people out; the concept of upward mobility is really a myth; it is all built on the back of discriminatory practices that enriched the ruling class
- while capitalism invites greed and hoarding, socialism seems fair and equalizing and invites a more inclusive and welcoming place for all
There is some merit to these contentions. The generation coming after “the greatest generation” of WWII became the cultural revolutionaries of the 1960’s, some of whom drugged themselves senseless but also created the best protest music ever. The Baby Boomers opposed the Vietnam War and forced the establishment to deal with it. They also strongly supported the Civil Rights movement for black Americans that forever changed the trajectory of the nation. Some of that trajectory is very positive, as de jure (by law) racial discrimination came to an end; some of that trajectory is very negative, as we entered a period in America history of severe self-loathing that continues today. This self-loathing was passed on to their children, Generation X, who are the parents of the Millennial generation, and is reflected, among the many ways it is reflected, in the abandonment by public education of really teaching about the founding philosophies and accurate American history and economics. No wonder no one knows who John Dickinson is.
What would the Founders say about Millennial concerns? Additionally, what does the United States Constitution say about these concerns?
The Founders, human beings all with all the flaws of human beings, anticipated corruption, especially public corruption; abuse of power; government overreach; national disunity; human callousness; and personal immorality. It was considered a given that human beings can be the best but are often the worst living creatures on the planet. Aristotle considered the drives for sex and food to be the worst motivators of human behavior. Knowing these things and having studied, many of them, deeply into philosophy and statecraft came up with an ingenious plan to place road blocks in the way of the worst behaviors, and motivators to encourage the best behaviors in human beings. The United States Constitution outlines some of the road blocks they had in mind.
- it limits concentrations of power
- it elevates individual civil liberties as against government power
- it promotes the interior development of the individual as the best bulwark against corrupting influences
How does it do this?
The United States Constitution separates and diffuses power centers by dividing general power between the national government and state and local governments and specifically outlines what areas each may handle. The idea is that corruption in one place should not foul the whole. We will always have to cut out the rotten spots in the apple, but we should be able to enjoy the rest. Each of these power centers is to check on the other and, since the American citizen is the Sovereign, or ultimate power, a free press investigates public corruption and provides accurate information to the Sovereign so they will know where the rot is and what to do about it. The details of this genius plan represent the subject of Miss Constitution’s writings and should be taught to every child and adult in America.
The engine of our prosperity is the private sector economy, or capitalism, and its requirements include a moral component of both hard work and charity. Greed, per se, is not a part of American capitalism as the works of both Adam Smith and Frances Hutcheson attest. The idea is that those that create new products and services should be free to invent, and risk, and produce and that they deserve a reward within the moral bounds we have set for them. If the incentive to create is missing, prosperity quickly disappears. That is why socialism fails; there is no human incentive that creates the new. There is only confiscation and redistribution of what exists.
The Founders did not see the Constitution alone as the answer. They saw it in partnership with a religious and moral people. They expected that the strong religious base that is the history of America would produce good and decent people and that this decency was a critical element in thwarting the corruption in the human heart. This decency starts with the family unit.
I see, for the first time in a long time, common ground between the Founders and the Millennials for a better and more decent America and for an end to our unnecessary self-loathing. If the goodness is lost, what is exceptional about America will be lost, and there will be nothing to pass on. We must start by introducing this generation to the amazing minds of the Founders.
Copyright©2019 M.E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
