A paper, a document, a decree, a proclamation and a declaration when dedicated to the higher aspirations of a nation, flow deep with profound words on the rights of man, the integrity of the citizen, the glory of the enlightened statesman, and the eventual perfection of man and country; but such a sentimental paper is as hollow as a house without furniture if it is not substantiated with written law and sustained by a virtuous people! I first realized this after reading a science fiction classic by Ben Bova entitled Saturn.
In the book Saturn, a colony ship is en rout to the ringed planet with the objective to establish a scientific base dedicated to research and discovery. As an essential step to this process, the citizens of the colony ship are told that they have the opportunity to forge their own form of government as will
seem to be able to secure their safety and happiness. with this in mind, an opportunistic politician saw that he could win dominance over the citizenry, so he took upon himself the duty of drafting a constitution. He intended to follow the same formula invented in the USSR wherein the constitution is stuffed with the most sincere flattery, but somewhere in the document, a simple clause negates the whole thing, which in the case of Saturn was a clause that allowed the "President" to seize control of the entire ship of state in case of an emergency. If someone wanted supreme power over the lives of men, they'ed need simply keep the state in permanent emergency.
This special clause is not needed in the colony ship's constitution however, because the constitution did not set up any form of government. There was not a word written about legislative bodies, not a mention of judicial courts, no regions or states or counties were ever manifested. In fact, there were no bounds or restrictions placed upon the executive power except that the people had to elect their president. With such a structure of government, there would be absolutely no need to ever declare emergency powers because the president already has unlimited power at his disposal. Perhaps the lack of governmental structure was an omission on Bova's part, but nonetheless such an ill-weighted constitution can, and always will be catastrophic.
Such ugly results beg the question: How does one help to create and sustain a just and well-balanced constitution? It would take you and I putting in many long hours at the grindstone with little to show at
the end except a small moral victory, and indeed, It would take a titanic portion of public virtue to accomplish. In Bova's book however, ninety-seven percent of the populace doesn't render even the slightest twitch of public virtue, preferring to attend to their own business at the expense of the public in their working hours, and to neglect their pubic duties entirely during their extensive leisure periods. These people weren't evil for elevating their own business over state affairs, in fact, one's private affairs should come foremost. But one should not wholly abandon the administration of his government to be overrun with rats!
It is therefore indispensable that a constitution be more than just a mere forest of honeyed words and lofty philosophies, it must have a strong legal backbone. It must have equal, but distinctive organs. It must stand firmly sustained by a virtuous people! We can't allow our government to write it's own rules, or else we'd get spammed out with demagogic nonsense instead of hard-fast and equitable law! We can't just plough our own fields and ignore the bandits that rob from our neighbors! A constitution, perfectly formed and maintained would be a solid as bedrock, if, we could only maintain it.
In the book Saturn, a colony ship is en rout to the ringed planet with the objective to establish a scientific base dedicated to research and discovery. As an essential step to this process, the citizens of the colony ship are told that they have the opportunity to forge their own form of government as will
seem to be able to secure their safety and happiness. with this in mind, an opportunistic politician saw that he could win dominance over the citizenry, so he took upon himself the duty of drafting a constitution. He intended to follow the same formula invented in the USSR wherein the constitution is stuffed with the most sincere flattery, but somewhere in the document, a simple clause negates the whole thing, which in the case of Saturn was a clause that allowed the "President" to seize control of the entire ship of state in case of an emergency. If someone wanted supreme power over the lives of men, they'ed need simply keep the state in permanent emergency.
This special clause is not needed in the colony ship's constitution however, because the constitution did not set up any form of government. There was not a word written about legislative bodies, not a mention of judicial courts, no regions or states or counties were ever manifested. In fact, there were no bounds or restrictions placed upon the executive power except that the people had to elect their president. With such a structure of government, there would be absolutely no need to ever declare emergency powers because the president already has unlimited power at his disposal. Perhaps the lack of governmental structure was an omission on Bova's part, but nonetheless such an ill-weighted constitution can, and always will be catastrophic.
Such ugly results beg the question: How does one help to create and sustain a just and well-balanced constitution? It would take you and I putting in many long hours at the grindstone with little to show at
the end except a small moral victory, and indeed, It would take a titanic portion of public virtue to accomplish. In Bova's book however, ninety-seven percent of the populace doesn't render even the slightest twitch of public virtue, preferring to attend to their own business at the expense of the public in their working hours, and to neglect their pubic duties entirely during their extensive leisure periods. These people weren't evil for elevating their own business over state affairs, in fact, one's private affairs should come foremost. But one should not wholly abandon the administration of his government to be overrun with rats!
It is therefore indispensable that a constitution be more than just a mere forest of honeyed words and lofty philosophies, it must have a strong legal backbone. It must have equal, but distinctive organs. It must stand firmly sustained by a virtuous people! We can't allow our government to write it's own rules, or else we'd get spammed out with demagogic nonsense instead of hard-fast and equitable law! We can't just plough our own fields and ignore the bandits that rob from our neighbors! A constitution, perfectly formed and maintained would be a solid as bedrock, if, we could only maintain it.
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