Well it’s 5am* and I’m sitting at a Starbucks in Times Sq. working on term papers—what better time to blog? Come to think of this, this is my last post for POL 213. Hmmm. I better get to my point before I get too nostalgic.
Somehow, I got to thinking about mission statements. Every organizational body has a mission statement. Even those without a stated mission have one, and its often one they would not themselves quickly assign.
Companies have performance expectations. Schools have educational goals. Gangs have a territory to protect.
That led me to question, what, is the mission statement of the United States, and, consequently, what is the job of American statesmen?
The Declaration clearly lays out what the Framers wanted America to become—a place where man’s inalienable rights are protected and nourished. Fully achieving such a goal, however, is a pipe dream to say the least. Perhaps in a utopia, yes, rights would be protected supremely, but the Constitution certainly does not accommodate this.
In the Federalist Papers, the writers make it clear that they are not looking to construct a perfect society, a desire reflected in the idea of a “more perfect union.” The argument is made that, not only is the Constitution a flawed document—flaws rooted in man’s fallen reason—but that it is only the roadmap towards such a union. Man’s inability to reach a utopia is, in fact, the reason a Constitution is needed, for “if men were angels no government would be necessary.”
The American way of life is one where citizens—sometimes chaotically, sometimes decidedly—define and redefine what it means to be an American. Each morning, the sun rises on a new America. With each new law, the former America passes away. America is not a static term, but is rather a work in progress, a work that will continue as long as America is America.
The beliefs of the American people shape the nation’s character, and their hopes shape its future.
America is moving. Many conservatives decry such movement. They shouldn’t. America was created to be a nation in flux. There is no common law or inordinate reverence of precedent. Originalism is important, yes, but even originalists must remember that the make-or-break reason to look to the Constitution is because the Framers were largely right—the Framers weren’t right merely because they wrote the Constitution.
The measure of America’s greatness should be in relation to this perfect union—is America becoming a more or less perfect union? Progress can be measured binarily—has America become more or less perfect—periodically—has America become more or less perfect in the past 100 hundred years—tenurely—has America become more or less perfect under the current Congress—and daily—is America more or less perfect today than it was yesterday.
It is hard to say what progress (or lack thereof) the United States has made over the past 220 years, as such a measure would require a lengthy discussion of standards. Thinking about the Federalists, though, makes me a bit pessimistic.
Whereas statesmen such as Madison and Hamilton once held court in the realm of popular ideas, partisan-pimps and panic-profiteers now filibuster the congress of public opinion. Do Americans care about ideas, or do they just enjoy being convinced? Why are the populists drowning out the intuitive statesmen in the current election? How in the world are Sean Hannity and Bill O’Rielly household names, while most people still ask, “Peggy who?”
I am still an undying American optimist. I still believe in our “rendezvous with destiny.”
If we have become a less perfect union, though, what will it take to correct the tide—a changing of the guard? A civil revival? If we have become a more perfect union, how can we become an even more more perfect union?
These are the questions with which American statesmen must wrestle, and only time and the American genius can answer.
*-Posted after the fact; I was too cheap to pay for WiFi at Starbucks.
