Dear Fellow Americans,

i, together with my beloved wife, want to help make our world a better place.

we believe that we here in our beloved country, the United States of America,
would be significantly better off if we revise our Constitution to decentralize the
political power now wielded by the Federal Government.

Our country, the United States of America, has had four defining documents.
    The first three stressed the freedom and independence of the states,
       thereby ensuring decentralized political power in our nation.
          The fourth defining document (our current Constitution) did not,
             and indeed political power has become increasingly centralized in our country.

Benjamin Franklin, at the close of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, predicted that
    the Constitution would be "well administered for a course of years and can only end in despotism".
       We believe that the trend in our country is clear, and that it is indeed towards despotism, towards tyranny.

So, with that in mind, we have composed the following hopeful history of our nation:

If we decentralize, what would happen to the pre-existing Federal Government?
To me, it would make sense to decentralize the assets and liabilities of the Federal Government to the states.

How *can* we revise the Constitution?

Article V of the Constitution does specify a procedure for revising the Constitution.
Unfortunately, Congress itself has control over that procedure, which is an obvious
conflict of interest.

Or We the People could follow the example set by the Constitution itself.
In 1787-1788, when the Constitution was being ratified, the United States of America
were governed under the Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union.
Article XIII of these Articles specified a procedure for changing the Articles.
Notably, any changes required approval by the legislatures of *all* of the thirteen States.

The Constitution ignored the procedure in Article XIII of the Articles, and
specified its own procedure, which required the approval of conventions in only nine of the thirteen States.

So here's a proposal:

On July 2nd of each year, at noon local time (wherever we are),
    as many of us as possible stand outside in public and proclaim:

We the People of the United States,
in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense
promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution
of the United States of America:

1. No Weapons.
2. No Ganging Up.
3. Stay in the Park.

 

if enough of us say or sing this statement, then the reform will occur.

In the interest of promoting this hopeful reform, we are creating:

... each with the fancy Constitution-Revising statement:

We warmly invite you to join us in revising the Constitution at noon local time on July 2nd!

Thank you for your love & support.

love to all,
charles & Karen

imagine 50 states independent and free.

imagine world peace.

p.s. here are some relevant quotations:

"Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, ..."
    Resolution of Independence,
    Introduced by Richard Henry Lee on 7 June 1776
    Passed by the Continental Congress on 2 July 1776


"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, ..."
    Declaration of Independence
    Passed by the Continental Congress on 4 July 1776


"Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, ...
    Articles of Confederation; Article II
    Ratified by the 13 States: 1 March 1781


"I smell a rat."
    -- Patrick Henry, 1787, declining to participate in the Constitutional Convention


"If we admit this consolidated government, it will be because we like a great splendid one. Some way or other we must be a great and mighty empire; we must have an army, a navy, and a number of things: When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, Sir, was then the primary object... But now, Sir, the American spirit, assisted by the ropes and chains of consolidation, is about to convert this country to a powerful and mighty empire."
    -- Patrick Henry, June 1788,
        speaking against the proposed Constitution at the Virginia Ratifying Convention


"Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled."
  -- Article II of the Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union.


"And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State."
  -- from Article XIII of the Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union.


Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
    "The New Colossus", a poem by Emma Lazarus (1883),
    inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty


"If we cannot by reason, by influence, by example, by strenuous effort, and by personal sacrifice, mend the bad places of civilization, we certainly cannot do it by force. "
    -- Auberon Herbert


"Every time that we try to lift a problem from our own shoulders, and shift that problem to the hands of the government, to the same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of our people."
    -- John F. Kennedy


"The Ring of Power Must Be Destroyed."
    ~ Gandalf

Thanks for visiting!
       Archived CSMNL.com Hopepage (13February2004)
       Archived CSMNL.com Homepage (27October2003)
       www.madeiraSociety.com
       www.charlesOlson.com

Email us at: charles @ CSMNL.com, karen @ CSMNL.com