Summary of this July 4th classic from the FM archives: The the post-WWII global order collapses around us, but America seems unable to see this – let alone adapt to it. This essay discusses one of the most important consequences. It has been revised several times since its original publication on 4 July 2006.
The first question that offers itself is, whether the general form and aspect of the government be strictly republican. It is evident that no other form would be reconcilable with the genius of the people of America; with the fundamental principles of the Revolution; or with that honorable determination which animates every votary of freedom, to rest all our political experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government.
— Federalist Paper #39, James Madison (writing as Publius), 18 January 1788
Contents
- Death of the post-WWII era
- A brief self-check on the health of the American regime
- Who killed the Constitution?
- Consequences of the Constitution’s death – on the government
- Consequences of the Constitution’s death – on the people
- The cutting edge of Death’s scythe
- The future of America
(1) Introduction — death of the post-WWII era
The post-WWII era was defined by:
- America as the model state: a capitalistic democratic republic which values its citizens’ liberty.
- American as a superpower, or even the sole superpower.
- The American dollar as reserve currency; “good as gold” for holding the world’s savings
- 3rd generation warfare as the dominant mode of military force.
- Growing American wealth through the “debt supercycle”, continuously expanding debt of both Government and households.
- Cheap energy, largely from coal, oil, and natural gas.
With each passing day these things slowly fade away. The daily newspapers record their passing, although most journalists are unaware of the larger significance of what they report. We do not see this since we have change blindness, a flaw in our mental processing in which we fail to recognize large changes which should be clearly visible.
Change blindness must be experienced to believe it. Take the test at this website. Read the instructions! Right click on the picture to move to the next one. If you cannot see the change and give up, reduce the “gap” to zero.
This essay discusses #1, the passing away of the political regime called the United States. Since that is a large, complex phenomenon, here we look at the dying of the regime’s heart: the Consitution.
(2) A brief self-check on the health of the American regime
“Do not scatter diamonds before ducks. They prefer grain.”
— Chiun, the current Master of Sinanju (from The Destroyer series of books by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy)
Aristotle said that the political regime of a state dominated other aspects of its society. So it has proved for us. Standing firmly on the foundation provided by our Constitution, we obtained wealth and freedom unknown in human history. But a constitution – written or unwritten – lives only to the degree it is inscribed on the hearts of its citizens. That was true throughout most of our history. That is no longer true today.
History shows that people’s recognition of a regime’s passing usually lags behind the facts. Generations passed before the Roman people recognized that the Republic was truly dead. So it is today. This is easy to prove. Let’s do a quick test about the health of the American Nation-State. Following Aristotle’s view, it looks at the foundations of our polity. The correct answers are given directly after the list of questions.
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