You're right on the first point, politicians are more inclined to disregard the constitution because doing so is a consequence free decision.
But that's because people don't understand civics. They don't understand what the role of federal government is.
No, it's not. It's because there ARE NO CONSEQUENCES. When you refer to 'people', I assume you mean the voters. There is, right now, a crystal clear disconnect between the voters and the rulers. The problem now is that even a renewed emphasis on civics won't remove the rulers from power.
I guess you really don't understand my point after all.
The horse has already escaped the barn. The people of this country are heavily opposed to Obamacare, so they're not totally ignorant. But Washington doesn't care. We're already living in tyranny. Voting and educating the people won't change this. To emphasize - Congress DOES NOT FEAR THE VOTERS.
Do you think that educating the North Korean citizens would help change their government?
People vote for their best interest, but how do you define that.
Personal, I don't think that it's in my best interest to support policies the erode my personal liberty in exchange for voting myself a salary. But I have a value system and a philosophical foundation that reinforces that.
You are the exception. Most people vote their jobs or what they hear on TV. Republicans bad, Democrats care. Blah blah blah.
But I'm not talking about voting. I'm talking about the
people in power.
THEY will do what's in their best interest. If it doesn't scare them to disobey the Constitution, they will. You're really not paying attention to what I'm saying.
No. The people need to understand it.
The people, the voters, are the consequence.
Re-asserting without actually constructing an argument isn't effective. At this point it doesn't matter how much the people understand. We're very close to the tipping point of 50.1% of the people being on the government dole. When that happens, it's over. Period.
That's what happens after a century of effort to accomplish a national system with centralized power.
Which takes me back to my original point - you have to de-incentivize government from doing this. There is nothing, repeat NOTHING in place to do this. They don't care about our votes. They know that once Obamacare is entrenched, a couple of election cycles won't matter. It will be impossible to repeal. Then you can count on tens of millions of people easily frightened by the eeeevil Rethuglikkkans who want to take away their healthcare.
Not to mention those who are behind the 'century of effort' won't go quietly and say, 'Well we gave it a good shot and it was nice for a few months, but I guess the people are awake now, so let's just pack up and go home.'
It's still a representative form of government... but the public has generally become apathetic and oblivious to issues regarding Americanism and civics.
And as long as you have a media that is intent on keeping them uninformed, the public will remain this way. But again, the Tea Parties are an example that defies your statement. Nevertheless, Congress and the WH do not care. They have what they came for. It's too late.
And that can be address, or amended.
First, increase the number of House members. 1 member per 700,000+/- citizens is insufficient. And in doing so, radically cut their budgets and eliminate their D.C. offices forcing them to spend time in their districts. They can vote by computer on 95% of issues.
Who's going to do that? The Democrats? No. The Republicans? Not likely, they're squishy when in power and p*ssies when not in power. Besides, the President will simply veto anything passed that tries to do this. In 1994 Newt tried to cut budgets and they ran him out of town on a rail. Unless you remove the tentacles behind the throne, such as Soros and his puppetmasters, there is too much power to deal with.
Second, repeal the 17th amendment.
States have no representation in government right now.
Uh...yeah right. Repealing an amendment. Why is that so feasible to you but amending the Constitution is not? I won't even bother to construct an argument about how impossible that would be. Washington deliberately giving up power? Hell, let's go for the FairTax while we're at it.
Third, pass the Enumerate Powers Act. That would would require each Act of Congress contains an explanation of the specific constitutional authority necessary for Congress to enact it.
Oh great, so let's just walk up to the Democrats and Obama and ask nicely. Maybe that will work.
There has been a concerted effort to marginalize and redefine the constitution and the founding principles.
It's not because the constitution is flawed, but people have corrupted it.
I won't address your 'flawed' argument -
Ben Franklin in your quote below admits it's flawed.
I'd argue that people have flatly disregarded it, which brings me back to my original point...NO CONSEQUENCES.
To quote Benjamin Franklin... and this is a critically important quote:
In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, — if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe, farther, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.
Speech to the Constitutional Convention (1787-06-28)
The system wasn't the problem, the people became corrupt.
I've got news for you - you're not going to de-corrupt the people by teaching them about liberty and the Constitution. People react to crises. It will take a huge calamity to wake people up, and even that might not work. You might want to review Asimov's Foundation and consider psychohistory. Despite being fiction, there is something to take from it.
No, we need to restore the system we were given.
You can't recreate the founding again.
And when things go bad, it's critical that collectively we have a system to embrace and apply. Divided, there's no chance for this country.
First you say the problem is that
the people became corrupt, and the system wasn't the problem. Then you say
we need to restore the system. Make up your mind. You're contradicting yourself.
The fact is that the laziness and interdependence of our society combined with opulence and leisure contributed to a nation that is more interested in comfort than in liberty. Enter a few commies and a media devoted to communism, and you get what we've gotten in just a few short decades. You're not going to simply cut that part out of people like you'd remove a cancerous tumor. You've got a better chance going back to the gold standard.
