Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Un...or maybe Non

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk lately, hmmm, actually it’s been a lot of very loud talk, about the Constitution. Actually, to be more specific, it’s been about what’s Un-Constitutional. Social Security… Un-Constitutional… MediCare….Un-Constitutional…Department of Education…Un-Constitutional and so on and so on. These things are not in the original Constitution. Now that’s a fact, but doesn’t Un-Constitutional, the way it’s being used, mean against the Constitution…Anti-Constitution…evil, bad and nasty? Let me suggest something else that might help tone things down a bit. Maybe some are not so Un-Constitutional as they are Non-Constitutional. Things that are not in the original Constitution…true, but are actually conceived in the same spirit as the Constitution for the good of the people of this nation. Things our founding fathers could never have imagined there would be a need for…or laws for…or regulations for…or budgets for. Which maybe, is why in their incredible wisdom, they included such thoughtful flexibility in the way Congress can conduct the business of the nation and Article 5 that allows the Constitution to be amended to grow and change as the nation grows and changes. Changes from 13 states to 50. Changes from a little under 3 million people in 1780 to over 300 million people today. Changes from a farming society, when it was a lot easier to take care of Grandma and Grandpa when you were all still together on the farm and grew your own food, to an Urban Society with family scattered all over the country. Our founding fathers could never have imagined federal highway, train and communication systems that would need to be built, maintained and regulated for the good of interstate business. They never did get their arms around the possibility that someday there might be computers, television, the internet, global corporations, the importation of food and drugs…all needing new sets of laws and regulations. They were, however, wise enough to create a guiding document that includes incredibly wise ways for us to make it all work over 250 years after the original document was drawn up. Now, are there things that are Un-Constitutional? Absolutely! Maybe however, many things that are being called Un-Constitutional are actually just Non-Constitutional… for now.