What Kind of Constitution Do We Need?
Lee Stanfield combines the call for a general strike with a new constitutional vision
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It’s no secret that we need to fundamentally change our political system. This means changing the Constitution. But individual amendments won’t be enough. Only a major overhaul can successfully establish and maintain the representative democracy that we need.
The current Constitution has been interpreted and reinterpreted many times since its ratification on June 21, 1788. These interpretations have been based on the false premise that capitalism is compatible with democracy. In fact, the two forces are antithetical. Massive wealth inequality, competition, and conflict are inherent to capitalism, and inevitably lead to plutocracy (a government run by the wealthy). Any time an individual or small group is allowed to accumulate enough wealth to purchase the government, they do precisely that. This is what we have today in the United States.
Establishing and sustaining democracy in the US will require two things: a consensus-based representative form of democratic government and an economic system that works with the government to prioritize the wellbeing of the entire commonwealth above the preservation of individual wealth. The interdependence of government and economy is crucial to preserving the wealth equity required to sustain peaceful “liberty and justice for all.”
Before we can achieve the Constitutional changes needed, I believe that working people must demand it. This should be done by exerting the ultimate power that only workers have: a nationwide general strike that shuts down the mega-corporations and brings society to a halt (save for emergency response systems, hospitals, and utilities). This is how working people can successfully demand the drafting of a new constitution through a nationwide citizens’ assembly or a series of citizens’ assemblies. Whatever is drafted must be ratified by the entire country on a one-person, one-vote basis.
My draft plan for this new constitution can be found below. It is a work in progress that lays out the parameters for a democratic republic with an executive and judiciary accountable to a unicameral legislature. It addresses some of the pros and cons of the two possible methods for selecting congressional representatives, judges, board members, etc. The two methods are sortition and election. If elections are used, they should be ranked choice, exclusively publicly funded, and based on universal, equal, and direct suffrage. Some sections are more developed than others. The less developed sections await feedback from you all.
I offer this document as a growing, evolving, and challenging compilation of my own and others’ ideas. The final result will be decided by all of us. Please feel free to comment on these documents and spread these ideas. Any feedback can be sent to onesimplee@gmail.com. We need to begin imagining the foundation of a truly democratic nation.
Legislative and Executive Powers (link)
Judicial Powers (link)
The Selection of Representatives and Leaders (link)
Education and Separation of Church and State (link)
Code of Ethics and Whistleblower Protections (link)
Business and Economy (link)
Human Rights v. Privileges, Healthcare, and Personhood (link)
Immigration, Borders, and Illicit Drugs (link)
The Military (link)
Taxation (link)
Hello Lee.
https://daveweberva11.substack.com/p/redcoats-with-guns-rational-1776?r=59cvkw
I’m asking you to consider “rational 1776 revival” as an organizing system which is using the boundaries of every Congressional District to pull the full range of blue leaning voters to lock arms by personal gatherings focused on “pre-election elections”:
See the link
“Rational 1776 revival” does not need money to function and that is why if pledged voters are the controlling source of political power by July 4 2028 at 100 million strong. That means the heavy lifting has been done by myself and the 75 million other Harris voters from 2024 in the fight against Republican Party fascism;
This means if your idea for the progressive direction of the nation prevails the next step will be to go where you want to go; my vision is that the way the decent people throw indecent ones out of the system, lock stock and barrel, which kills the Republican Party because Trump has exposed the week defenseless underbelly of the toxic racist masculinity that he used to sieze power: we have never seen before window of opportunity to make the American spirit and dream come true more than ever before for the next three years.
If you’re ever interested in having a conversation about something, you will find nowhere else, give rational 1776 revival a shout. I am simply a high school vocational educated working class American, retired dad and grandfather, proud to say that I voted for Democrats my entire life and never once ever thought about voting for a Republican for anything.
Havent read it yet, but we need an egalitarian socialist constitution. I’m not sure why you guys think a liberal constitution with more democracy would make anything better. Please explain.