“The Constitution, then illustrates the complexity...

Thursday, June 7, 2012

“The Constitution, then illustrates the complexity of the American system: that it serves the interests of a wealthy elite; but also does enough for small property owners, for middle-income mechanics and farmers, to build a broad base of support. The slightly prosperous people who make up this base of support are buffers against the blacks, the Indians, the very poor whites. They enable the elite to keep control with a minimum of coercion, a maximum of law - all made palatable by the fanfare of patriotism and unity.”

Howard Zinn, “A People’s History Of The United States”

Zinn takes an interesting perspective on the drafting of the constitution and deconstructs the myth that the founding fathers had the intentions of writing a constitution aimed to promote completely the social equality and freedom of its citizens. And while interpreted theoretically, the constitution includes rhetoric which grants equality and civil liberties for it’s citizens, Zinn goes further by providing examples from a historical viewpoint which the wealthy elite and those in power acted in ways which undermined the revolutionary language or the constitution. One great example he provides of this is the sedation act which congress passed seven years after the creation of the first amendment. The law which was enforced, made it a crime to “write or say anything false, scandalous and malicious, against the government”.

(via anarchisticthoughtexperiment)