The original Constitution of 1789, as amended by the Bill of Rights, created limited government, individual freedom, and individual rights. The Constitution created these benefits by prescribing Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, specific rights in the Bill of Rights, and the limitation of Federal powers to those enumerated. The Constitution originally brought great freedom to a large class of Americans and later brought the same freedom to all Americans.
But the world has changed a lot since the ratification of the original Constitution and Bill of Rights. The people lost their freedom in spite of the great Constitution. Let us look at some of the changes that lead to less freedom.
The Rise of Big Government
In several ways, technological and industrial development led to big government. New technologies such as the internet, computer databases, facial recognition, and remote cameras enabled intrusive government surveillance. Technology also led to more powerful weapons and resources, which enabled police forces to become more aggressive, as well as to enforce victimless crimes and excessive regulations. Technological and industrial development also generated huge wealth in the private sector, which led to huge revenue for government. Massive taxes enable government to support a huge regulatory bureaucracy, a large prison system to punish violators of nonsensical laws, plus the above-mentioned government surveillance and weapons.
The Modern Media Spin Machine
Technological development led to mass media operated by large media organizations. In modern news media, many news stories are presented with spin and exaggeration in order to maximize the interest and attention. This spin and exaggeration results from the organization’s financial incentives and may also result from the nature of media professionals who entered a profession whose primary aim is gaining attention.
The subject of a news story is often presented as a problem to be solved by some type of government regulation. Thus, the problem and need for regulation are often exaggerated. Each regulation makes our world a little less free, but the stories seldom discuss that. Little by little, we moved from freedom to a super regulated system.
The Rise of National Factionalism
James Madison has sometimes been called “the father of the Constitution”. In the Federalist Papers, Madison argued in favor of ratification of the original constitution. In one of Madison’s most important arguments, he pointed to political factions as a threat to liberty. Often one faction becomes dominant and infringes the liberty of other people. When Madison wrote this way back in the late 1780s, factions were local to a state or small region, rather than spread throughout the nation. Madison argued that the Constitution’s new Federal government would not infringe liberty, because each local faction would be countered by all the other factions throughout the nation. Thus, no single faction could become dominant enough to infringe the liberty of all the people.
But today we live in an age of mass media. Today, the major political factions are nationwide and they constantly threaten the liberties of everyone.
Conclusion
In the original Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Founders created a perfect system for freedom. We do not need to repeal or modify any of the fundamentals. But the world has changed dramatically in ways that could not be foreseen. We lost our freedom. The Founders would be appalled if they saw America today.
But there is still hope for freedom in the twenty-first century. The spirit of freedom is ingrained permanently in the human mind. We need to awaken that Spirit and call for ten constitutional amendments to comprise a Bill of Freedom. The Bill of Rights is no longer enough by itself. Now we need a Bill of Freedom to stand alongside the Bill of Rights to restore our liberty.