Constitutional Curbs

The US Constitution is a momentous document that is recognized around the world as establishing one of the world's earliest forms of democratic governance. It was written and ratified two and a quarter centuries ago, and continues to provide the fundamental principles of our country's legal procedures. Many more recently-written constitutions of other countries have modeled themselves on the US Constitution, but have often included changes that reflect the progression of democracy in the last two centuries; while ours often appears mired in an outmoded era.

The US Constitution is a peculiar document, that was created in a particular situation, which possessed two foundational perspectives: (1) having just acquired independence from Britain, the constitution's framers were extremely wary of setting up a government that might allow a despot (a monarch) to possess inordinate power to quash individual rights, and (2) the struggle of balancing the concepts of freedom and citizen rights with a Southern economy that depended on slavery (which denied rights and freedom to millions of Africans).

Thus, the constitution became a charter that mostly describes what the federal government cannot do—rather than define what it should do. In essence, it is about negative law. It's mostly not about positive law, because it focuses on various checks on government... it literally curbs the authority of government. It's more about protecting the rights of citizens and the states. The US has always been a country that values rights and freedoms of its citizens. Americans hate to have their autonomy restricted in any way. After all, many of our first immigrants were fleeing constraints on their lives and viewed the New World as a chance to conduct themselves as they pleased. These same ideals helped spawn the French Revolution, just a few years after our revolution.

With the emphasis on freedom from government interference and one's rights, particularly in the context of the constitution's negative laws, the US Constitution is largely unconcerned with citizen welfare—such as the right to education, health care access, or even food. These welfare rights are often suspiciously regarded in the US as possessing socialistic values. Thus they are seen as privileges, which are outside the purview of government, or that even can be denied or taken away by the government. Even the Bill of Rights—which prescribes rights that the government must not abrogate—says nothing about welfare.

Only in the 1970s did the US Supreme Court come to regard welfare as a citizen right—rather than a privilege. Why did it take so long? It was largely because by then a significant portion of citizens lived in urban environments, rather on the farm—where they had once owned land... that was their property. While property has always been considered a basic right in the US (a fundamental tenet of capitalism), 20^th century landless Americans needed welfare to survive (having no longer held property), so welfare became their new right. Yet socialism remains a disfavored form of government.

Next time: a more troublesome feature of the US Constitution…

Cicada Emergence

We  are having an amazing emergence of what is called Brood X cicadas, in the eastern US. Billions of these critters have been living in their larva stage for 17 years, and then emerged here, a few weeks ago. What emerges is hard exoskeleton shell that contains the adult cicada. The first photo shows the cicada emerging from its shell. The second photo shows its tiny wings just beginning to unfold. The next two photos show the wings gradually flattening out. The process takes about half an hour. The last photo shows the fully dried and darkened cicada, about half an hour later. Notice the red eyes. (Click to enlarge)

These critters climb up trees or other vertical surfaces and then begin their mating game. The males call out, trying to entice females for sex. Over a few weeks the din of millions of them is extremely loud. They do not eat, and after copulation the males die, the females last until they lay eggs, deposit them on tree branches and then they die. In a week or so the eggs hatch, the larva drop to the ground, they drill down a foot or so (30 cm) into the ground and begin to suck on tree roots for 17 years, when they'll emerge and start the process again. 

Amazing! I am very happy that this happens only once every 17 years.

 

 

Life's Labors.

Leading a successful life is not a given for any one of us. We may all begin with the greatest of expectations—we toast every baby's potential to reach the ultimate of possibilities—but reality soon sets in. We are all beset with numerous threats and menaces that challenge our ability to achieve that potential. Life seems to toss out many roadblocks to our fulfillment...  even our survival. If we are to succeed in life, we must toil for it.

The miraculous birth of a baby bird witnesses it pecking its way out of its egg and entering into an incredibly short period of a few weeks of growth, during which it transforms into a creature fully capable of flying and taking charge of its own life. But numerous dangers lurk, that threaten to terminate that young bird's life. There is no time for being lazy. Some 50% of birds in the wild do not survive their first year.

Modern human beings enjoy a survivability well in excess of a birds's 50%, yet life for us is not without its dangers and labors. Compared to wild animals, humans have become stratified on many levels. The inequities of these hierarchical levels have divided humans into different classes. Those who fall on the lower levels can find life most precarious. They face threats that are truly existential—any menacing challenge can push them over the edge, into oblivion. Life is very hard for for them

Yet even the advantaged and prosperous among us can struggle. The First Noble Truth of Buddhism declares that life is dukkha—the struggle of dealing with the various kinds of unsatisfactoriness of life. There may no longer be an existential threat—lingering just offstage to terminate the existence of the rich and powerful—but those who have plenty can still struggle with a deep sense of unease and despair. The more you have, the greater the threat of loss. Even they cannot escape the need to work.

So life is at the very least laborious and sometimes even hazardous. There is no assurance that life will become glorious by either a favorable birth or by diligent and virtuous work. Yet we also know that life is precious and fully worth the effort to persevere and do our best. Evolutionary science tells us that procreation is our greatest drive... the urge to send our genes into the future. That drive is a subconscious one and directs much of our behavior—such as to eat, in order to continue living, and engage in sex, in order to propagate those genes. Yet we also know that it is crucial to flourish—to make the most of this life today. And our ability to thrive involves more than our accident of birth... it is also greatly dependent on our willingness to work for it.