[Peace-discuss] David Green's DI letter

[David Green]

For those who care, here is the letter that was in today's DI. A similar letter will be in the N-G in a day or two. In any event, this is a rather esoteric concern in relation to what's going on in Gaza and elsewhere.
   
  DG
   
  I agree with John Bambenek’s (1/23) proposal for a constitutional convention in Illinois. But I do not agree with his advocacy of term limits, which perpetuates the problematic nature of the current constitution in a different form.
  One general question emerges from the nature of the current constitution: Should democracy be employed to limit democracy? Should the majority, or representatives of the majority, be able to dictate that future majorities be powerless to act deliberately and democratically in response to their present notion of the general welfare and common good—at least in a manner that does not violate individual rights?
   Thomas Paine wrote: “I am contending for the rights of the living, and against their being willed away and controlled and contracted for by the manuscript assumed authority of the dead.”
  The current constitution allows a past majority to dictate to the present a flat income tax and a limit on corporate taxes. It can be argued that these laws presently harm the general welfare, including the funding of education and health care. The present majority should be able to tax itself in whatever manner it sees fit.
  Term limits are a superficial solution to the underlying problem of democratic responsibility. They perpetuate the tyranny of the past over the present, the dead over the living. They dictate that a majority in the future will be restricted in its choice of representatives. We need a new constitution to promote democracy and the general welfare, not to weaken them.
  

John Bambenek <jcb.blog at gmail.com> wrote:
  To be fair, any con-con reform isn't permanent. Want to get rid of
term limits, both citizen and legislature initiated amendment can get
rid of them. 20 years from now, another majority can rewrite. The
point isn't to dictate to majorities in perpetuity, it is for us now
and for the near future until majorities decide otherwise later

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j
Part-Time Pundit - http://www.parttimepundit.com
Assistant Editor for Politics for BC Magazine- http://www.blogcritics.com
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