Current Events moved to Tuesday

A refreshing weekend with my good friend TW from http://offthebone.net . TW has just returned to the states from 2 years working in the Singaporan military, where he also grew up. Singapore, I think it is safe to say, is the most authoritarian developed state out there. TW once did me a great compliment by saying that if via the military he took over Singapore he would put me in charge. *Blush* I’m sure he says that to all his political geek friends. But he’s learning light design for Broadway shows right now, so suffice it to say that’s somewhat unlikely.

As you would imagine, my anti-constitutional polemics are often looked upon by my liberal American friends as exceedingly eccentric. It’s always nice whenever I talk to my foreign born friends, liberal or conservative or anything, and they evince the opinion “Dude, of course your constitution is f***ed up.” Even among American intellectuals, our respect for the Constitution of our birth and our elementary schools is so ingrained we often can’t realize there are other options besides it.

Moving to looking at this from a libertarian vs authoritarian spectrum, instead of right v left.

I also realize the desire for Constitution change (and not just change but abolition) will always face a systemic problem (outside the obvious “the current various branches of power have no desire for said change”). Libertarians feel that it does not make sense consequentially, and that even if government is acting inefficiently because of Constitutional limitations, it is certainly acting less and that’s important for them. While populists may be deontologically opposed to it, and not appreciate it intellectually. Namely, a populist or authoritarian tends to believe a good rule is a good rule, and “it will all work out as long as you let people choose what’s best” isn’t the sort of mental exercise they enjoy as much as our limited government friends. So even if they could be convinced to overturn our current set of super-laws, they’d want to replace them with another set.