Four Reasons Why We Need a Constitutional Convention

As I process the gravity of the Supreme Court’s Decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the intentions laid bare by a majority of the Justices, I am beginning to realize that the American experiment - to fulfill our purpose of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, "e pluribus unum", and “all… create equal” - cannot succeed in its current form. I do not see a way for politics as usual to transcend our partisan and racial divides and deliver the policies that the majority of people want, e.g., safe and effective schools, free and fair elections, clean energy, universal healthcare, and living wages.

In the 2000’s, I thought climate change would be a galvanizing force, as we all require clean air and water, safety, and healthy food to live and participate in the economy and society. I was very wrong. Our leaders continue to squander this existential crisis, and every new one that emerges, from the pandemic, to the January 6th Insurrection, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As our crises worsen and multiply, our prospects of uniting around one of them diminish faster by the hour. Our government cannot reach the consensus required to address any of our emergencies (climate, racial justice, hunger, voting restrictions, white supremacy, malnutrition, poverty, pollution, fake news, mass shootings, mental health, etc.). Bills with popular bi-partisan support are rarely voted on, and then when they are, they either don’t pass, are vetoed, or have been so watered down, they don’t change anything.

This happens because of numerous economic, cultural, structural and constitutional issues, e.g., our electoral system is funded by wealthy and corporate interests to keep taxes low and corporate handouts high, we have failed to regulate news and media such that an informed citizenry is no longer possible, SCOTUS have lifetime appointments, the Senate is designed such that the will of the people never reaches the required ? supermajority, the House has to spend ? of their time fundraising and campaigning, many states are so gerrymandered that there is no reason to compromise or pass legislation. The result is that we elect hyperbolic populists… with no experience legislating… who fail to get anything done… and stay elected only through a media circus of outrage.

It is perhaps no surprise that 70% of us believe that the government only serves the interests of the wealthy (Pew, 2020), and trust in government is down to 25% from 77% in 1964 (Edelman, 2021).

As the Supreme Court runs wild, as corporations continue to sit idly by as the Republic falls, as the midterm elections are sure to further divide us, split the government, and ensure we remain unable to pass any meaningful legislation, as we head into a recession, and continue to ignore food and water shortages, our accelerating climate, fake news, and mass shooting emergencies, we have to think beyond our current system. We'll need a hell of a lot more than GOTV.

We’ve all seen a blowout in a football game and watched a pointless clock run down. Before our Republic’s clock runs down, we should just call it. Our offense doesn’t have the arm, receivers, stamina or time for the 15 successive “Hail Mary” passes required. Let’s just call it. The first American experiment has failed. Countless experts have already completed their post-game analysis. A new experiment is needed.

Thus, the first reason that we need a Constitutional Convention is that we are a democracy in name only. Our government as currently structured does not serve the will of the people. And that is far from the only reason.

But first some personal history with this subject. In 2007, I felt disgusted and ashamed by our nation, what I then judged to be an oligarchy (in 2014, Princeton researchers confirmed this), so I rewrote our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, optimizing them for individual and collective flourishing. It was a fun exercise. From 2008-2011, I was part of the Poly-Econ book club to explore best practices across every sector of our society and economy. In 2011, two friends and I set to work on a more comprehensive framework for reimagining the nation - "Americology". Similarly, our premise was starting from scratch and optimizing all sectors of our society for the realization of human potential. I'm very grateful for this experience as well. Although we never published it, parts of it found their way into "Planet on Purpose" (2018).

The second reason is that much has changed in terms of what we understand about our nation’s past and present since we set up our government (1776 vs. 2022). Most of us were not taught our history. We haven’t read Zinn’s “People’s History”, Hannah-Jones’ “1619 Project”, Dunbar-Ortiz’s “Indigenous People’s History”, or Graeber and Wengrow’s “Dawn of Everything”. We don’t know who we are collectively. And this includes our elected leaders. The majority of them are not aware of the origins and nature of the people they govern.

The third reason is that our leaders don’t know what a human being is, much less how to govern a society and economy that nourishes human flourishing. The last century of research on adult development has revealed that adulthood / agency / sovereignty requires at least 30 years of life (when the neocortex fully develops), training in critical thinking and the humanities, access to trusted information, 1,000+ of hours of intentional healing, self-reflection, and purpose discovery, plus a loving and supportive family stewarded by developmentally mature adults, a strong community led by developmentally mature adults, a sense of belonging, clean air, water, and food, shelter, and safety. Few, if any, of our leaders have heard of adult development or have actively sought to become adults themselves. We have a government of, by, and for traumatized, uneducated, and developmentally-stunted adolescents.

The fourth reason is that other countries have fulfilled on our purpose better than we have. We’ve been doing it wrong across every sector of our society and economy. Other countries have higher GDP/hr worked, higher life expectancy (life), higher literacy (liberty), more robust mental health, higher levels of happiness and public safety (pursuit of happiness), cleaner energy, more efficient and accessible healthcare, better public transit, more comprehensive civil rights (“all… created equal”), and a correspondingly higher trust in government. Yes, we played a pivotal role in innovating representative democracy and private enterprise, but just as Japan has beat us at the automobile game (that we invented), dozens of countries have beat us at democracy.?Instead of learning from them, we've ignored them, laying waste to our communities, democracy, and environment.

Because of these four reasons, it’s time to press reset. Unfortunately, those who are in the position to call a Constitutional Convention and propose a new experiment, are not only imperiled by reasons two and three, but barely have the bandwidth to do anything but try to win their next election.

As such we need a separate entity to begin the process of re-imagining what framework for cooperation, structures, and policies would fulfill our purpose, and building a coalition of States to call for a Convention / new form of government. This entity should be a:

1. A neutral, representative and diverse body (across the spectrums of race, gender identity and sexual identity, and who are not a member of any political party),
2. Of informed (have a comprehensive understanding of our past and present)
3. Developmental adults (over 30 y/o, have actively self-actualized, generally meaning at least a thousand of hours of personal development work), and
4. Who are experts in a wide range of academic disciplines and sectors (government, religion, education, NGOs, media, energy, agriculture, healthcare, finance, consumer goods).

This entity would spend the next two years developing alternative structures for our society, economy, and government, as well as a coalition to call for a Constitutional Convention. We might begin by launching a non-profit, putting out an application for a 2-year fellowship, and applying for grants to fund this effort.

Just a reminder - this is who we are. We've done it before. We can do it again.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Please let me know your thoughts, and if so moved, please share.