An Objectivist Constitution
At some point, either in the somewhat distant future of this country or in secret enclaves hidden throughout it very soon, it will be necessary to write a document defining government and its role in guaranteeing freedom. I would be curious to see suggestions from the people on this website as to how such a document might read.
Previous comments...
I think that the single most important amendment I would make to it would be to require good accounting practices of all government and public departments. There should also be some provision for transparency. Money is the backbone of positive incentive and of negative corruption and striking at that point would, I think, do the most good.
I have read (though I cannot now find the source) that there are about 30,000 laws and regulations that apply to each individual in the US. This boggles the imagination and makes humorous the adage 'ignorance of the law is no excuse'. Whatever laws we have must be manageable by an individual - and there is no concept in the Constitution of the law itself getting so far out of control. There needs to be some way of addressing this too.
Jan
"No coercion."
Period.
That was one of the solutions in "The Secret of the League: the story of a social war" a novel from 1907 about the rich going on strike against socialism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_...
While I agree with Mark Levin's Liberty Amendments, as of about late 2006, America went past the point from which it is possible to recover. People quote the 17 trillion dollar debt being over $50 K per person. What they neglect is the over 100 trillion dollars in guaranteed obligations. That equates to more than most people will save per person in their lifetimes.
Perhaps the mechanism would be to "earn" the right by public service - I would prefer this as only military service, but would be open to discussion of other forms of public service - and then a mechanism for weighting of the vote via taxes paid or even as Mike states below, perhaps by value of bonds held. It could even be apportioned differently between the House and the Senate, with house members being elected via one vote, and Senate by proportionate share of either taxes paid, bonds held, or even both.
I think it's a good start for discussion. Now, of course, I have to find my [signed] copy and give you the language.
tomorrow is another day!
Your question is good - something to start with is always better than a blank piece of paper looking at you, saying "well? get on with it!"
no, no, no, no, no.
did I say "over my dead body" yet?