A MORE PERFECT UNION… !!!

My great admiration for the early years of American history is by now so well known that I do not need to explain that I am not making fun of one of the greatest documents of human history, the Constitution of the United States. The purpose of this entry is to reinforce my broader point that all political philosophy is at its best wishful thinking.

Wishful thinking, or a little more, perhaps, according to… the Constitution of the United States of America. Here is the full text of the Preamble, from which this entry’s title has been borrowed. Notice the use of the word perfect: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

As I already indicated in the Social section, the question of the State’s social obligations to its citizens is a natural property of the Wishful Thinking Section, in the sense of setting the standards for such obligations, and for their fulfillment, of course. And the use of the word perfect suggests an appeal to the Absolute. The phrase “more perfect” is an idealistic overkill, but, I guess, the Founding Fathers had the right to it. So, here we are!