I ended “Is the Constitution a Contract?” with this:
In sum, the Constitution is neither a compact between States (as sovereign entities) nor a law adopted by “the people”. It is a contract that was drawn up by a small fraction of the populace of twelve States, and put into effect by a small fraction of the populace of nine States. Its purpose, in good part, was to promote the interests of many of the Framers, who cloaked those interests in the glowing rhetoric of the Preamble (“We the People”, etc.). The other four of the original thirteen States could have remained beyond the reach of the Constitution, and would have done so but for the ratifying acts of small fractions of their populations.
In other words, the Constitution was a contract among a relatively small number of long-dead persons. And that’s exactly how the left treats it, intentionally or not.
Conservatives, on the other hand, cling to the original document because it affords ample room for the social and economic arrangements to be arrived at with little or no interference by the central government. The political differences between States would be even more marked than they are now, and some of them would be bastions of liberty.
What that would mean for the citizens of many States — in addition to lower taxes and less regulation — is respect for property rights, freedom of contract, freedom of association, and several other things; for example:
Public schools, to the extent that they still existed, would focus on education (“reading, writing, and arithmetic”) instead of indoctrination in globalism, “climate change”, CRT, etc.
Public universities, to the extent that they still existed, would be similarly focused on utilitarian subjects (in addition to “liberal arts” in the old-fashioned sense), and professors would be predominantly conservative or neutral because trendy “studies” programs and anti-scientific agendas (e.g., “climate change”) wouldn’t be tolerated.
Both kinds of institutions would be short on administrators and long on teachers.
Religion wouldn’t be scorned by public officials, teachers, and professors.
Punishments for crime would be delivered swiftly and certainly, and there would be capital punishment.
I am all for using the Constitution as a rallying point for those conservatives —Ron DeSantis, for example — who seek to restore the kind of federalism that the original Constitution promised. The result would be a more dramatic contrast between the worst of the worst (e.g., California) and the best of the best (e.g., Florida).
But none of that is possible unless the GOP (led by someone like DeSantis) retakes the White House and Congress. Time is running out.
You may be right. I have little confidence that victory will be snatched from the jaws of defeat.
*I am convinced it may already be to late.*