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Lessons from Our First Constitution by William J IndependentNEWSLETTER OF THE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE Vol. 26 / No. 3 / Fall 2016 Lessons from Our First Constitution By William J. Watkins, Jr. IN THIS ISSUE very four years, politicians hoping to E win the presidential election make 1 Lessons from Our First hundreds of speeches meant to convince the American voter that they are uniquely Constitution qualified to “solve” the crises of the day. When they get around to talking about 2 President’s Letter the U.S. Constitution (if they do at all), they leave the impression that the nation’s 3 The Independent charter is “the best of all possible worlds.” Review This myth is as old as the Republic. The usual story is that the Constitution 4 Independent saved the thirteen states from ruin by Institute in the News the impotent Articles of Confederation. Without the compromises reached in Philadelphia in 1787, the story goes, we would be living in a land 5 New Book: Failure: that was politically fragmented, economically impoverished, and The Federal militarily weak. Misedukation of It’s true the Articles were flawed. Nevertheless, they enabled the emerg- America’s Children ing nation to defeat the superpower that was Great Britain. They also pre- served the rights of the people of the several states to govern themselves. Several of its provisions sound appealing today: 6 Conferences, Expos, and Summits • Term limits for delegates. This was included to help prevent special interests from gaining undue influence. People who complain about the high incumbency rate in the House of Representatives should 7 George Gilder on credit the Articles for anticipating such a problem. Knowledge and the • Supermajority requirement for borrowing money. Since govern- American Dream ment debts are paid with tax revenue (and/or inflation) this rule was meant to discourage “taxation without representation.” Given our current $19 trillion national debt, many people should see its wisdom. 8 Inspiring Alternatives • Restraint of central government. Article II ensured that the Con- for American federation Congress could not claim broad authority to meddle in Millennials local matters. The Constitution, in contrast, has done a poor job at limiting the reach of our masters in Washington, D.C. The three features above give us good reason to consider rescuing the Articles of Confederation from the dustbin of history. They have much to teach us if only we would listen. William J. Watkins, Jr. is a Research Fellow at Independent Institute and author of the new book, Crossroads for Liberty: Recovering the Anti-Federalist Values of America’s First Constitution. OUR NEW BOOK CROSSROADS FOR LIBERTY IS AVAILABLE THIS OCTOBER 2016 100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428 T: 510-632-1366 • F: 510-568-6040 www.independent.org THE POWER OF INDEPENDENT THINKING 2 THE POWER OF INDEPENDENT THINKING PRESIDENT’S LETTER A New Independence he Brexit referendum victory, which kicks Education is also primed for pro-independence Toff a two-year process for the United King- innovations. Research Fellow Vicki E. Alger’s dom to leave the European Union, has sent new book, Failure: The Federal Miseduka- shock waves across the world. It also refl ects tion of America’s Children (p. 5), exposes the growing movements against centralized power, failures of federal power in K–12 schooling corruption, and runaway bureaucracy. and higher education, and charts a course for a Around the globe, people fed up with unrespon- variety of school choice measures. sive, arrogant, and overbearing government are While today’s headlines are often bleak, this is an challenging the complacency—and even the exciting time to work on behalf of independence very legitimacy—of Big Government elites. The from Big Government folly. goal of this movement? Independence. We invite you to join with us in advancing this Americans have their own mighty tradition of mission by becoming an Independent Institute rebelling against tyranny, fi rst inscribed in the Member. With your tax-deductible member- Declaration of Independence and quickly man- ship, you can receive a FREE copy of Cross- ifested in the colonies’ successful secession from roads for Liberty or Failure and other publi- the British empire. cations, including The Independent Review Important but neglected lessons of this noble (p. 3), plus other benefi ts (see envelope). heritage are revealed in the new Independent We hope to work with you to advance the bound- book, Crossroads for Liberty, by William J. less possibilities only a free society provides. Watkins, Jr. (p. 1). Especially timely are lessons about independence and opportunity. Today, the entrepreneurial advances of the “sharing” economy and decentralized innova- tion offer historic opportunities to circumvent the leviathan that has long favored the political class at the expense of Main Street. New ideas are also challenging government dominance and dependency. In healthcare, for example, Independent’s books A Better Choice and Priceless by Senior Fellow John C. Good- man have inspired bold legislative alternatives to Obamacare. DAVID J. THEROUX Founder and President EXECUTIVE STAFF Ivan Eland David J. Th eroux Senior Fellow Sally S. Harris Founder, President, John C. Goodman Vice Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive O cer Senior Fellow Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Mary L. G. Th eroux Robert Higgs Peter A. Howley Jonathan Bean Senior Vice President Senior Fellow Chairman, Howley Management Group Professor of History, Southern Illinois University Martin Buerger Lawrence J. McQuillan Philip Hudner, Esq. Vice President and Senior Fellow Of Counsel, Botto Law Group, LLC Herman Belz Chief Operating O cer Professor of History, Robert H. Nelson Gary G. Schlarbaum, University of Maryland Susan E. Mangels Senior Fellow Vice President and Ph.D., CFA Thomas Bethell Chief Development O cer Charles V. Peña Managing Director, Author, The Noblest Triumph: Property William F. Shughart II Senior Fellow Palliser Bay Investment Management and Prosperity Through the Ages Research Director and Senior Fellow Benjamin Powell Susan Solinsky Thomas Borcherding Senior Fellow Partner, Reditus Revenue Solutions Professor of Economics, Carl P. Close Claremont Graduate School Research Fellow, Senior Editor Randy T Simmons W. Dieter Tede Senior Fellow President, Hopper Creek Winery Boudewijn Bouckaert Roy M. Carlisle Professor of Law, Acquisitions Director Alexander T. Tabarrok David J. Teece, Ph.D. University of Ghent, Belgium Senior Fellow Chairman and CEO, Kim Cloidt Berkeley Research Group, LLC Allan C. Carlson Marketing and Alvaro Vargas Llosa President, Howard Center for Family, Communications Director Senior Fellow David J. Theroux Religion, and Society Founder and President, Denise Tsui Richard K. Vedder The Independent Institute Robert D. Cooter Publications Director Senior Fellow Herman F. Selvin Professor of Law, Mary L. G. Theroux University of California, Berkeley Paul J. Theroux Former Chairman, Garvey International Technology Director Robert W. Crandall Cecilia Santini BOARD OF DIRECTORS Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution Editorial Associate BOARD OF ADVISORS Richard A. Epstein New York University Robert M. Whaples Gilbert I. Collins Managing Editor, Private Equity Manager The Independent Review Leszak Balcerowicz George Gilder John Hagel III. J.D. Professor of Economics, Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute Bruce L. Benson Co-Chairman, Center for the Edge, Warsaw School of Economics Deloitte & Touche USA LLC Nathan Glazer Senior Fellow Professor of Education and Sociology, Harvard University NEWSLETTER OF THE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE 3 THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW Fleecing the Young / The War on Drugs in Afghanistan Fleecing the Young Lomasky warns that these measures oung Americans can expect to by themselves would likely not pre- Yget much less for their tax dollars vent older generations from imposing than have their elders, but they’ve burdens on the young. Ensuring that had little say in the decisions respon- intergenerational justice prevails, he sible for the problem. Social Security says, would require fundamental is the obvious example, but other changes in attitudes about the appeal cases of intergenerational injustice of the welfare state. also loom large. The War on Drugs in Afghanistan University of Virginia philosophy pro- The war on drugs in Afghanistan fessor Loren E. Lomasky sheds light was supposed to support the war on on the topic in“Fleecing the Young.” terror, but instead it has strengthened After explaining three principles the Taliban insurgency and under- essential for a moral analysis of intergenerational mined other U.S. goals, according to justice issues, Lomasky shows how they apply to Christopher J. Coyne, Abigail R. Hall Blanco, specific problems that disproportionately harm and Scott Burns (“The War on Drugs in Afghani- young people. Here are two: stan: Another Failed Experiment with Interdiction”). • Debt. Borrowing money raises questions of jus- U.S. drug policy in Afghanistan, they argue, had tice when borrowers are distinct from the party several consequences that undermined counterter- responsible for paying off public debt, usually rorism and nation building: the young or unborn. • Contradictions and confusions. After the U.S. • Work. Minimum-wage laws and other policies military invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, create higher rates of youth unemployment. it paid local warlords to help defeat the Taliban. The warlords in turn offered protection services To promote intergenerational justice, Lomasky pro- to opium growers. There
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