BY RICK ESENBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW AND LIBERTY
The United States has had the longest-lasting and most successful multicultural democracy in the history of the world. Our framers had a profound understanding of human nature, and they didn’t try to do too much – they crafted a constitutional framework that understood both the promise and the potential failings of human nature.
Our Constitution doesn’t aim for unity. In fact, it rests on the presumption that unity will never be possible in a country as large and diverse as ours – even as we were back in the 18th century. Instead, the Constitution established a framework in which we could live together. Many things that many today perceive as “anti-democratic” – the indirect election of the president, the Senate, the separation of powers, federalism – are mechanisms to require consensus. Our Constitution – wisely in my view – curbs the power of majorities. It really is put together so 51% of the people can’t vote to eat the other 49%.
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But some degree of commonality is still required. Part of our problem today is that both sides perceive every election as existential. So many of us believe that if we lose, it is the end of America. That’s a real threat to a democratic republic. You have to be willing to lose in order to live together. You have to believe that commitment to the rule of law and American institutions are more important than transient political victories.
So the nation’s 250th birthday celebration is a time to honor, remember and reinvigorate the institutions and the concepts that the founders established, however imperfectly. We should acknowledge their genius and allow their ideas to be our guide stars, rather than the momentary political passions that both sides have come to embrace.
And we should remember that it’s hard to love your country if you hate half the people in it.
