I have been reflecting on the Constitutional Currency project from the National Academy. This created a lot of discussion and debate within our group. Some of these discussions should be shared by others. There were a couple of themes within this project that really stood above the rest for me.
First, was the issue of having individuals on our current currency. Although our founders are of extreme importance and should be studied for their contributions to the creation of the founding of our country and how our government is set up, they should not be emulated as individuals, as they are on the currency.
The tenets of our government are “We the People,” with this in mind it made us ponder the fact that our currency exemplifies a person and should do more to exalt America, the “We” in America. We are a nation that declared Independence from a single ruler in Great Britain and wanted a government set up for the people, and yet we put a single individual on our currency lifting up and showing that one person is more important than the others. We wanted something to show that America is about “We the People” and therefore our plan for Constitutional Currency was to have pictures on the currency that depicted many people, showing that the American government operates under the premise of all people and not select individuals.
The second concept was that of the foundations of our government. This was a hotly debated issue. I hesitated for many days on whether to write on this aspect because many people will not agree with me. Then it occurred to me, this is the very thing that happened with the creation of the Constitution, deliberation and debate to bring forth the best ideas and make our government even better. There was deliberation among great men, then why not deliberate and generation discussions now.
We looked at the government as a house. You need a strong foundation, without which the house will crumble and fall. The foundation to our house, or Constitution is the people. People are the ones who create a Constitution, they are the ones who had to ratify it. The people in this country hold the power. It would only make sense that the people are the foundation to our government, without the support of the people our government would not be successful.
Next you have the pillars. These are the supports, the walls that hold up the roof. Without good supports you will not be able to hold up your roof. What then are the pillars, the supports of our government? One only needs to look at the Preamble, they are clearly stated: establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. It is these principles that are the pillars which hold up the Constitution. It is these principals which were used to create the Constitution and our form of government.
When you have these principles and uphold these principles they will hold up and support a roof, which is the Constitution. It would not do any good to have a constitution unless you have your principles to hold up the constitution and need to have a strong foundation in the people to be able to support everything.
You may agree or disagree, but you are entitled to your opinion.
Locke72
The Color of Political Theory
This idea fascinates me! Did your group so far as to create a re-design? If so, are there pictures or drawings to share..? Really, really neat idea for a panel presentation, too. I’m an ’07 alum and don’t recall this option; I wonder if it’s new.
Using llimited graphics, we designed the new currency and placed them on a PowerPoint. I don’t know how to attach the PowerPoint to this Website though. If you scroll down the intro page of this Website, you can see reflections on the project made by other members of our group.
Yeah, Hobbes… this is an oldie but goodie. If I remember correctly, we had two or three creedal affirmations in your group (another favorite). Between that and Madison’s Dream I think your crew went a different direction but i know it was there.
So, I’m really interested in the controversy. Jerry, I’m completely intrigued because you anticipated a fight even in this post. What were the contentious issues.
I’ve been trying to figure out an alternate position to stake out. When I read some of the articles from the NY Times piece on redesigning the currency I was struck by the use of portraits. In some designs they were blown up and then rendered to pieces so the whole person was no longer present. This made me think about reallocating the use of the people in the scheme you all presented. Here’s what I came up with…
What if you swapped the Constitution and the people in your scheme? So the pillars are founded on the Constitution and it all supports the people at the top? Was that discussed… what are the problems I’m missing?
And… out with it!!! What are the problems you all already tried to fix with what you presented and what did some still take issue with?
Linda, we can add images but not the whole presentation. If you have the time to play with it, you can try to save the slides as .jpg files. I’m confident I can get that format up on the site. We can just aim for the slides representing the front and back of each bill.
The idea of our government being looked at as a house is what our group had disagreements about. We could not come to an understanding of the foundation and pillars.
The other view was that the constitution is the foundation, with the three branches of government being the pillars and the roof would be the people. Myself and others did not agree with this line of thinking. The people have to be the foundation, the people are the ones who make the constitution, the constitution does not make the people. Without the people the constitution cannot be made.
I just added pictures from the project to the first post from this group “Your Face on the Ten Dollar Bill.” This also includes thoughts from Jerry’s group members Linda and Stacy. If you click on “Constitutional Currency” at the beginning of Jerry’s post, that Politicolor post will open in a new window.
I wonder, Jerry, if the Constitution does make the people. If I had been born when the Constitution justified trade in human cargo, I’d most probably be a person who felt slavery was acceptable. Having been born within the framework of the subsequent Amendments, however, I have been made into one who sees slavery as evil. So I think there’s an argument that the Constitution, in balancing the government and the people, pushes on each and influences each.
Of course, ultimately, popular sovereignty wins out; the people can alter the Constitution. But, again, how often does that happen..?