Embedded in the first sentence of the U.S. Constitution—the oldest written constitution in the world—are America’s greatest energies as a nation—straight from the heart. When we read the Preamble closely, we will discover that the energy it embodies, in one form or another, is the creative energy that can lead to the realization of our nation state and its influence on the rest of the world as we know it. Creative energy is what matters most because it leads to a critical mass of public opinion moving at the light speed of an electronic universe, attracting everything else—our society, our world and our spirits.
The Preamble presents the standards by which we can be called to account as a nation. Our method of doing that must meet the highest standard available. That derives from the law of universal creativity embedded in the algorithm in the familiar formulation know as E=mc2 . This energy is the power source of all creativity as it transforms into critical mass through sustainable chain reactions of strength. Its results produce the world as a system and “We the People” as interdependent parts if it, The founding purpose of the new nation the Founders created was to transform a confederation of divided states into a federation of united states in accordance with the political authority and civic virtue of the people. The core operating principles set forth were and are “to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare.”
The issue is how this identification of core civic interests can be separated from the diversity of partisan political interests. The final result envisioned was and is to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” This is where mutual gains with each of our partners brings us to the common ground of shared service and protection. The final issue concerns objective criteria – what it means when we “do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Do these First and Foremost promises lead the way to a “land of the free and home of the brave?” We can honor the Founders and the work to keep the promises and the noble invention they launched by pledging to make it our guide star and tool of measurement. We need to realize that we have these values in our hands: people and union are the founding principles of purpose; justice, tranquility, defense and welfare are our operating principles in practice; while liberty and posterity are the principles by which we judge our final results. Our mutual gains arise from the interaction of these values at any given time.
What is needed then is a set of objective criteria against which to measure our progress. The principles set forth in the Preamble are those criteria. There are ten questions that flow from the Preamble as we consider our response to the challenges we have as a republic in this day and age where once again we the people find ourselves divided:
How can “We the People of the United States” reclaim the human heart of the American political system in place of the limitless influence of money that now dominates political campaigns?
How do we enable voting by everyone eligible to vote in every election for public office in the country “in Order to form a more perfect Union?”
How do we “establish Justice” under law though equal opportunity, equal protection and equal treatment of every person, always?
How do we “insure domestic Tranquility” so that the private lives of people are not disturbed by the destructive behavior of anyone or anything?
How do we obtain the full participation of every American citizen and every nation of the world to “provide for the common defence?”
How do we “promote the general Welfare” of those who are able, and assistance for those who are not, so everyone can be productive in some way and share in the fruits of this production?
How can we “secure the Blessings of Liberty” through the promotion and practice of civic virtue by helping to generate the greatest knowledge-ability that can be acquired by each and every one?
How can we most responsibly sustain this liberty “to ourselves and our Posterity” in order to secure it for the generations to come both here and everywhere?
How can we pay our highest respect and give our greatest assurance to the fact that the Constitution, as the Law of the Land from first sentence to last, is the foundation and the DNA of “We the People” who did “ordain and establish this Constitution?”
How can we, no longer citizens of separate states under the original Articles of Confederation, live, work, and support each other as citizens “for the United States of America under the Constitution?
These are the ten questions that every candidate for public office should answer—each in the domains of their own service—as part of their political campaigns. And then they should pledge to follow the promises made and report to “We the People” how they have fulfilled their pledge. Finally, it is time to meet the challenge to create a Model of America’s Promise (MAP) to analyze and evaluate how the condition of the country, focused on the well-being of we the people based on its freedom of creativity which is the root of our productivity.
The Preamble’s principles would serve as a constitutional standard of measurement against which national performance qualities would be compared. The analyses would be the foundation of evaluations that are enumerated to produce a set of metrics; and each metric would be the descriptor of a qualitative nature. There are examples of such measurement tools and legislation was approved to undertake this task known as the Key National Indicators Act in 2010. The funding authorized was never appropriated.
Work has been done by teams of students at the University of Virginia with the participation of the Promise America Alliance, Inc. to create a way to implement such a measurement tool. This work: First and Foremost, gives the background and underpinnings of such a tool and helps with the focus of how the power of the creative force of the universe, as set forth in E=mc2 as applied to the work of human actions (I=am2 ) can bring about the results for the nation launched by our Founders as reflected in the first sentence of the Law of the Land.
Promise America Alliance 