Bonnie Pirlot-3rd Period
Michael Kammen:
A Machine That Would Go of Itself Blog Post
Vocabulary Terms:
1. New Deal- The set of programs and policies designed to promote
economic recovery and social reform introduced during the 1930s by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
a. Kammen explains that FDR created the New Deal with the idea
that the Constitution was made to be fluid. Meaning that the
Constitution, with the New Deal policies, can help guide humanity
as it changes over time. The constitution is compared to an
organism, which is made to change over time.
2. 10th Amendment- The Tenth Amendment reserves powers to the
states respectively, or to the people, all powers and rights not delegated to
the Federal government by the Constitution.
a. The excerpt clearly brings up the idea that the 10th Amendment
is created to balance the powers between the State and Federal
governments. This balance of power justifies the thought of change
over time, such as change in values, and monetary spending within
each state. States will delegate certain rules and regulations
as the world would changes over time.
3. Separation of Powers- independence of branches of government: the
constitutional requirement that each of the three branches of the U.S.
government, executive, judicial, and legislative, be autonomous and
distinct from the others.
a. The idea of Separation of Powers with Kammen's excerpt
reveals that allowing independance to each branch guarantees that
appropriate laws and regualtions will be made as the values and
concerns of the country chage with time.
Summary & Analysis:
A Machine That Would Go of Itself by Michael Kammen focuses on the
idea that the Constitiution was made to be modeled after an organism, a
machine, and both. Being modeled after an organism simply means that the
Constitution's principles are made to be fluid, and made to change over time as
the world changes. We, as humans grow and develop. Kammen comments that
the Constitution was made for these principles. To grow and change as time
goes on and as human's values and concerns change over time. Being modeled
after a machine simply means that the Constitution was made to be, and always
will be stable, reliable, and maintain a consistency throughout the changes of
government. Kammen also touches on the idea that Americans follow tradition
and follow the principles of the Constituion. However, most modern day
Americans do no fully understand the principles that the Constitution focuses on,
and leaves Americans up for interpretation.
Evaluation
The 10th Amendement states that all powers not specifically granted to
the Federal Governement are reserved to the states. However, what about the
sticky issues such as gun control and gay rights? Although Prop 8 Doma (a law
clearly stating that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be
recognized) was esablished years before, gay rights were not specifically stated
within the original constitution. States and the Federal Government have been
going back and forth arguing if gay rights and gun control should be regulated by
each state individually or federally. Following the guidelines of the Constitution,
states should be able to regulate gun control and recognizing gay marriages on
their own terms. If the Federal Government were to intervene with either two
issues, that would go against the Constitution and American's "freedom" that is
guaranteed. Allowing each state to regulate their own rules regarding similar
issues allows Americans to choose how they live there lives, and how they raise
future generations. If states continue to be overridden by the Federal
Government, state's agrivation with the Federal Government will continue to rise.
"The boldest violations of the Constitution are daily proposed by politicians
in this country." A quote by James Fenimore Cooper relfects an idea that
politicians are the population that is explicitly going against the Constitution.
Presidents specifically, such as President Obama, have deliberately broken the
rules of the Constitution. Trying to pass his new Health Care plan, Congress
needed 60 votes to pass the plan, however, seeing that the numbers were close,
he changed the regulations allowing for the pass rate to only be 55 votes.
Obviously, this was a complete example of how Presidents use their power to
change the rules and regulations of how laws are passed. If the people
Americans are voting on can't even follow the specific guidelines of the
Constitution, how do they expect citizens of the United States to follow them as
well?
The Constitution is defined as the leading principle that holds all
Americans together. Although, with most of the population not knowing the
underpinnings of the Constitution and the major concepts, the Constitution does
not seem like the actual symbol of America and the princple that holds the United
States together. Like any country, money is the "glue" to America. Unfortunately,
the idea of the Constitution may look nice on paper to represent what Americans
stand for, however, in all honestly, money is the source that holds the United
States together. Without the source of money, the population would become
even more competitive and barbaric. Considering most of our ancestors held the
Constitution to a much higher standard, the values of most Americans has
quickly tilited, from patriotic Americans, to money lusting individuals. What
specific values seemed to hold Americans together through numerous wars, has
quietly disappered with time.