Why We're No Longer Governed by the Constitution ｜ 2⧸8⧸24
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
158.73442
Summary
Most conservatives view the U.S. Constitution as the central element that binds the nation together, but what does it actually mean and how did it come to be? And what role did it play in shaping the nation s identity?
Transcript
00:00:00.000
We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
00:00:10.720
Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
00:00:25.260
Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
00:00:30.000
Most conservatives view the U.S. Constitution as the central element
00:00:34.000
that binds the identity of the nation together.
00:00:40.960
The Catholic political theorist and Enlightenment skeptic Joseph de Maistre
00:00:44.860
believed that no true constitution can ever be written by human hands
00:00:48.860
but can only be inscribed on the hearts of a nation's people by the Almighty God.
00:00:53.620
For de Maistre, the notion that a constitution would, in and of itself,
00:01:00.320
The values and norms contained in a constitution reflect the traditions and folkways
00:01:05.320
that organically emerge from the character of a people.
00:01:08.100
The shared moral vision of the people, which serves as the real force of the constitution,
00:01:16.060
Any rights enumerated in the document are only a written formalization of that which is already
00:01:21.860
held deeply sacred by the people, and their protection is entirely dependent on the continuance
00:01:29.520
De Maistre didn't push for a universal form of government,
00:01:32.920
but instead believed that the best government would be one that naturally fit the needs
00:01:37.420
and traditions of the people over which it ruled.
00:01:40.560
An artificially imposed regime with no connection to the way in which different communities
00:01:44.980
lived their lives couldn't hope to govern them well.
00:01:48.460
Virtuous leaders had a duty to guide their people toward a better future,
00:01:52.000
but that could only be done in the context of a shared understanding of the common good.
00:01:59.160
It could only represent the spirit that already existed within the polis.
00:02:07.120
It's always been a collection of very different regions, cultures, and traditions separated by
00:02:12.060
the kind of geographic distance that would have formed individual nations in a different
00:02:17.820
That's why the country was originally governed as a confederation of separate states instead
00:02:24.600
Due to its divergent ways of life, geographical separation, and intermittent waves of large-scale
00:02:31.280
immigration, America never truly achieved ethnogenesis.
00:02:35.180
Instead, it relied on one consistent factor that most of its residents shared, Protestant
00:02:42.380
While Catholic, Jewish, and eventually Muslim waves of immigration would arrive, America's
00:02:47.540
initial population were Protestant Christians, and it is from this firmament that the moral
00:02:54.760
America was founded by those who chose to leave their homes and strike out for new lands rather
00:02:59.120
than compromise their way of life, and that deep instinct to prefer exit over assimilation
00:03:07.920
Due to its size and regional diversity, America never truly formed a single national culture or
00:03:14.300
Whenever two or more groups disagreed, rather than being forced to reconcile and become
00:03:19.840
one people, they simply split, venturing farther and farther into a seemingly endless frontier.
00:03:26.380
A federal model allowed individual communities and states to operate very differently as long
00:03:31.980
as they held to the shared moral framework of Protestant Christianity.
00:03:35.980
Subsidiarity, the idea that political problems should be resolved as close to the locality where
00:03:42.680
they originate as possible, meant that the traditions and folkways of each region could be maintained
00:03:48.460
while still working inside the larger system of the nation.
00:03:52.220
The religious character of America's people may have changed, but the bedrock of its founding
00:04:00.600
In modern America, the Constitution is held up as a secular procedural blueprint for a
00:04:05.960
objectively navigating disagreements between groups with vastly different moral visions,
00:04:14.100
As John Adams explained, the Constitution is made for moral and religious people,
00:04:19.120
and it's wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
00:04:23.320
America's founders didn't believe that the Constitution contained some kind of magical,
00:04:30.400
They understood that the Protestant Christian moral vision shared by most of the populace
00:04:38.320
When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most?
00:04:41.940
When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard?
00:04:46.780
When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill?
00:04:49.460
When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner?
00:04:53.180
Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer, so download the app and get delivery in
00:04:59.400
Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders.
00:05:02.560
I don't personally call myself a Christian nationalist, not because I disagree with the idea that
00:05:13.920
biblical principles should be reflected in the laws of our nation, but because this has
00:05:17.980
been a core aspect of the American nation since its inception.
00:05:22.600
The problem with the term Christian nationalism is that it turns a crucial pillar of our American
00:05:28.320
identity into a fashionable, political slogan that can be easily painted as new and radical
00:05:36.960
An approach to politics that's fundamentally Protestant in its character is not revolutionary
00:05:47.840
As hard as it might be to admit, we are no longer really governed by the Constitution,
00:05:53.220
primarily because we're no longer the kind of people who can be.
00:05:56.480
Conservatives like to believe that restoration of constitutional governance will fix our woes,
00:06:03.000
but the founding document can't make a people virtuous or grant them liberty.
00:06:08.060
The Constitution was only ever the formalization of a way of life present in America's founding
00:06:14.580
stock, and without that shared character, our most precious documents become meaningless.
00:06:19.800
The Constitution was never meant to objectively mediate the differences of two sides with radically
00:06:30.800
Protestant Christianity was central to the identity of the United States and the formation
00:06:37.040
Until the nation reforges a shared moral vision on that anvil, it will continue to be governed
00:06:43.280
by the corrupt, progressive, theocratic oligarchy that currently terrorizes its people.
00:06:53.980
If you enjoyed this video, go ahead and click like, and if you haven't subscribed yet, now
00:06:59.100
If you'd like to get these broadcasts as podcasts, go ahead and subscribe to The Oro McIntyre Show
00:07:03.660
on your favorite podcast platform, and when you do, if you leave a rating or review, that
00:07:10.120
If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, or Substack, or Gab, if you'd like to get these
00:07:14.500
videos on Rumble or Odyssey, the links to do all of that are down below in the description.
00:07:19.640
And of course, you can watch all of my episodes and read all of my columns over at The Blaze.
00:07:24.560
Thanks for watching, guys, and as always, I'll talk to you next time.