Friday, November 14, 2014

We The People and General Welfare

Since the main verbs of the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution are "ordain and establish", their subject, "we", is, more precisely, those constructing the document, rather than "the people", in general.  However, that generality is explicit in one of the stated aims of the passage, "promote the general Welfare", and is implicit in another, "form a more perfect union".  Now, since the term used is 'welfare', rather than 'wealth', it seems likely that the connotation is 'well-being', rather than 'abundance of goods'.  Furthermore, at the time of that construction, Wealth of Nations exists, but relatively obscurely, and Marxism is decades in the future.  So, according to the unequivocally expressed words of the Founding Fathers, contrary to many contemporary interpretations, including those of some of the members of the Supreme Court, their intention entails neither some specific Economic system, nor the promotion of Self-Interest.  Likewise, a rigorous determination of the 'Constitutionality' of some process would include an assessment of the extent to which it promotes the "general Welfare".

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