At this time of year the sun still scatters its warming rays amongst the waves late into the evening and the sea dutifully laps away at one's body...........there is no one to be seen accept for the sea birds who endeavour to steer you away from their offspring, well hidden but too near for comfort. In fact all across this 'Island of Eden' the birds are currently auditioning for a re-make of Alfred Hitcock's blockbuster, dive bombing anyone who encroaches within their nursery space. The most magnificent are the swallows that woosh past at considerable speed, at head height and only a metre or so away.
For those who have been secretly following my blog but don't want to admit it - you will note that I have been off air for a while. To be honest I guess I have just slipped into an island stupor - induced by a state of bemusement as fault lines are beginning to appear all over the world due a very rational self effacing voice stemming for a change from the USA ........and while not from Alastair Cook's profession, as a observer of his times President Obama is that rare american who appears to fully appreciate the level of intellectual paradox and mental fervour that created his constitution.
Sadly I contend that the majority of americans, if not virtually all, have in the very act of achieving greatness (wealth, advancement and power) and developing their subliminal sense of national superiority lost sight of the thought processes that fed the seeds of their existence. From my experience so many seem to be ignorant or in denial that the Constitution of the United States owes its birth to a partnership between the political, economic and scientific clothing of the British (Scottish) Enlightenment and the spiritual ruderies of the Great Awakening - this paradox of intellectual arbitration is well over the heads of the media. Scotsmen such as Benjamin Franklin, Adam Smith, William Tennant, Francis Hutcheson, Lord Henry Kames, Benjamin Rush, David Hume, John Witherspoon, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and James Wilson had their five pennies worth either directly or indirectly spliced within this legacy for a 'freer and better' life.
So what is my point. To understand the holistic meaning of the American Constitution - you have to understand what was not written as well as what was written and for that part you need to learn all about the people I have mentioned above and what they actually believed (and there were of course many more players). Fear not I am not going to conduct a history lesson as to how each played an integral part in this process - the fact is the American Constitution itself which americans do factually know was designed to garner not so much consensus, but a human 'freedom park' of religious and civil rights to be overseen by a Head of Federal States who effectively was subjugate to the people. It would be a gross understatement to say it was just cleverly written and legislated to nobble any attempt to restrict or suppress by the top dog, the President despite their revered status, it was simply brilliant 'staff work'..........................hence Obama, rational as he is to the intellectual world, and as disarming as he may be those in the world who despise (and in many instances are equally jealous of) the US.........is perceived at home, especially with his plans to reform the health care system, school reform and the introduction of new fairer tax system , etc, etc., as a threat to this charter for 'eternal' personal freedom .
I confess this is something I did not fully take into consideration when confronted by intelligent opposition to his nomination..........mainly because it was not mentioned by my american adversary but obviously it is endemic to every american's subconscious. The problem however is that any statutory governance built so rigidly around individual and personal freedom is likely to be aligned to the mores and behavioural patterns of its authors..............simply put what was quite rational behaviour in Tomb Stone when the Clancey's where alive is obviously not so acceptable today - yet the right to carry guns is still a constitutional right with appalling consequences.
Obama is striving to make changes which can be portrayed by his opponents as un-american and non-patriotic simply because they are so easily perceived as curbing the individuals rights. However, just taking one aspect of today's global climate - economics - Adam Smith foresaw that excessive greed and profit unfairly distributed could well undermine a free market capitalist system and wrote that in such instances government intervention and a more 'socialist' approach do have a place (not so well known by the majority of americans). Incidentally, I used the word 'socialist' here simply to adhere with the US Right Wing definition of this word which is unrecognisable in the country whose language they use.
My greatest fear is that this lack of intellectual understanding and ancestral mores acting as a block to the establishment of the American Constitution as a true dynamic - irrespective of Obama's personal understanding and possible successes - will lead to America becoming a 'Jurassic Park' not so far removed in its relevance to a positive role in global survival than a fundamentalist Islamic State.
