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It’s been more than two hundred years since the Revolutionary War, and America is long due for a revolution coup d’etat. It’s not that America isn’t wonderful- our constitution, bill of rights and Declaration of Independence are some of the most revolutionary amazing documents in history (at least after they’ve been amended multiple times). The only problem is that our government doesn’t follow the said documents all that closely. It just doesn’t seem right; for instance, that the president has the power to suspend habeas corpus, or to eliminate due process, or to pardon whomever he pleases. Throughout history, both past and modern, the president, the Supreme Court and the congress have repeatedly acted in a way that is, to say it lightly, incongruent with the constitution. During WWII, for example, our government placed Japanese persons, whether citizen or not, into so-called internment camps. It didn’t matter if they were American citizens, or if they were patriotic and hardworking; their property was seized, their jobs were lost and they were carted in to their new "homes", which essentially were crude, unsanitary prisons. And all the while, American’s were appalled by the concentration camps of the Nazi Regime, yet had no problem with interning thousands of Americans in the name of homeland security on the basis that they shared religious, cultural and ethnic ties with the enemy at the time (a little hypocritical, I feel). No, the guilt should not fall entirely on the government, no matter how many shady goings-on occur within it, people have an unhealthy habit of acting on fear rather than reasonable judgment, and American’s tend to act unreasonably whenever a crisis that has anything to do with us takes place. I don’t think that Americans are an exception and all other peoples, when confronted with a state of crisis, will react with sane and sensical decisions, but Americans definitely do not break the mold.

The thing about America is that you cannot judge it based only on what we have done in that face of grave danger and chaos. While it is important in discerning the societal personality of America, it is equally important to look at the everyday life of America. Unfortunately, that particular view of America isn’t wonderfully pleasing either. What with constant decadence, conformity screaming at us through every possible facet and hypocrisy and secrecy blaring on the radio, T.V. and newspapers, it’s impossible to ignore what American society has become. It pains me that every time I turn on the radio, I fear hearing the unchanging melodies of Brittany Spears, the Backstreet Boys, or N’Sync, when all I wanted to do was check the traffic and weather, or when I walk down the street and see nine-year-old girls wearing knee-high leather boots, mini skirts and tube tops (I can’t help but imagine an army of Brittany Spears look-alikes), or when I hear seven-year-old girls saying, "I’m not pretty, I don’t look like Brittany Spears". It’s not that I hate pop culture, on the contrary, pop culture has been a wonderfully progressive addition to American culture; where would we be without Janis Joplin, Jimi Henrix, The Doors, the Rolling Stones, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and so many others? The only thing I disagree with is the direction in which the pop culture has gone.

The music industry, Hollywood and the modeling industry seem to have a problem with putting anyone on TV that isn’t gorgeous, and the worst part about it is that "gorgeous" is quite the elite niche in the population. Honestly, how many women can be 5’10" with a 36C chest, wear a size 2, and have a minuscule waist and pronounced, curvy hips? Especially when the average dress size for American women is 12-14, that seems a bit unattainable, and absolutely ludicrous. And I can’t say that I’ve seen many ugly men on TV or on the silver screen, either; I mean, can’t imagine that there are many men who look like Brad Pitt. But again, I’m not saying that pop culture will be the downfall of American civilization, it’s just that I don’t feel that it leaves enough room to incorporate all of American society, and hence brings about segregation, feelings of inadequacy and elitism, which are all components of society that America has flourished through.

During the birth of this nation, segregation and elitism were such enormous parts of life that revolutions stemmed from the resentment caused by them. The only difference between now and then is that the elitism and segregation are far more covert than they were in the 18th and 19th centuries. And here, however abstract the connection may be, is where the need for a constitution-based government becomes relevant. The constitution, if followed exactly, would curb some of the patterns of elitism and segregation in society. If we actually acted on the beliefs that all people are created equal, or if we actually stopped discrimination on the basis of sex, race or any other category we are placed in, elitism and segregation, while they would not completely disappear, would decline in popularity. It is for this reason, and the reason that the government has been known to be involved in far too many shady dealings, that a constitutional reform should take place. Hence, we have a coup d’etat.

No, I am not suggesting by any means that people go out and start a bloody revolution against the government, for that would be the absolute opposite of what I believe in. Rather, just imagine what it would be like to have a peaceful revolution that brought our government back to the center. While I myself am a leftist, I believe that the end of partisan politics would lead to immense progress in government, and if by chance the government would be constitutionally based, then the progress would be all the better. So next time you’re watching TV and you see a barrage of the so-called ideal beautiful person, think about elitism, think about segregation, and think about how much better the world would be without them, and how much we could get done in the world if our government were constitutional.