Constitution For Turtle Island (eBook)

Doug Reed (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
96 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
9798317810863 (ISBN)

Infos

What if we could rewrite the U.S. Constitution - but do it right this time? No three-fifths clause. No electoral college. No insider trading. No dark money.

Doug Reed grew up among the green lawns of the Virginia suburbs, navigating undiagnosed ADHD and Mennonite-induced religious trauma. A series of misadventures led him to settle accidentally in Madison, WI where he has happily made his home for many years. He is the former Artistic Director of Madison's venerable Broom Street Theater (which is not on Broom Street). He lives with his lovely partner Laura and an aging dog.

---

This book is a love letter to an America that could have been. What if the better angels of our nature had prevailed from the beginning? What if the rights of women, immigrants, the indigenous... hell, what if the rights of EVERYONE had been protected in no-nonsense, ironclad language? What if we put limits on the imperial presidency? Evened out the ridiculous disproportionate Senate? Author Doug Reed, writing as Publius, takes a spirited and humorous journey through the Constitution and suggests real solutions for putting our country back on a sensible path again. This book is not about the current crisis - how we got into it, nor how we get out of it. This book is about planting a hopeful seed for the time after, when we have to rebuild our shattered and fractured country.

Textauszug

The Constitution
of Turtle Island

We the People of Turtle Island,

[Hi. Publius here. For the most part, I will let this Constitution speak for itself. I shall, however, reserve the right to pop into a sidebar now and then with the occasional commentary.

I suppose you’re wondering about the name “Turtle Island”. What’s wrong with “America”?

If this Constitution represents a clean break with the past, then it makes sense to change the name.

The name “America” comes from Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who never set foot in this land that became the United States. His name is a leftover relic from a long-gone age of exploitation and hubris.

Other than sentiment, there is no reason to keep the name. If we are to name the country after a Person, Mr. Vespucci is about 1,385th on the list of people who deserve the honor.10

The Mohawk people, who were among the original inhabitants of our land, referred to this place as Anowara:kowa—which translates to Turtle Island.

In some Native American creation myths, the earth is carried on the back of a giant turtle. While this has been disproven thanks to science, if you look at a map of North America, and hold it at a certain angle, and squint a little, you can see that the land does sort of look like a giant turtle.

Consider the noble turtle for a moment, will you? In Aesop’s fable, the turtle, through sheer audacity and tenacity, beats the vainglorious hare.

In the fable of Dr. Seuss, a lowly turtle deposes a tyrant with a simple burp.

In modern mythology, ninja turtles keep the sewers of New York safe from evildoers.

Even the band The Turtles are best known for their hymn to fidelity and commitment, “Happy Together”.

Turtles are peaceful, self-contained creatures, who nonetheless have a hell of a bite if you mess with them. Is there any loftier animal to aspire to?

Having explained the name, we now proceed to the Preamble, and we apologize to those Persons old enough to remember Schoolhouse Rock. While this preamble is based on the old Constitution’s, you cannot sing it to the same tune.

We’ll start again.]

We the people of Turtle Island declare these inalienable truths;

that all Persons are created equal;

that power derives from the consent of the governed;

that power concentrated into a few hands is injurious to the liberty of the People;

that all may pursue happiness, but none may impinge upon their neighbor’s pursuit;

that with great freedom comes great responsibility;

that Turtle Island is a blessing to be cherished and celebrated.

Wherefore, we the people of Turtle Island, in order to make the Union more perfecter, the people’s rights more securer, the air and water more purer, the people’s lives more freer, establish equal justice under law, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for Turtle Island, that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth.

Article One: We The People

Wherein we define who the People are, and secure their right to vote in free and fair elections.

[In the old Constitution, Article One was all about the Congress. That was a mistake. We were so concerned about the Government that we forgot the People and had to tack on their Bill Of Rights later.

We’re going to fix that here. We’re going to establish who the People are and their inalienable rights from the get-go. Article One.]

Section One: Who Are The People?

(a) A Person is an individual human from birth to death; from the first breath to the last breath.

(a)(1) Nothing else is a Person. Especially you, corporations.

[Here in Article One, Section One, Paragraph A—we identify two of the great American elephants in the room, kill them both with one stone, and throw them out with the bathwater.

The first is “corporate personhood”. Corporations are not People.

A Person lives, breathes, and dies. A Person falls in love and writes mediocre poetry. A Person walks through the world sensible of the suffering of others.

A corporation does none of these things. Yet America invests the corporation with the inalienable rights of a Person, as endowed by their creator.

Who is the creator of the People? That question is far beyond the mortal scope of this Constitution.

Who is the creator of the Corporation? That’s an easy one. Lawyers. Lawyers create corporations.

Different creators, different rights. There’s nothing inalienable about corporations’ rights. If a corporation treads on the well-being of the People, then the People should revoke that grant.

The second elephant in the room is abortion.

In Turtle Island, a Person has the right to terminate a pregnancy. Period.

To those who disagree, you must accept this truth: Life in a free country means that other people are free to do things you find distasteful. Sinful, even. What someone else does with their body is their concern, not yours. Whether or not abortion is offensive to God is a question that no Constitution written by mortals should presume to try and answer. This Constitution exists to enshrine everyone’s freedom, not enforce your beliefs.

End of discussion. Let us move on.]

(b) All Persons are created equal.

(b)(1) Any Person in Turtle Island has the same rights as any other Person in Turtle Island. All Persons get due process of the law.11 All Persons Are Created Equal. Not gender, nor race, nor creed, nor color, nor citizenship, nor national origin, nor sexual preference, nor physical, mental, or emotional disability, nor immigration status, nor religious belief, nor religious non-belief, nor sexual identity, nor changes in gender identity, nor wealth, nor celebrity, nor hat size, nor peanut butter brand preference, nor any other group distinction shall change that. All Persons are created equal. All Persons are equal before the law.

(c) Only Citizens can (and should) vote. Only Citizens can hold public office.

(c)(1) Other than voting and officeholding, all Persons have the same rights as Citizens. A human right is a human right is a human right, am I right?

Section Two: Citizenship Sounds Cool. How Do I, A Person, Get In On That?

(a) If you are a permanent resident of any state or territory of the old United States at the time you read this—congratulations, you are now a citizen of Turtle Island.

(b) After this Constitution is adopted…

(b)(1) If you take your first breath on Turtle Island soil, congratulations, you’re a Turtle Island Citizen.

(b)(2) If you take your first breath abroad, but at least one of your parents is a Turtle Island Citizen, congratulations, you’re a Turtle Island Citizen.

(b)(2)(i) It doesn’t matter if your parent is biological or adoptive. They love you just the same. We here at Turtle Island love you, too.

(b)(3) If you’re a minor, and at least one of your parents becomes a naturalized citizen, you’re a Turtle Island Citizen, kid.

(b)(4) If you live here for seven years, don’t get convicted of a felony, and swear a loyalty oath, you, too, are a Turtle Island Citizen.

(b)(5) If you’re a young immigrant, and successfully complete two years of National Service,12 and swear a loyalty oath, welcome to Turtle Island Citizenship.

(c) A citizen of Turtle Island may hold multiple citizenships.

(d) Citizenship can never be revoked by the Turtle Island government. No takebacks.

Section Three: What Good Is The Consent Of The Governed If The Governed Can’t Vote?

(a) All citizens over the age of 18 have the right to vote in Turtle Island, which can never be rescinded, except upon conviction for a felony crime of insurrection, election fraud, or treason.

(b) Every state, territory, county, town, village, city, hamlet, dot-on-the-map, and unincorporated landmass must allow an early voting period of at least fourteen days prior to Election Day, encompassing all seven days of the week, with the polls open at least twelve hours per day.

(b)(1) At the very minimum, there shall be one polling place open for early voting in each Turtle Island Post Office.13 States and localities can (and should) open other early polling places at their discretion.

(c) All states and localities shall make absentee mail-in ballots available upon request of any eligible citizen.

(d) All voting for federal offices shall take place on the first Monday in June, and this day shall be a federal holiday.

[Why...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.9.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• ISBN-13: 9798317810863 / 9798317810863