How the U.S. Education System Failed Me

When I was a sophomore in high School, I remember writing a paper for my English class in which I argued why capital punishment is wrong. I based my argument on ethical grounds and on constitutional grounds; I said that it's ethically wrong and unconstitutional. My position has since changed, and I've come to realize that not only was I blind-sighted, but I was indoctrinated. I transferred to a Catholic school for my Junior and Senior year and, looking back, that was the greatest decision I've ever made. The U.S. public education system failed me; let me explain:

First of all, it's important to understand what the Constitution is and is not. The Constitution is not a living or evolving document; above all else, the Constitution of the United States is a legal document. Article I and III prescribe that Congress, not the courts, should enact policy. In direct contravention, that role has been assigned to the courts under the rubric of "substantive due process," dubious interpretations of the ninth amendment, and a bevy of other provisions that are, essentially, inventions of the judicial branch. The notion of a living Constitution mostly stems from the idea that law is a malleable concept, and that the Constitution—law—can change in accordance with time or changes in society. This is simply not true; in fact, this understanding of law is very dangerous as it politicizes the judiciary and allows "judicial activists" to declare constitutional whatever legal proceeding most closely aligns with their political views. This applies to the death penalty, abortion, assisted suicide, and just about any other issue you can think of. I had to learn this on my own, I wasn't taught this, nobody is taught this. All my peers, friends, and colleagues—if they do not take the initiative to learn—instinctively associate themselves with this questionable understanding of the Constitution; purposivism, it's called.

I wasn't actually taught that the U.S. Constitution is an "evolving" or "living" document, I was told so. I was told that the eight amendment, which prohibits verdicts considered "cruel and unusual," encompasses the death penalty, in addition to many other issues. Kids like myself are generally unable to mount a sophisticated argument against that view, so they just accept it. This is indoctrination, and it is evil. Law means what it meant at the time it was written. When the Bill of Rights was affixed to the Constitution, the death penalty was not considered "cruel or unusual." Therefore, it isn't cruel or unusual. Law is law—dura lex sed lex.

The Constitution is the sole and foremost criterion through which laws must be interpreted. What we've seen over the past several decades is an erosion of the rule of law, a principle that will eventually be replaced with a vote of 5-4. Guess who authored the statement, "refugees vote with their feet"? It was Vladimir Lenin. We must occupy and displace the ideology that predominates the U.S. education system; otherwise, we will give them the power to change the Constitution and, effectively, change our very way of life.