Why are American so obsessed with their Constitution?

As an outsider looking in at politics in the USA, if I had to pick out one thing unique to their politics it would be their weird obsession with the Constitution. Republicans are best known for citing the Constitution especially in opposition to gun regulations. However, even Democrats are not innocent from this cult. They insist that their policies are constitutional and that conservatives are subverting the spirit of the Constitution with their literal and unchanging stance towards it. However, why exactly are they all so crazy about this document?

The constitution in America is incredibly hard to change so it amazes me that so much of American politics is spent arguing over it. US States change their constitution all the time and often they will completely re-write it from scratch. In fact each state has had on average 3 constitutions. Meanwhile, the idea of re-writing the Constitution is such a political fringe that even the idea of socialism is more popular. So it’s literally just the national constitution Americans have a fetish for. Republicans really do not need to fear the constitution becoming magically amended in some way they don’t like. I mean in order for an amendment to pass it needs to get the consent of basically the entire political class. For the Constitution to change, you need to have 2/3 of the House and Senate to vote for it as well as 3/4 of the States. This is incredibly difficult and especially with the polarisation of politics there is a ZERO percent chance that the Constitution could change without the consent of Democratic and Republicans. Unless the Republican Party betrayed their entire bass of support, they have nothing to fear. I mean, Women still don’t have equal rights in the Constitution simply because this thing is so god damn hard to amend. If something so universally accepted still can’t be made constitutional than how could we expect anything remotely controversial to be done?

I would say Democrats need to realise that they cannot change the constitution and need to find other ways to achieve their aims, except I don’t have to. Democrats are also obsessed with the constitution as well. Instead of telling conservatives that “BUT THE CONSTITUTION SAYS” is not a very convincing moral argument they accept that the Constitution shouldn’t be changed significantly and argue that their proposals are constitutional instead of arguing that the constitution might be wrong. “The rights of individuals to take up arms is not guaranteed in the constitution.” “Licences don’t stop people buying guns,” Democrats say. This could be true but by focusing on the constitution, Democrats fight Republicans on their home field. Thus Democrats also have this bizarre fetishisation with the constitution but in a different way.

Getting deeper, the worship of the Constitution is also extended to the men (and it is only men) who wrote it. Even if Democrats often criticise the founding fathers, the idea that the founding fathers created a document that guarantees the rights of all people is persuasive and often unchallenged in American culture. However, the founding fathers were not the Marx’s and Engel’s of the 1700s. They were not men who wanted freedom for all with some controversial methods and ideas. Instead, they fought purely for their own self interest against the good for all. They may have gotten rid of monarchy and nobility but they replaced this vacuum of power with themselves and not with the will of the people. The people the original Constitution advocated for was rich white landowning men. However, Americans ignore this reality, triumphantly calling their war of independence a revolution. The American Revolution can barely even be considered a bourgeois revolution and cannot be compared to the similarly bourgeois French Revolution where atleast their were massive changes for the ordinary person. Meanwhile in America, Shay’s Rebellion began in 1786 against the raising of taxes, the very thing the original war of independence had been about. It was ruthlessly crushed. However, despite the hypocrisy shown by the founding fathers, their Constitution is still defended by the entire political class.

Why are Americans obsessed with the Constitution? I don’t really know. It’s just a weird part of American culture. I suppose there is this weird belief that the Constitution gives Americans all their right and without we would all descend into lawlessness and anarchy which is not true.

I would hate to think what y’all think of the UK where our constitution doesn’t even properly exist. There is no law which says we must have a Prime Minister. A just King decided to create the role and give them his responsibilities just so that he could go on holiday in Germany more. Despite what Americans may hear, especially in regards to Brexit, the UK is not a lawless place where the people have zero rights and the government runs rampant.

So why do Americans love their Constitution? I don’t really know. However, I do know that their obsession is unhealthy and needs to end.