On September 17, 1787 (two hundred, twenty-nine years ago
today), the U.S. Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia, PA. One of its important compromises –between the Virginia Plan
and the New Jersey Plan— allowed states to be represented both by population
(The House of Representatives, favoring the larger states) and by same number
of votes per state (The Senate, leveling the playing field for smaller states.)
The Constitution was ratified by
conventions in eleven states and was adopted (went into effect) in 1789. It is the longest living Constitution in the
world.
The beauty of the U.S. Constitution is it is alive; It allows
for changes of itself through amendments— for example, the abolition of slavery
(13th), and prohibiting denial of women the right to vote (19th)—and
it is interpreted to fit the lives of people in the present
moment to allow for freedoms as yet unconceived by its writers and ratifiers. (Its
freedoms are often hard won such as in Brown
v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) establishing separate public schools for black and
white students to be unconstitutional; and Giddeons v FL (1961) allowing the accused to obtain a public
defender.) Yale Law Professor and Constitutional
scholar Akhil Amar said about the Constitution, “It is this epic, flawed, spectacular
conversation” and “it’s the job of our generation to make it more perfect still.”
Psychoanalysis, too, is a flawed
and spectacular conversation. It, too, is governed by a set of principles and
procedures, and like the U.S. Constitution, is a sacred forum for struggle and
negotiation where the state of the self is improved, made richer because of
increased accessibility to experience and emotion, and made freer as well by
being so enriched. It is through struggle and argument that our
country is made better. Sometimes I think the conversation of psychoanalysis,
like the voice of the vote, ought to be a basic right. But who will provide and
who will pay for such a service?
No comments:
Post a Comment