THE NEW AGE--ARTICLE--MAY 1990--ARTCANN.MAY
    THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE CONSTITUTION: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
                          MARK W. CANNON
         Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
     Smithsonian Institution Building, Washington, D.C.  20560


     Remarkable results came from volunteer efforts to
commemorate the Constitution, especially by members of the
Scottish Rite.  These results were laid out in last month's
Scottish Rite Journal.  Now let us explore what was learned from
the Commemoration.
     First, undaunted initiative is alive and well.  Innumerable
stories of people creating their own ways to honor the
Constitution inspired us -- Cheryl Niro had the Constitution read
to thousands during lunch hour at Daley Square, Chicago; Jeannie
Piazza-Zuniga produced a puppet show on the Founders that
entertained some 20,000 children in Miami schools; and James
Algernon Johnson, of London, Arkansas, became the first person to
fly to all 48 contiguous States in a single trip, and spoke about
the Constitution throughout.
     Second,volunteers internalize the subject being promoted. 
This is one of the least recognized aspects of volunteer
programs.  Well constructed, they may convert sympathetic
bystanders into persuasive advocates.
     Third, freedoms reinforce each other.  For example, of the
active Bicentennial leaders that responded to a survey, 93
percent believe that "free enterprise and the rights of private
property are critically important both for political freedom as
well as for prosperity."  Freedom produces a cascade of
creativity and benefits, but once lost is costly, if not
impossible, to regain.  
     Governed under a variation of our Constitution, Japan has
produced an economic miracle, going from one-sixth of our per
capita income after World War II to in excess of our per capita
income now.  Taiwan, having started off with a per capita income
similar to Communist China, but with more freedom, now has 17
times the per capita income of the mainland.  South Korea's
development, with greater freedom, has outstripped North Korea's. 
West Germany, a constitutional democracy, has surpassed East
Germany.  
     As Winston Churchill emphasized, "Democracy is the worst
form of Government except all those other forms that have been
tried."

DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE 

     For freedom to succeed, opinion leaders must urge
responsible values and behavior by example and precept,
particularly in the following five areas: 
     One.  Let us recognize the conditions of freedom.  Since the
United States has the longest period of expanding freedom with
popular sovereignty, this suggests the importance of dispersing
power among independent branches of government, the States, and
private organizations, such as a free press.  This allows public
and private checks to stop abuses of power.
     Two.  As Tocqueville said, our first duty is to "educate
democracy."  The document, Education for Democracy, for instance
urged moving beyond the self-condemnation of the Vietnam era and
called for a curriculum that would extol democracy as "the
worthiest form of government ever conceived."  Scornful of value-
free education, they declared, "It is hardly necessary to be
neutral in regard to freedom over bondage, or the rule of law
over the rule of the mob."
     Three.  We must nurture the American willingness to serve
others.  We must cultivate these qualities in an on-coming
generation that is decreasingly trained in them.  Youth seek
practical ideals.  Young Americans need to understand the
reasoning of the Founders that we can only survive through
widespread public virtue--which they can exemplify.  As President
George Bush stated: "From now on in America, any definition of a
successful life must include serving others." 

CONCLUSION
     Volunteerism is exemplified by George Washington, the
launching of whose Presidency we commemorate this year.  To
create a free nation, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the
Continental Army, forgoing, in advance, any compensation.  For
the benefit of America he rebuked proposals that he become king. 
Washington served as Chairman of the Constitutional Convention
without compensation.  He also refused a salary as President.
     Washington's example still guides America.  International
polling shows that Americans stand out in doing volunteer work,
in valuing science, in saying that a "feeling of accomplishment"
is the most important aspect of their work, in religious faith,
and in confidence in their institutions.  Eighty percent of
Americans are proud of their country compared with 38 percent of
Europeans. 
     Let us keep Washington's image bright.  The challenge to the
members of the Scottish Rite is to teach people to cherish our
Constitution and the free system it undergirds, to carry out the
responsibilities that will sustain it, to gain the joys of giving
of ourselves to help others, so that "We the People" are solving
some of the most difficult problems we have ever faced.  Only
this prescription can counter corrosive greed and cynicism.  Our
individual challenges are of lesser magnitude than George
Washington's, but as he changed history, so each of us can make a
difference.
_______________________________________
Remarkable results came from volunteer efforts to commemorate the
Constitution, especially by members of the Scottish Rite.

"Democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other
forms that have been tried."
                                   Winston Churchill


Young Americans need to understand the reasoning of the Founders
that we can only survive through widespread public virtue--which
they can exemplify.  As President George Bush stated:  "From now
on in America, any definition of a successful life must include
serving others."

Our individual challenges are of lesser magnitude than George
Washington's, but as he changed history, so each of us can make a
difference.

[Editor's Note:  Part one of this article appeared in the April
issue.  It is excerpted and adapted from a keynote address to a
triennial convention of Phi Kappa Phi.]
 

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