The American Constitution soundly won the 2016 election, though not through the electoral results.
The American Left, rather, has overwhelmingly vindicated the ideals of the Founding Fathers in its response to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory.
Flag burnings, street blockings and calls for revolution do not reflect any form of modern progressivism. These actions instead hearken back to the ideals of the Founding Fathers, championed by the American Right and enshrined in the United States Constitution.
In the many gun control debates over the past decade, conservative commentators held firm that guns are necessary to defend ourselves against a tyrannical government. Liberals would sit in dignified shock at the concept that the American government had the capacity for tyranny.
America perpetually strives to be a “More perfect union,” and the Left placed its faith in this aspiration.
The result of this election was fundamentally unthinkable to most on the Left, and remained so quite literally until the moment Mr. Trump broke 270 electoral votes.
In the days following, many on the Left have taken to the streets in the thousands, calling for revolution, for the mutual defense of its members, for the government to stay away from their rights as citizens. These actions are all classically conservative.
Jefferson himself said the tree of liberty should be refreshed with revolutionary blood. The right to bear arms exists for the express purpose of mutual defense, and the 10th Amendment exists to preserve the rights of the people against the federal government.
Our Constitution is not outdated. It never has been.
The Black Panthers used it to aggressively push a message of social justice. The Suffragettes had to break social norms, not Constitutional ones, to win their right to vote.
The Constitution currently provides tools for the American people to defend against a government that has, at many points in time, systematically denied groups of citizens their rights.
If you feel the system inherently devalues your life, threaten it through your Constitutional rights.
Vote for laws you believe in. Participate actively in state politics.
Act to limit federal power, not enhance it, if you fear that it threatens you. The federal government is not a friend; at best, it is an ally of convenience.
Defenders of the Constitution, specifically the Right, have preached this for centuries.
The right wing should embrace this moment. It should not fear the Left establishing its rights or pushing its agenda.
That is a sign of small government, one that allows both sides to exercise their rights without the meddling of a government that only respects rights when they are politically palatable.
The Republican government described in the Constitution is not an idle one. It demands of its people, lest it be corrupted, and whether Trump is that corruption or not is beside the point. The point is that no government should cause its people to tremble, for the people are the final safeguards of liberty.
Fraser Wright is a sophomore history major from Tiburon, California.
