(From CBS 2 School, For Dan C. and Mac H. and all the other Harry Potter fans)We take our medicine quite seriously. Historically speaking, going to the movies has always made us feel better. During the Great Depression roughly 60% of Americans, on average, attended the cinema once a week. [With the advent of TV this percentage has hovered around 10%.] In the 1930s we laughed at Charlie Chaplin and were enchanted by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz while falling in love with Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind. Movies helped us forget about the pain of the real world.
In our days of uncertainty going to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows might be just what the doctor ordered. Based on the seventh and final book of J.K. Rowling this two-part movie finale finds Harry, Ron and Hermione in search of Voldemort’s vital horcruxes. In these horcruxes Voldemort has hidden pieces of his soul. As long as these horcruxes remain Voldemort stays immortal.
This sounds a lot like our United States Constitution. Its immortality seems to defy reason. When wondering how our governing document has survived for as long as it has one first must discover its horcruxes. Buried deep inside our constitution students of government will find the secrets of its immortality.
First is the concept of separation of powers. The founding fathers saw to it to dilute government power at every instance. The best safeguard of our liberty is to divide government power into three branches. The power of the purse and the power of the sword should be in different hands. The President might send troops to far away places but the Congress through its budget can limit the duration. The Courts can decide outcomes when legal questions arise.
Second is the concept of checks and balances. Checks and balances allow each branch of government to negate or limit what the other branches are doing. If the President acts out of order the Court can practice judicial review anddeclare such actions unconstitutional. Members of Congress are held accountable through a President’s veto.
Third is federalism. The dilution of power did not stop at the national level. The founding fathers saw fit to divide wherever they could. We also divide power between national, state and local governments. Federalism is another firewall used to protect our liberty.
And the final horcrux is popular sovereignty. The most important source of our government’s seemingly immortal standing is that ultimate authority is found in the people. From the greatest to the least and to those with the highest and lowest stake all citizens have a voice in our government. We the people are responsible for our own survival. The natural instinct of self preservation helps to explain why our constitution endures.
The immorality of our constitution will depend upon the preservation of these four horcruxes. Our longstanding form of government and the way of life it promotes is rooted in the separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism and popular sovereignty. In the darkness of our age the immutability of the United States Constitution may be the tonic we are looking for. Used as medicine, our constitution can help cure what is ailing us.
Have a spoon full of sugar handy just in case.
7 comments:
First of all, the teacher on the left is a noob. That would be Hermione, not Ginny, that is hunting Horcruxes with Harry and Ron. Had to get that off my chest.
Second of all, though the Quidditch rules metaphor was kinda weak, the idea of the "immortality" of our government was an interesting way to analyze our political system. But I think the metaphor is in one way flawed: the idea of a Horcrux is something whole being divided to make it more difficult to kill. In terms of our government, that would in many ways be like a metaphor for the idea of division of power: if one branch fails, there are still other parts of the government that can sustain and repair the rest. To me, the ideas of checks and balances, federalism, division of power, and popular sovereignty are more like the Deathly Hallows than they are like Voldemort's Horcruxes.
The different elements of the Hallows are powerful in their own right- a government that wielded one or two of the ideals embedded in our Constitution would have a certain degree of power. But without all of the Hallows, one is not immortal. Basing a government off just one of these ideals can breed corruption like the Elder Wand does. For example, a purely majority run (popular sovereignty) society wouldn't account for minority rights. An overly federalist government would breed apathy and spawn inaction, like the Resurrection Stone. Only one who has possession of all three Hallows can harness the powers of all of them without becoming foolishly reliant on just one. The components of government mentioned by the two teachers are individual theories on governement that unite to form our "immortal" government. WIthout one of the elements of the American government, it would be fundamentally different. Without one Horcrux, one can still live forever, provided the rest remain intact. But without just one of the Deathly Hallows, immortality no longer exists.
First of all, in regards to the comment on Ginny....It said Hermione, not Ginny, unless I missed something.
And I agree. I'm intrigued by the idea that the Constitution is comparable to Horcruxes. However, the analysis leaves out the singular idea of the morality behind bot the formation of the Constitution and the formation of Horcruxes. As Rowling points out distinctly several times, Horcruxes can only be created by splitting the soul through an act in complete violation of nature - murder and therefore are the most evil and dangerous of magic. Surely no one would suggest that the Constitution is the product of murder and violence and though some (Charles Beard for example) would claim that it is a product of the greed of the founding fathers, the Constitution itself cannot be compared to Horcruxes without addressing this glaring flaw in the argument. Horcruxes defy the laws of nature whereas written words of law seem to emphasize the needs of society rather than its depravity and lack of human emotion. I agree with John that a comparison to the Hallows would be more appropriate.
Ok, first, I agree with John, the teacher is a noob and he did say Ginny.
As for the idea of horcruxes relating to the constitution is a bit absurd and sounds like a last minute resort by these teachers to gain some attention over the harry potter weekend. With that out of the way, there may be some similarities between horcruxes and the constitution, but the ideas are just vastly different. The central idea, though, is that the constitution is immortal and in many ways it is. The constitution has survived longer than the articles of the confederation because it has given power to the people, but also secured enough national power to govern individual states.
I found the metaphor between the Horcruxes and the American government quite interesting. As stated, the main idea of a Horcrux is taking something whole and dividing it so that if one part dies, the whole still cannot be destroyed. The separation of powers allows the government to rely on other parts so the entire government cannot fail at once. But I also agree that the elements of the Hallows would have been a better comparison to the government. Popular sovereignty is in fact one of the most important parts of government, or rather "the most important Horcrux". Overall, this was quite amusing.
And as for the teacher on the left, he did say Ginny instead of Hermione and he said it twice.
The teacher did say Ginny- first off.
Secondly, I felt that the metaphors to the US system were very weak. I am extremely familiar with the UK's system and I was noticing some similarities between the the Parliamentry system and the Ministry of Magic. But I the equating Hogwarts to the branches of US Government really seemed to be something and English teacher would do to a book - adding symbolism where it doesn't exist. And I must agree with John O' about the horocruxes- they are more like the Deathly Hallows than they are the horcruxes- unless if one wants to equate the US government to the soul of a murdering, racist pig?
Lastly- why take a decent piece of fiction and turn it into a bunch of unintended symbolism? (There has been one reference to the US in all books, and that was about a school of Witchcraft in Salem- Book 4). I though the 2 Teachers ruined the film for me.
Haha, I agree with John. Clearly these teachers are not true Potter fans. (and they lose credibility already)
I agree with a lot of what was said above. Personally, I felt the connections were weak. For instance, the four separate houses are not quite the same as the different houses in government. In our government, each house has a different responsibilty, not a specific mascot or trait like the Hogwart houses. Also, the rules of quidditch is a bit of a stretch. Although generally the players do follow the rules, there were multiple instances in the series where the players used curses while playing. Clearly, some can get away with breaking the rules when know one is looking. And for the record, the MOM never got along with Dumbledore.
Overall, my guess is that these teachers were just trying to relate to their students. However, the metaphor is definitely a stretch, though I suppose the basic concept is okay: we must uphold all of our basic principles to maintain our democracy. We already knew that.
I also agree with a lot of the other comments. I can see how separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and popular sovereignty are connected with the Horcruxes. Without the four of these, the U.S Constitution, the ideologies we abide by, would collapse. I did not quite agree so much with the Quidditch metaphor; I honestly don't think our system is able to distinguish every single person who doesn't play be the rules. I also think the Houses metaphor is weak. In Harry Potter, the houses are competing against each other to get the most points, to get the most "power." The system of checks and balances was made so this is prevented; it was made to keep the House, Senate, Executive Branch, and Supreme Court trying to balance each other out so not one can come up with the most power. But overall, the metaphor was pretty interesting.
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