Citizens of the United States,

Have you ever heard of the USS Constitution? It is a four deck, three-masted, 44-gun frigate built in 1797. It is the most decorated warship of its era and the oldest commissioned warship still in service. She is, without a doubt, a national treasure.

Now, let me tell you about the USS Gerald R. Ford. It is the largest warship ever built. It has 25 decks and carries 75 aircraft. It is powered by a nuclear reactor and has next generation radars, electromagnetic launch systems, surface-to-air missiles, and, most importantly, toilets that flush. On her own, she is more powerful than most national navies; and she is never on her own.

Now. The point. If you had to go into battle today and your life, your loved ones, and your community depended on winning this battle, which ship would you rather be on? The 100,000 ton aircraft carrier? Or the 18th century frigate?

Just as the USS Constitution cannot serve the American People as a flagship, neither can the US Constitution serve as the supreme law of our land. The Constitution was created for a pre-industrial nation of 3 million Americans, while we live in a post-industrial nation of 350 million citizens.

To be clear: this is not a call to sink the USS Constitution or shred the US Constitution, but we cannot continue pretending that a system as broken or corrupt as ours can self-correct. Our Constitution has stood watch for almost two and a half centuries, it has earned the dignity of an honorable discharge. An 18th century government cannot satisfy the needs of a 21st century population, and the longer we pretend it can, the worse off we will be.

The best course of action is to organize a modern Constitutional Convention. Not an amendment, not an Article V Convention of States; a full-fledged, bona fide, reboot-the-Republic Constitutional Convention. We do not need a violent insurrection or a bloody rebellion; we do not need complete anarchy; we need a nonviolent, digital, diplomatic, democratic revolution. We need to begin the process of transitioning to the third iteration of our United States. All other paths seem to lead to national disaster, civil war, or unchecked tyranny.

Our goal must be to assemble the best minds in the country to debate and design the next iteration of our democratic experiment, just like we did in 1787. We should not leave such a delicate, consequential task to corrupt, generalist politicians that have led us to such depths. Just as a ship is designed by a collection of specialists (electricians, engineers, etc.), so too should our government be designed by a collection of specialists (constitutional law professors, political scientists, etc.) who consider the needs and preferences of the crew (all American citizens).

Because unlike last time, we can take advantage of the awesome power of modern technology to broadcast the discussions of our delegates so that “We the People” can criticize, comment, and cheer from the comfort and safety of our homes. A digitized Convention would reveal the will of the American People in unprecedented detail, allow our foremost experts to educate the nation on the mechanics of modern governance, and provide a unifying cultural experience for the nation. This Convention would not just be a political solution to a political problem, it would be a solution to our growing cultural divide, cutting through decades of propaganda and brainwashing with truth of the highest caliber. By combining executive direction, specialized expertise, public feedback, and digital technology, we can design the best government in the world.

The goal is not to make our Union great again, the goal is to make our Union greater than ever. A digital Constitutional Convention would become our generation’s greatest achievement, restore our Republic, and create the most democratic Constitution in the world. So let’s do that. Let’s close this dark chapter in our history and begin a new one: the American Renaissance.

“I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made... institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”
Thomas Jefferson