Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Elgar
I've never understood why people say the UK doesn't have a constitution, or even why they say we don't have a written one. Ours is probably the largest written constitution in the world. It just wasn't written down in one time or place. It's evolved over centuries.
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Adam,
Interesting point. And yet, what you guys across the pond have seems to work for you... and for us as well. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard an American lawyer cite "English Common Law" in an argument, I could retire to Belize.
The other nice thing about what you have: it's constantly evolving. Here, we have a kind of unthinking fetishization of the original document. Don's right, it's kind of like the bible... people take it as an article of faith when it suits their own interests, but tend not to focus on the contradictions. For example, our constitution says a black man is worth three fifths of a human being. There are lots of other things like that, and yet people hold it up as some kind of glorious document.
But your system clearly works better. When you had a similar crisis something like a decade ago, you solved it. We don't seem to be able to do that, at least we haven't so far. Why? Here's what we're facing:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...s-profits.html
That link details the ownership chain and political affiliations of the folks who make the Bushmaster .223 semi-automatic rifle. There are no surprises there, it is exactly what anyone would expect. But it does show this isn't about rights at all. It's about short term profits, and the legal system that supports them. So much for government of the people, by the people, for the people...
Peace,
Bill
(p.s. I also wish we had something like your prime minister's question time. If we had, some of the people who were elected here would never have made it to higher office...