Looking Backward from the Tricentennial

Chapter Thirty-Seven (part 2)

"Tell me the details," Julian said. "What was the first legislative package?"

Cartlon settled back in his chair, tented his fingers, and began to explain. "The American Union structured its goals around the duties laid out in the Preamble. Since the Constitution is our foundation for government and a common political ancestor for the parties, it was a natural fit. 'We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union.'"

"You know, Julian, when the colonies declared independence in 1776, they were walking out on strike. They refused to labor under King George any longer; they quit. When they formed the United States under the Articles of Confederation, it was just 'a firm league of friendship.' They weren't really a union—working together for mutual benefit—until the Constitution was adopted. The Preamble was their mission statement.

"The first goal was to establish justice. Most people recognized that the criminal justice system in America was in need of a serious overhaul, especially after the murder of George Floyd and the extra attention that racial bias was getting. So major police, prison, and prosecutorial reforms were included." Carlton rattled off policies that Julian had discussed with Stella Freedom and Ray.

"Ending the federal war on drugs wasn't without controversy," he recalled. "There were some who supported it as a states' rights issue since the federal legislation repealed the laws on the national level but let states continue to set their own policies.

"The second duty is insuring domestic tranquility, and partisan politics was one of the biggest instigators of division in the country. The American Union offered a way to sidestep the drama with a policy-driven approach and used that to address the wedge issues of guns and abortion."

"I heard about that," Julian said, motioning for Carlton to continue.

"Next was providing for the common defense; America's trillion dollar 'defense budget' far exceeded the Framer's mandate. They had been so concerned about standing armies that Article 1, Section 8, prohibits Congress from funding the army for more than two years at a time. After World War Two, however, the military-industrial complex developed into the standing army the Framers feared. The package reduced the size of our global military footprint—we talked about the details two weeks ago—and worked to restore America's reputation on the world stage."

"What happened with military suicides?" Julian asked.

"They dropped, of course—all suicides did." Carlton paused before continuing. "It proved we were doing better at meeting our fourth duty—promote the general welfare. Do you know what the word welfare means?"

Julian supplied Teara's definition from the previous month. "Health, happiness, prosperity: well-being," he recited.

"Very good," Carlton said, suitably impressed. "The duty to promote those things was largely met through the American Union Jobs Program. You've learned about UBI; what about Treasury Dollar Bills and monetary reform?"

Julian's answer took the form of a question. "The debt was all made up?"

"Truth as a guiding principle put an end to that," Carlton agreed.

"I'm talking with an economist tomorrow about the details; you can skip those."

The professor continued, "Besides unconditional basic income to abolish poverty, there was a public option for health insurance, based on Joe Biden's campaign promise, and eighteen weeks of paid family leave. Shifting to a trickle-up economy improved the general well-being of everyone in the United States."

"What about noncitizens?" Julian asked. "They didn't get American Union Jobs, right?"

"Good question," Carlton said. "They do not, so you're correct they didn't benefit as much as citizens did; in fact, since there was a one-time bump in prices as a result of new taxes, some people said immigrants were hurt by the program. But that was counteracted by all of the other social benefits. Eliminating poverty disproportionately benefited the communities they lived in, reducing problems like crime and creating new business opportunities—immigrants are frequently entrepreneurs. They also benefited as wages increased, and for those who needed help from the safety net, the net worked a lot better after tens of millions of Americans stepped onto a safety floor.