Thus, I consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the Public Good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain Partisans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign Nations, as well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent Unanimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of any Government in procuring and securing happiness to the people depends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of that Government as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors. — Ben Franklin
This comment from Franklin might be the most controversial among current leaders today, but again, the wisdom is immense. Franklin starts by saying, again, he is agreeing though he has doubts, but is willing to accept the fact that perhaps The Constitution is an okay document. He has no illusions that he could have done tons better. Now it is on this point that our current leaders, and yours truly, really needs to focus.
As I tell my class and my church, we all hold to our opinions because we believe them to be true. No one holds an opinion that they know to be false. And for most of us, our opinions are hard fought and dearly won, thus we are typicall loath to let them go. Franklin has couched this entire piece on the notion that we should hold our opinions more loosely. I, for one, know how hard that is to do, but it is a key step on the path of wisdom.
Franklin then goes further to make the key point–since we’ve created this document, we must now be careful in what is said to others, to our constituents. If, he suggests, we go home and loudly blast the document on the points that we think poor or bad (and remember, Franklin certainly had a list of things he did not like with the document), then all such ramblings and bloviations will merely inflame public opinion against the document.
If every one of us in returning to our constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain Partisans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign Nations, as well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent Unanimity.
What a great sentence. He doesn’t stop there, though, for with this next sentence, he nails what many today believe to be our biggest problem in so much of government.
Much of the strength and efficiency of any Government in procuring and securing happiness to the people depends on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of that Government as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors.
WOW. Its bad enough, today, that we have to put up with an unbalanced media who seems intent on twisting the opinion of the population to be AGAINST the government, rather than with it. However, on top of that, we have a never ending stream of political leaders who are all too happy to jump in front of a camera to pontiificate about some point of some issue. Franklin is not, notice, saying that the members of the meeting could not disagree. They could and they did. His point was that now, having argued and compromised and now produced a document, they should gather together in support of the decision. And, they should refrain from “airing their dirty laundry” so to speak.
I know this notion cuts against the grain of what so many believe they understand about government and that each and every decision should somehow be made a public spectacle. Franklin realizes that the opponents of the action, in this case the Constitution, will certainly point out whatever flaws they find. And the press will have its voice heard, in 1788 as in 2007. But, we the leaders, must now work together to bring about the ratification of this act. If we don’t, we will undermine the public opinion. Boy, do we need to work hard to undo the errosion of public opinion towards leaders, leaders in any and all fields including politics.
I realize that sometimes the groups or organizations to which we belong make choices that we, individually disagree with. And at times, we should use all of our efforts to halt and oppose whatever choice is being made. But in the realm of politics, that can’t seriously be happening each and every time. Debate, discuss, argue, but then compromise, tweak and balance and then, ultimately, lead us. Don’t act like such little children finger-pointing on the playground simply because you feel slighted in some way.
In my fraternity, FarmHouse, we had a “rule” about our decisions in that, we could loudly and strongly oppose one another on issues, but once the vote was had, then the decision stood and we would stand behind our decision, shoulder to shoulder, and give our best effort to see the decision successful. Guess we were channeling Franklin, even though we may not have known it.
Maybe some leaders will start to do the same.