Do we wait for perfect people?
There are not now, nor have there ever been, perfect people, except one, and if you believe that story, we crucified him! Is perfection attainable? Human history and daily practice say no. Should we let that stand in the way of progress?
A historian I trust said that one of our founders was a horrible man. I have no argument against that theory. The question then: “Is the product of his intellect invalid?" If the product of the minds of our founders is deemed incorrect and inoperable because they were severely flawed men, we also have no right to take on the trials of our own day! We are as flawed as they, in ways we can not yet grasp!
Do we wait for perfect documents?
Our founders were flawed, as we have noted. We live and work in a system they created. Is that system inherently wrong as a result? Shall we wait for perfect people to produce perfect governing documents? If so, we would not to this day have attended the greatest evil of their time or ours!
Had we waited until the present to begin this noblest of human tasks, we would be 250 years further from reaching it today!
With all our imperfections, we who live today risk the greatest prodigality if we do not act! The Declaration, the revolution, and the Constitution may be flawed, but they created a template for more change. They did not abolish the great sin of the day, but built the siege works for its future destruction. They did this, but not without making numerous mistakes and implementing changes along the way.
We are still striving today, and the process, the work, will never be perfectly completed! The “pursuit” of happiness is our goal, not happiness as an end in itself. We have never finished. We are always stretching toward a more perfect union.
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!
The founders flounder in their own ideas. They conflict with themselves, not just among each other but inside their own heads! Yet they made progress. We, ourselves, are a magnificent mess, but there is something higher and more noble in our messy ideals. We must strive toward perfection, though we know we will never completely attain it. Imperfection should not prevent us from moving forward. Don't let the perfect prevent us from progress.
"Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien" Voltaire