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>I wouldn't say that when other countries that lack the same constitutional protections end up with far fewer corresponding freedoms. The situation in US may not be perfect, but compare our 1A rights with Germany, or our 2A rights with UK.
It's true that rights have been eroded a little slower here than in Europe, but in the long run this means nothing. Constitutions do little to stop the encroachment of state power in the long run, particularly when you consider that the very document meant to limit the government is both enforced and interpreted by that same government, leading to ridiculous, clearly unconstitutional practices that are not stopped. The existence of the FBI, the public school system, and most federal agencies besides the Post Office are all justified under a perverse, roundabout reading of the Interstate Commerce clause, for example.
>Also it's not meant to be a magic incantation that will physically prevent the government from doing bad things.
But people still treat it like that regardless. A constitution gives the illusion that the current government is legitimate and benevolent even when it clearly isn't. It breeds complacency in the people and lends even more of a false ethos to government actions.
>Also it's not meant to be a magic incantation that will physically prevent the government from doing bad things. It's part of a system that, if adopted by people that generally agree with it, will ensure that in the long run government tends to not do bad things.
But this is wrong. The federal government has been in violation of the Constitution pretty much from day one (remember the Sedition Acts?). We have a massive standing army. We have legions of bureaucrats working on the behalf of hundreds of federal agencies, all of which regularly act against the liberties supposedly granted by the Constitution. Congress hasn't declared war for close to eighty years, yet we've been in a dozen conflicts since then. All of these things and more are grossly unconstitutional, yet the practical opposition to them is virtually nonexistent. This piece of paper does not prevent bad government, it gives bad government a veneer of legitimacy to hide behind when criticized.