The us constitution needs changes as times have changed

The Constitution was written in 1789, two hundred twenty nine years ago, and was only amended twenty seven times between then and when it was last revised in 1992. I believe that it is possibly the time for a complete restructuring of the whole Constitution because when it was written, it was written for the people of the 1800s, not the people of today. America has changed drastically from 1789 and it is time the basis of our whole government was changed to fit our new standards. Newfound problems that spark controversy should affect the changing of the Constitution such as views of gun control, use of national budget, and change of the age restriction for Public Office positions.

Gun control has been a huge point of controversy in the recent years. An article written May 2018 by CNN outlined the deadliest mass shootings in the United States and the top five deadliest mass shootings have happened in the last fifteen years, the oldest one being from the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007, and the most recent being the shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017. But is the Second Amendment to blame for these mass shootings? While some argue that everyone should have a right to carry a gun because it is in the Constitution therefore nothing is wrong with it. At the time of the writing of the Constitution and the Second Amendment, the “ arms” were not as advanced as they are today. The amendment states “ A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” but is not very specific. The “ Arms” they wrote about was the muskets that were used in the 1780s, not the full auto assault rifles from today. The “ Militia” they wrote about was not specified, and along with the gun regulations of today, almost anyone could get a gun from the store. A teenager has a better chance of getting a gun that getting alcohol from a store. Ultimately, a judicial review should be held to redetermine its constitutionality.

This right that people have is endangering so many others, if the Second Amendment was changed and became more strict on the process of obtaining a gun, the lives lost of the shootings in Las Vegas, Orlando, Sandy Hook, and so many others could have been spared and living happily today. Many believe that the government is putting money in the wrong places and spending it unnecessarily. Different people believe that more money should go into one department while others want it to go into another. The federal government needs to take all these opinions into account and try to satisfy the masses. In a 2015 project by OMB, they found that the United States spends 53. 71% of the national budget on military spendings, which equals $598. 5 billion in just a year. The spending on the military by the United States is more than the next five countries combined. The more important aspects of US lives such as education, medicare and health, housing and community, and food and agriculture, all receive less than 6% and less of the national budget. Those four only add up to 19. 07% combined. This needs to be changed. It is not necessary to spend over half a trillion dollars every year on the military, we are already the strongest nation in the world military wise, and could cut down the spending based on the fact that the country in second place, Russia, has a budget of $85 billion compared to our $600 billion. We need to put more money into the youth as they are the upcoming leaders of the world, and to do that the government needs to add to the budget for education. The United States may boast that they are the smartest and greatest country in the world, but the truth is that we do not top many lists.

The United States is the sixth most educated country in the world. The United States used to be a country full of renovation, innovation, and new ideas, but will not develop as quickly as other countries if not enough people get higher education. The people of the United States deserve to have their voices on this point heard, backed by the principle of popular sovereignty. Spending more on education will not only help the individuals, but benefit society as a whole. Public Office positions are positions that have many requirements in order to even apply to take office. One of the requirements are age, a citizen has to be twenty-five to become a Representative, thirty to become a Senator, and thirty-five to become President. Although these are fair ages to hold office, some people still believe that they should be lowered. One may think that under twenty-five is way too young to hold office, but age is really just a number. I believe that whoever is truly qualified to take office should have the right and chance to run for office. In today’s time, there have been so much controversy, and the government can not do much to satisfy these people because they are not up to date with all things new anymore. The average age of the President is fifty-five years old, average Congress age being fifty-seven, and average Senate age of sixty-one. These mid-fifty year old government officials, are creating laws and dealing with people younger and older than they are, but they should focus on the younger ones because they are the people who will be affected by it the longest period of time. The government needs to try to connect more with the youth, and a good way to do that is to have younger office officials so that they can relate to the younger masses and take their opinions into account. The case of this has obviously changed over the years since the Constitution was written, and maybe is time for loose construction of the government.

The rules in the Constitution should be flexible as times have changed. Two hundred twenty-nine years ago, the Constitution, the basis of our entire country, was written. Since then, not much has been revised, but that is what the problem is, in the TV show The Newsroom, one of the characters says a powerful line on problems and how to fix them: “ The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.” The Constitution needs to be changed as time changes, it needs to adapt towards the issues of today’s time. Issues such as gun control should have effect on the second amendment, national budget spending should be changed, and the government officials should be younger to relate more to the youth of the country as they are the future leaders. The Constitution is outdated, it does not function as well as it did before, it can not keep up with the money, big businesses, technology, and political corruption of today’s time, it is time for a change.