This Man Lived Like the Founding Fathers For a Year. This Is What He Learned | Amanpour and Company

[@CLSmithSween]

This was quite interesting. I appreciate his energy and voice. As a Black woman, I thought I would hate this but I actually hear where the Constitution makes mistakes and could be modernized. I also hear a writer who wants Congress to act with power to live in true democracy. I love that he also stresses more than two parties for our success. Makes so much sense.

[@saralynn518]

Good for him! Pursuing curiosities and learning to better ourselves is commendable.

[@-Gramps]

I started this video with the opinion that this author was probably an attention-seeking scam, but finished with a deep respect for his experience, knowledge, & sticking to the premises of our original Constitution! Well done, sir! I humbly applaud your determination & respect your integrity!

[@TheCALMInstitute]

Ok but carrying a musket around Manhattan and saying you lived like the founding fathers is a real schtick. Did he use outdoor plumbing in Manhattan too? This guy spent a year working on a book and reframed that with…great liberty.

[@eschwarz1003]

@@TheCALMInstitute yeah that part almost made me click away; but then he did bring up some points

[@susanmorales6941]

What a joyful person!! Loved this!

[@davidcarbone3385]

Any reasonable person who has not been bought out would agree the conservative justices of the scotus today are immoral and insincere picking and choosing what to interpret the way they choose to interpret it because the founders intended the constitution to be organic, to change with the times.

[@LRCW1]

I have always thought of the Constitution as a living breathing document. The words More Perfect Union signifies that to me. Time does not remain stagnant, it changes & so must the Constitution. That is the only way to create a more perfect Union.

[@Bholaday44]

I recommend 'Pipeline to Power - The 40-Year Plan to Capture the Supreme Court.' It is real. And scary. And wrong. Six people should not be deciding the fates and rights of over 70% of the people when SCOTUS are voting against the people's interests.

[@Without_Goals]

Found the tribesman.

[@TheCALMInstitute]

I agree with you in principle- the end result is immoral, stupid, and dangerous. But this system was designed with the expectation that our LAWMAKERS would do their job. If the law hasn’t been updated in 200 years, that’s THEIR fault. I’m not sure it’s reasonable to blame the SCOTUS for that failure. With lawmakers doing their job, an originalist wouldn’t be a problem.

[@davidcarbone3385]

@@TheCALMInstitute Yes, but I read it takes a 67% majority, sometimes 75%. It's been amended 27 times; I read last being 1992. But I can't imagine it being amended anytime in the near future.

[@SandraGoff-t9c]

Good to remember our fight for independence was aided by French support of supplies, ships, and soldiers. We are all interdependent on each other in this world.

[@JeanVance]

Thank you A. J. Jabobs for teaching me more about the Constitution.

[@totostamopo]

Ranked choice voting! I'm convinced that if we started there we could open up the door to expanding and diversifying the party system. Love "the method" this author used. We actors have been employing this method of understanding for years. It is quite fruitful. Thanks for writing this book and for airing this segment.

[@doctor_fever]

Ranked choice voting will absolutely diversify the party system. Adding criminalization of all private and anonymous election campaign financing will make possible campaigning for office by literally anyone with the drive and the time.

[@dahliafully]

Yes, ranked choice has worked well and tends to represent the will of the people beyond what gerrymandering has done. FAIRVOTE is an excellent, bipartisan organization working for this.

[@davidlafleche1142]

In other words, more cheat-to-win.

[@totostamopo]

@@davidlafleche1142 With respect, how does ranked choice voting equate with cheat-to-win? I'm not following

[@doctor_fever]

@@dahliafully Gerrymandering is a still-legal exploitation of the necessity to adjust district lines per the decennial census. Many states have resolved that partisan power grab by replacing legislature control with nonpartisan redistricting commissions. The one with which I've had exposure has demonstrated clear tolerance for differing political views while studiously applying logic to the redistricting process. Democracy can really work well when we put our hearts and minds to it!

[@karinetyrrell1402]

Thank you A.J. Jabobs for so much information that you uncovered and shared.

[@i.am.navkaur]

Really enjoyed hearing about this thought-provoking experiment!

[@msolomonii9825]

As Murica and the world on the edge of falling to fascism this is timely.

[@victoriawhitworth9400]

A.J. Jacobs is my new hero!! Absolutely wonderful interview.

[@GrumpyYank26]

Well.... I just found a copy of the Constitution online and read the whole thing!! Thanks for the nudge Amanpour and Co!! (old white lady, Washington state)

[@davidwilkie9551]

Confirmation of a philosophical legitimacy is what this is, authentication of the relevant attitudes for any era was the intention of a democratic constitution to replace authoritarian impunity. (It's not rocket science) Thank you.

[@Aida-j9v]

Wonderful to hear what he has to say. Many revelations here...

[@stannieholt8766]

I knew A.J.back when we were reporters for (semi-) competing newspapers in the 1990s. All I can say is Maaaan, the man is non-stop. How does he write like tomorrow won't arrive? How does he write like he needs it to survive? How does he write every second he’s alive? He is definitely not throwing away his shot.

[@user-zu7gk9ol9f]

Wonderful!!

[@e.458]

I love the idea of making electron day a big party.

[@cherylalt101]

I've been living in Austria for a few years and they always vote on Sunday when almost everything is still closed. They seem to take voting very seriously and you don't get arrested and lose your voting rights either. An awful lot of money is spent in the US trying to prevent citizens from voting, which seems just plain wrong to me.

[@CLSmithSween]

Me, too. It may actually change the chagrin many of us anticipate as we prepare in Nov. I make a mean mac and cheese. Lol.

[@CLSmithSween]

@@cherylalt101you are talking now. So much money is spent. Yet we can’t feed or educate our babies the same way.

[@shirleyashanti3031]

There was a little left over when I was a child, and people in our community were poll workers.

[@hookshot1986]

This guy is my new hero. So good.

[@brent954]

Awesome! What a wonderful approach to learn something…mo better. And hey, maybe “Let them eat cake!” will develop a new meaning.

[@jayski9410]

I've always wondered what the constitution & bill of rights would like if we wrote them today. For example, the first amendment should be four separate amendments - religion, speech, press, and assembly should each be dealt with separately and specifically. And could we design a more representative congress? By that I mean more than just spread out geographically. Maybe we'd leave the Senate alone so some geographic representation is maintained. But the House might be better spread out through the tax brackets. If 20% of the people are in the $20 to $30 thousand bracket then that's who 20% of the representatives should represent. If billionaires are only 1% then they should be represented by 1% of the House. Remember the old phrase, "No taxation without representation"? Well why not make that representation reflect exactly what the taxation looks like?

[@dahliafully]

It would be interesting if more taxes were paid or less taxes were paid that way. The billionaires already are barely paying their fair fare if they pay much at all.

[@sharontabor7718]

Right, and who will pay for the cost of running for office among the lower tax bracket population? McConnell and his cronies squashed that dream when they reformed political contribution donation guidelines.

[@Mister006]

I'm surprised that he didn't mention the Haudenosaunee as it pertains to the founders and the US Constitution. The founders had data about democracy and what worked back then.

[@michaelberger4738]

And make Election Day a national holiday!

[@treefarm3288]

It's strange American elections are on weekdays. Probably some people find it difficult to get to the voting place. The compulsory voting in Australia takes place on Saturday and in small places is held in school buildings.

[@amyfriedlander7850]

Inspiring and thought provoking. Also the author's acceptance of his children being embarrassed of their father. Haven't we all (children) experienced the feeling and feeling guilty for our father's disappointment in us? This dynamic is part of growing up (on both our parts).

[@doug3691]

Democracy IS sweet!

[@georgine321]

What works and what doesn’t. I think we used to this but now too many just push backwards rather than reach foreward. Democracy won’t save itself!

[@MaineOffGrid.]

I’m happy that he acknowledged RFK Jr. So much of the msm keeps Bobby in the shadows. He is the best option for President, in my opinion.

[@shlby69m]

Election Cake is a great tradition. Democracy is Sweet!

[@celesterosales8976]

I believe he was the one who wrote The Year of Living Biblically which was fun 3:01 ok yup, he did. Think I’ll pick this one up too.

[@alphaomega8373]

Original meaning, is what the individual thinks it is.

[@bertnijhof5413]

The US constitution was not the first! The first modern constitution was of the Dutch Republic from 1579 (Unie van Utrecht), article 1 was Freedom of Religion, important because the most powerful empire Spain would burn the heretics (Jews; Muslims and Protestants) at the stake. Since 1579 all taxes; budgets, wars and peace are decided by the Dutch Parliament.

[@mrdog66]

This was great, very informative. As to loading a musket how long it took depended on the skill of person. A skilled musketeer could reload a musket in about 15 to 20 seconds on average.

[@LRCW1]

It still is no comparison to modern day firearms. That's what some politicians fail to recognize when considering updating gun safety laws.

[@mrdog66]

@@LRCW1 Of corse a 18th century musket is no comparison of a modern firearm. Neither would a Spencer Repeating Rifle. My point is in the 18th century there were a lot of men who could load a musket faster than the author was implying. I'm not sure about women, but there must have some women who could also load and shoot a musket in under a minute.

[@MarkfromNewYork]

I had no idea Fred Savage was involved in these kind of discussions

[@Hope-w5l]

The points from this experiment: Time Changed, we must change too. * The Constitution was created in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation in 1789. At that time, they don't have many things as today. So, the constitution need to update. Agree ! * This author is talking about gun ( old gun vs new gun ). At that time, gun is not advanced as gun we have in the market now. So, gun law need to update too. Agree ! * This author is talking about 2 parties system in the govt is not working. They disagree and nothing done. Very True ! * This author is talking about more than 1 president and more than 1 VP. This is a good idea. In a company, they may have 1 Pres + more VPs for each division, each region, each product, ect... We can do that with the govt too ! For Example: If the President is D-party, then, we need, 2 VP ( one for R-party and one for I-party ) or whatever the party that win by the population votes. If the President is R-party, then, we need, 2 VP ( one for D-party and one for I-party ) or whatever the party that win by the population votes. If the President is I-party, then, we need, 2 VP ( one for R-party and one for D-party ) or whatever the party that win by the population votes. OR Population of each party will vote for their President and Vice-President, whoever wins will work with other Pres & VP of the other parties. Pres & VP ( D-party ) + Pres & VP ( R-party ) + Pres & VP ( I-party ). Total of 3 Pres and 3 VP of 3 parties ( this will be the first new system in the U.S. history ). We should do this. The 2 parties ( D ) and ( R ) is too toxic right now. People want to change. This is new generation. This is USA. We don't need to stay the same. We don't need to copy the Europe System. We moved from England to New-England, we must create our new style, new system, new way to do thing for the better. Because, people come from around the world and bring many good ideas, creative ideas, to this new country, we have more chances to do better, be better, future will better. Stop fighting as enemies. We are here in America, we are Americans. Work together will work. Fight with each other will never move far or move forward. Everyone needs to reach out to make change !!! And change is what we desperately need.

[@jeanfitzsimmons7442]

Re our Revolution, we had happy circumstances, of England stretched between wars, disabled by having an ocean between it and its supply line, and the fact that France and Spain also helped us, certainly for their own benefit, but they did help us. Also, England was in debt for rescuing a very large business, too big to fail, and taxing already disgruntled Colonists to rescue said business. We were lucky. Yes, we fought and deserved credit for our win, but we were also blessed with circumstances. We need to remember the lessons from that war. All of them.

[@bertnijhof5413]

The USA still lives for important functions in the 18th century of the Constitution. For example the US Justice system still works at the speed only comparable to that of the Pony Express.

[@terriem3922]

So that's what originalist means

[@canadiangemstones7636]

I was going to try this but just didn’t have the constitution for it. 😢

[@statboy]

Actually, the colonies all of them had their own documents that were similar to constitutions. Each of those was somewhat different. And the colonies had experience of many years operating under those varying rules. So there actually WAS a fairly good level of practical experience available at the time when the Constitution was written. They were not simply making it up for the first time at the Constitutional Convention. Instead, they were drawing from the experiences gained from each of the colonies over many years of experience, regarding what provisions had worked either poorly or well.

[@rolandnelson6722]

The American miracle is that it is (one of) the youngest country and yet has the oldest constitution written by and for the people. … Australia introduced the secret ballot. And we have compulsory. Which has cons - people with zero interest vote and their vote dilutes mine, and pros - far less likely to be swept up in radical fads: for the same reason.. apathy serves cooling mechanism.

[@kindredg]

I like to write on my laptop with the screen turned all the way down. You have to go back and fix a lot of typos but it frees you up to look around the room or out the window while you write.

[@jeanfitzsimmons7442]

The obsolete Second Amendment went obsolete when the military no longer was armed by its volunteers who could provide their own guns. This makes the Constitution mute on gun ownership of any kind. Therefore, guns and gun ownership can and especially now, be regulated.

[@karenmiller1433]

So save lives and disallow or restrict the sale of assault weapons to the general public and attempt to stop the mass killings. Assault weapons are not hunting rifles or a musket. And wow, how about reflecting on the money used for elections. This was a fairly interesting chat. He is sharing some interesting info the public might bennifit from hearing.

[@hosermandeusl2468]

I wonder where in the U.S. this person was able to acquire a plantation staffed by a few dozen slaves?

[@judd442009]

"May I please have a serving of 'Election Cake'?"

[@rui569]

No mass shootings with a musket.

[@MrBruno656]

This kicks the crap out of Super -Size Me

[@terenzo50]

Accuracy would be greatly improved with a rifled barrel rather than a smoothbore musket. There's some technology for you.

[@Puzekat2]

Biden should do an executive order, that 2024 voting day is a paid holiday.

[@willeel3750]

How many slaves does he own. Did he use an outhouse?

[@Puzekat2]

If people gave cakes to the people standing in line, getting ready to vote at least in Florida it’s against the law.

[@mpalmer7800]

Founding fathers? Found what?

[@margo3367]

Our Country

[@mpalmer7800]

@@margo3367 haha 😆

[@eschwarz1003]

very 'method'

[@thesoundsmith]

??? Where did he find slaves? (He wants it to be authentic, right?)

Did he own sl*ves too ?

[@thomasdarling2553]

Cool project, but what a nerd

[@robkneisl6870]

Man with too much time on his hands has ridiculous take on the constitution. Do better

[@johndillon9791]

again, scrotus, is that stuff your dog leaves in the yard after it eats. is scrotus aware enough to compare bump stocks.

[@LRCW1]

Obviously not, because they voted for it.