There is a saying: “It’s not what you say, but what you do that matters.” In reality, clearly both matter. Words like money can be subject to inflation. Words can lose their value when neither action nor character matches the onslaught of words we are hearing. On the other hand, words plainly matter. They can relate not only the facts of the present and past, but they can also form an essential pathway for projected actions. The Preamble to the Constitution is an eloquent example of where words lay out a clear pathway for future actions. Was the Preamble necessary? Isn’t it just a bunch of words before getting down to the business of the Constitution? The Preamble reveals purpose and intent—the special province of words. It is replete with abstractions; yet reliable abstractions that help guide the formulation of reality. It can almost be said that unless one says it right, one is unlikely to get it right.
The Preamble:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
