National Goals

* The purpose for which the Constitutional Convention was called and the first goal mentioned in the Preamble to our Constitution is “to form a more perfect union.”

Currently, there are at least three trends in our nation which are leading us away from a more perfect union, involving cooperation, and toward Balkanization, involving individualism. Those three trends are: the proposal to give block grants to states so that there will be more local control, increasing emphasis upon cultural diversity in the place of cultural unity, and the increasing disparity between rich and poor.

Because we are approaching a different road from that of “toward a more perfect union,” which the Founding Fathers envisioned, “We, the People” need to think carefully about whether we want a more perfect union or whether we want Balkanization and, when we have decided, then we need to consider what we must do in order to follow the road which we want. For myself, I am mindful of the example of the sticks which break when each is alone but are unbreakable when they stand together, and I favor a more perfect union in a world where there is increasing economic competition.

JUANITA MATASSA

Santa Ana