Chapter 5.2 | A Second Constitutional Convention?

Ray Dalio recently published his latest blog post in his ongoing series on the New World Order entitled “Don't Make the Mistake of Thinking That What's Now Happening is Mostly About Tariffs”. In it, he rightly states that:

The far bigger, far more important thing to keep in mind is that we are seeing a classic breakdown of the major monetary, political, and geopolitical orders. This sort of breakdown occurs only about once in a lifetime, but they have happened many times in history when similar unsustainable conditions were in place.

In 1998, Neil Howe & William Strauss published “The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy - What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny.” This insightful book identified a recurring pattern in Anglo-American history—an 80- to 100-year cycle divided into four “turnings”: the High, the Awakening, the Unraveling, and finally, the Crisis. Each “Fourth Turning” marks a period of upheaval—a reckoning that tests the resilience of a society and forces a choice: renewal or collapse. The last fourth turning began with the Great Depression and culminated in World War II. According to Strauss and Howe, we are now deep in another that began in 2008.

Perhaps G. Michael Hopf was familiar with their work when he wrote in his post-apocalyptic novel "Those Who Remain":

Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.

Similar ideas appear throughout history in various forms. Arnold J. Toynbee, Will Durant, Ibn Khaldun, and Oswald Spengler have discussed cycles of rise, decline, and renewal in civilizations. The concept that prosperity breeds complacency, and adversity builds strength, has existed long before Hopf’s concise expression.

Regardless, we are now once again facing hard times brought on by decades of institutional complacency, political decay, and a loss of civic seriousness.

This is not a partisan observation. It’s a call to leadership. To rise to the occasion as others did before us. Because the through-line of every crisis era is this: ordinary citizens must step up when traditional institutions fail.

I believe we must come together and take action to capitalize upon this moment in history. Change happens when enough people get loud enough to make inaction politically costly. Congress will only act when it feels the weight of public demand. The system won’t change itself—we have to force it to.

How did we get here?

Before we can begin align on solutions, we must start by aligning on the root cause. I have argued throughout these pages that the cause is rooted in the fact that the “political-industrial complex” has rigged the rules to keep power concentrated in the hands of party elites and special interests. Less than 10% of voters decide most congressional elections due to closed primaries. The top 100 donors gave 15% of the $20 billion spent in the 2024 election thanks to Citizens United. And Congress hasn’t passed a budget on time in nearly 30 years.

This dysfunction is not theoretical. It’s real. It’s structural. And it’s the reason why so many Americans have lost faith in the very institutions meant to serve them.

In 1989, George H.W. Bush in his inaugural address said that he was guided by certain traditions and his favorite was:

to speak for patriotism over partisanship

It wasn’t that long ago. Yet we couldn’t be further from that place.

Over these past several decades, we’ve been on a downward slide into a partisan divide. Congress—the most powerful branch of government—has become paralyzed by fear of primary challenges from ideological extremes.

The problem is not one man or woman, nor one party. Yet, since January 20th, too many have been consumed by Trump. I don’t doubt that Trump is a serious threat to the status quo. He has been since 2015. Trump’s rhetoric, his willingness to test legal and constitutional boundaries, and his disregard for democratic norms all fuel significant concerns. The question remains how will our institutions hold up under this stress test. Only time will tell.

But we must start trying to understanding why so many Americans have now chosen Trump a second time. A candidate that half the country sees as an existential threat. If we agree that institutions matter, then we have to recognize that Trump is not the cause of our dysfunction—he is a symptom of it. The political system that produced him—one that rewards outrage, thrives on division, and prioritizes power over governance—is still very much intact. Even if Trump were to disappear tomorrow, nothing about that system would fundamentally change. I say that because those that focus on Trump do so at their own peril because they ignore the ways in which the Democratic Party, the media, and elite institutions have contributed to the erosion of public trust in our democracy. We shouldn’t excuse a party that rigged its own primary to prevent competition, misled the public about Biden’s health, and used its influence over tech platforms to suppress dissenting viewpoints—all in the name of “saving democracy.” These aren’t small things. These are real abuses of power, and if we allow ourselves to justify them just because Trump is worse, we are moving the goalposts on democratic accountability.

This is why I believe our discussion should go deeper. What concerns me is that too many people see this as a fight to stop one man rather than a fight to fix a broken system. If we only focus on Trump without fixing the root cause of the problem, we’re going to be right back here again in four years with a different name and a different crisis. If the system worked the way it was supposed to, Trump would never have been elected in the first place.

Worse yet, if we focus solely on Trump, we will miss an incredible opportunity to capitalize upon the fact that our government has reached peak dysfunction and is finally susceptible to transformation. A once in a century opportunity!

As discussed in Chapter 1.7 | How the ‘system’ really works today, the problem is a political-industrial complex that has become self-sustaining—a feedback loop of outrage and dysfunction, built atop closed primaries, gerrymandered districts, and unrestricted money. This is not a partisan observation. It’s a structural one. To regain our footing and build hope for the future, we need to rebuild trust in our political system.

And like our founding fathers in 1787, we now face a choice: tinker at the margins or come together to fix the machine. As Thomas Jefferson famously said:

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

This isn’t about left or right anymore. It’s about function or collapse. We must come together grounded in a common understanding that we’ve enjoyed one of the most dynamic economies the world has ever known. But that success didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was made possible by something larger than any one of us: the American system of governance. Our prosperity is rooted in the stability of our democracy, in the predictability of the rule of law, and in the global trust placed in the U.S. dollar. That trust exists because we have historically been a nation governed by institutions, not individuals. When investors around the world choose the dollar as a safe haven, they are placing a bet on our system’s resilience—on courts that function, contracts that are enforced, and a government that, even when flawed, is constrained by law and accountable to the people. Undermine that foundation, and we don’t just risk our politics—we risk the very conditions that make our businesses, our investments, and our economy possible.

When George Washington stepped aside as president in 1796, he memorably warned in his farewell address of the divisive influence of factions on the workings of democracy:

The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

But restraining it is not easy. There are many incredible organizations working to reform our government today. Unfortunately, every one of them is undercapitalized. Without significant resources, how can they fight a political duopoly that spent a record $20 billion dollars in the last election cycle?

If they can’t match that scale with serious, coordinated action, they are all just howling at the wind.

So what do we do?

A 2nd Constitutional Convention

In 1787, the Constitutional Convention was convened in Philadelphia to rewrite the Articles of Confederation then the blueprint of American governance. As history played out, the result of the Constitutional Convention was the United States Constitution, but it wasn't an easy path. The drafting process was grueling. They wanted the supreme law of the United States to be perfect. The first two months of the Convention saw fierce debate over the 15 points of the "Virginia Plan" which had been proposed by Madison as an upgrade to the Articles of Confederation. Yet, the "Committee of the Whole" couldn't agree on anything. So, on July 24 of that year, the Committee of Detail was enacted to handle the drafting process. At each juncture, something greater than politics drove those leaders forward: a belief that the moment demanded action. That delay was no longer tolerable. That posterity demanded courage. As the Constitutional Convention concluded on September 17, 1787, Elizabeth Willing Powel, a prominent Philadelphia socialite, approached Benjamin Franklin and asked: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy. Franklin’s reply has become a cornerstone of American political thought, emphasizing the responsibility of citizens to maintain and protect their republic.

"A republic, madam, if you can keep it".

Today, we are facing another such moment. The question must once again be asked: Can we keep it?

There is no King George III. No British army at our doorstep. But we are no less imperiled. Instead of a foreign monarch, our threat comes from within: a deeply dysfunctional government, corroded by decades of institutional decay, rigged incentives, and partisan gamesmanship. We’ve seen a 40-year decline in civic trust. Meanwhile, wealth has consolidated. Our economy has shifted from a manufacturing powerhouse to one dominated by financial and real estate speculation. That shift hollowed out the middle class and left us saddled with $65 Trillion in debt.

To me it’s clear that our politics no longer serve “we the people”. It only serves itself! Here’s a hard truth: our government no longer functions as originally designed by our founding fathers, instead it’s been hijacked by the party duopoly. As a result, it rewards polarization, incentivizes obstruction, and punishes compromise. Until we acknowledge that, we’re just fighting over which side gets to wield a broken system to its advantage.

America has demonstrated throughout its history that when its people come together and align with a common vision and purpose, it is a force for good in the world. So, I refuse to accept the current reality of politics in our great nation. To regain our footing and build hope for the future, we need to rebuild trust in our political system.

I believe that leadership means taking responsibility and not just shouting about what’s broken and certainly not blaming one side or the other for how we got here. Call me crazy, but I believe it’s time to convene a Second Constitutional Convention—not to replace or even amend the Constitution, but to empower Congress to restore its promise! Not to wage war against one side or the other, but to declare a ceasefire in the name of something higher: a functioning Republic. Congress—the most powerful branch of government—has become paralyzed by fear of primary challenges from ideological extremes.

This moment demands action – not just talk. If we believe in preserving the Republic, then we must fix the machine that governs it. That means forming a cross-partisan, non-ideological coalition that we can all get behind.

Let’s start by convening hundreds of civic-minded leaders across industries and ideologies. Not politicians. Citizens. Not activists. Architects. Not slogans. Solutions.

Together we will align on the root cause of the dysfunction. Let’s put a slate of issues on the table for debate from closed primaries to ranked-choice voting and gerrymandering to campaign finance reform, and even congressional expansion. Let’s talk about fairness. Proportional representation. Accountability. The Rule of Law. These are not radical ideas. Nor are they partisan ideas. They are foundational non-partisan reforms aimed at restoring a functional government that once again puts patriotism above partisanship. Then let’s put a plan in action to fund these initiatives to break the stranglehold that the duopoly has on America. In this context, it is important to know that if Congress were empowered to put patriotism over partisanship, there are concrete actions Congress can take to restore balance and realign incentives so that our government serves the people rather than the parties. It can start by passing reforms that break the stranglehold of the political duopoly. Right now, a tiny percentage of voters in partisan primaries decide who gets to be on our ballots, which means candidates are incentivized to cater to the most extreme elements of their base rather than the broader “common sense” majority. By acting together, with purpose and capital, we could force politicians to compete for a wider range of voters, which in turn would push them toward consensus-driven solutions instead of ideological purity tests.

If we are successful, Congress will be empowered to reassert its constitutional role in checking executive overreach. Presidents from both parties have increasingly relied on executive orders to bypass the legislative process, but that’s not how laws are supposed to be made. If Congress doesn’t like what the president is doing, it shouldn’t just complain on cable news—it should PASS LAWS! We need to empower our elected officials in Congress to reclaim its authority over things like tariffs, emergency declarations, and military actions, so that major policy decisions can’t be made unilaterally by an unchecked Executive Branch. It also means ensuring that agencies like the DOJ and IRS operate independently rather than as political weapons for whoever is in the White House.

It’s time to stop playing left vs. right and start asking: who broke the system, and why? And more importantly: what will we do to fix it?

What’s the alternative? I believe the alternatives is a future of an accelerating spiral of retaliation and decay. Every new administration breaking more norms than the last. A pendulum swinging so violently it breaks the clock. We’re not just sliding down a slippery slope – we’re headed for a collapse if we don’t act.

The past 60 years have been the most prosperous, peaceful, and opportunity-rich period in human history—a remarkable run that we have all been fortunate to live through. But this golden era was not guaranteed, and if we want to preserve what we’ve inherited, we need to confront a system that gives disproportionate power to the ideological extremes and fight to return voice and choice to the rational majority.

Let’s be the generation of leaders who didn’t just diagnose the problem, but built the solution. We have the opportunity to break the cycle, to move beyond the status quo, and to champion the voices of those who've been left out of the partisan conversation in the name of fairness and proportional representation. We’ve had a remarkable run—four decades of prosperity, peace, and opportunity—but with that good fortune comes responsibility. If we want to preserve what we’ve inherited, we need to stop accepting a system where the extremes have disproportionate power and start fighting to give the rational majority their rightful voice and choice.

If we, the silent majority, take action, we can put partisan politics aside and focus on nonpartisan system reforms that will give a voice to common sense and find solutions to the problems we face as a nation. If we listen. If we lead. If we agree that the far left and far right deserve a voice but not a veto—then we can reclaim our system for the sane center.

We can break the cycle. We can move beyond left vs. right. We can start asking not just who broke the system—but more importantly who in Congress has the courage to fix it.

The Founders did it once. Who says we can’t do it again?

To quote Bluto from Animal House:

Who’s with me? Let’s go!