• gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You don’t actually want language that incredibly vague to have legal force

    I don’t buy that, “The 8th amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment has no legal force because it can be construed to mean anything, someone could argue having to pay their taxes was cruel and unusual” makes about as much sense to me. Words mean things, especially when they’re in the context of the rest of the Constitution’s clauses that suggest certain things are or aren’t allowed, so I just don’t see how throwing General Welfare on to the table instantly greenlights a reign of terror.

    Also, it’s not like the non-enforcement of General Welfare prevented eugenicist policies in the past