“I’m not going to write about that. I’m not going to write about that. I’m not going to write about that.” That’s what I kept telling myself all week. Everyone’s going to be talking about “that”—people who are much smarter and better qualified than I am—so why would they want to read yet another column on the subject?

But the elephant in the room is too big to ignore.

Yesterday I received a book I bought on Amazon, taking advantage of the free shipping promotion. I was lucky enough to get it“like new”at a heavily discounted price—a special edition that’s sewn, not bound. “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernov. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, Hamilton is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, the face on the ten-dollar bill, the architect of the American financial system, and one of the leading proponents of the Constitution (as well as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention) of the United States, among other things. With apologies to the most purist historians, Hamilton’s life inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to write the musical “Hamilton,” a Broadway smash hit, winner of eleven Tony Awards, and the most successful show ever to premiere (if you haven’t seen it, it’s on Disney+). From this, I’d like to highlight two parts that I think are particularly relevant to the historical moment we’re living through.

The first is in the song“Non-Stop”[1], in a conversation between Aaron Burr and Hamilton, where a few lines go as follows:

[BURR] The Constitution is a mess

[HAMILTON] So it needs amendments

[BURR] It's full of contradictions

[HAMILTON] So is independence

We have to start somewhere

 

We have to start somewhere. And here we are, getting started. Over the weekend, through a democratic process unprecedented in the world, we elected 155 constitutional convention delegates (77 women and 78 men), who will be responsible for drafting the country’s potential new constitution—which must be ratified in a final referendum, with mandatory voting, once the new document is presented. We’ve already seen that these weren’t the results the market was expecting. But oh well, it’s done. I’m not entirely sure that the outcome the market was expecting would actually have been a positive thing in the medium term, given the context in which this very process originated, but let’s leave that to people who know more. For now, we have to start somewhere.

While Hamilton, a Federalist, was unable to get his financial plan through Congress, Thomas Jefferson, his fierce adversary and a Democratic-Republican, proposed a meeting to negotiate and bridge their differences. In the musical,“The Room Where It Happens”[2]:

 

[BURR] Congress is arguing over where to locate the capital—

Company Screams in Chaos

[BURR] It's not pretty

Then Jefferson approaches with a dinner invitation

And Madison responds with a typically Virginian insight:

[MADISON] Maybe we can solve one problem by creating another and secure a victory for the Southerners—in other words—

[JEFFERSON] Oh-ho!

[MADISON] A quid pro quo

[JEFFERSON] I suppose

[MADISON] Wouldn't you like to work a little closer to home?

[JEFFERSON] Actually, I would

[MADISON] Well, I propose the Potomac

[JEFFERSON] And you'll get him his votes?

[MADISON] Well, we'll see how it goes

[JEFFERSON] Let's go

 

Hamilton ceded the capital in exchange for getting his financial plan passed. In a fledgling country, rife with contradictions, power struggles, differing perspectives, and so on, two tremendously influential political adversaries were able to reach an agreement, each giving ground to make progress on the issues that mattered most to them. Today, our constitutional convention lacks any political force that holds a third of the votes. It’s true that alliances may form and this situation may change, but based on recent events, it seems that not even within the opposition is there much consensus on various significant issues—whether political, economic, social, or otherwise. So negotiation will be necessary. Leaders will emerge, and, being in the room where things happen, they will try to seek the best outcome for their positions and for the country. It’s true that some of the elected officials seem to hold extremely radical positions—or even seem unaware of what a political system is—but according to the Convention Manual prepared by Kenneth Bunker and his three-fifths team, they appear to be a minority not necessarily capable of imposing those ideas.  It’s true that there are risks; it’s true that things might not turn out perfectly, but the country hasn’t made the greatest progress in its history over the last 30 years for nothing. That cannot be forgotten or dismissed. Has it improved? Of course.

[1] https://open.spotify.com/track/7qfoq1JFKBUEIvhqOHzuqX?si=3f9cbb760fba4b38

[2] https://open.spotify.com/track/2TK2KSrzXD6W01qjXVjNGh?si=a01d058a2f654b2f

 

Nathan Pincheira

Chief Economist at Fynsa