Iraq, the land of the free?

Disgarding for the moment the daily car bombings, the hijackings, the kidnappings, the beheadings, the drive by shootings, and the assassinations, Iraqi citizens could have it better than us Americans.

Iraq's interim Constitution, Article 14 provides:

The individual has the right to security, education, health care, and social security. The Iraqi State and its governmental units, including the federal government, the regions, governorates, municipalities, and local administrations, within the limits of their resources and with due regard to other vital needs, shall strive to provide prosperity and employment opportunities to the people.

(my emphasis)

Sounds mighty Socialist, huh? Definitely, anti-American. A right to education? Ha! Wasn't that shot down in San Antonio Independent School Dis. v. Rodriguez? I wouldn't be surprised if Ayn Rand were tossing around in her grave.

In fact, according to Balkinization today (guest lecturer Cass Sunstein), this provision of the Iraqi Constitution is actually a "cut and paste" job from FDR's 2d Bill of Rights proposal, which included:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

You needn't know anything about history to know how that turned out. Even Social Security will likely face its death knell as soon as the baby boomers hit their retirement.

Welfare? Education? Health Care? Forget about it. Every year each of these is so chipped away at that eventually only the rich will have access to anything close to "adequate."

Will any of these even exist in the public sphere in 20 years? Who knows. Perhaps by then we'll be taking advice from Iraq on how to govern at home. We surely haven't had any developments domestically since '99.