Let’s begin at the beginning, With the preamble.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

I read those 52 words in 0:22 seconds.

I think the preamble is great. I think if the country were to do a complete rewrite of the constitution overall, we could still keep the preamble just as it is.

The priorities and aspirations it expresses are as fitting in the 21st century as they were when they were written. Or at least mostly. Parsing the text, we see six specific goals. Five of them are still right:

• form a more perfect Union,

• establish Justice,

• insure domestic Tranquility,

• provide for the common defense,

• promote the general Welfare, and

• secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,

Which one stands out as no longer desirable? (it’s “a more perfect union.”)

To see the text aright, we need to understand that when the founders wrote those words, they meant precisely a big, powerful national government overruling the states. A  more perfect union, to them, was not a happier country, but a country forced more completely under a single control. A unity. a singularity.

They weren’t wrong. In many ways the balance at the time between the 13 states and the national government was wrong. The national government was more or less a joke. So, for them in their time, a shift toward a stronger national government was desirable, and the words ‘form a more perfect Union’ expresses that desire.

Most Americans today would, if they could, reduce the national government intrusion into their lives. Some express this as “Stay out of my uterus,” and others as “Don’t police my pronouns.” But they’re all saying that there’s no single set of rules and practices that can satisfy a nation of three hundred million people.

Another interesting thing are the beginning three words: ‘We the People.’ Those words were suggested by South Carolina delegate Charles Pinckney even before the constitutional convention began. When the delegates arrived in May of 1787, Madison came with a sketch of a plan, and so did Pinkney. And Pinkney’s began  

We the People of the States of New Hampshire Massachusetts Rhode Island & Providence Plantations Connecticut New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland Virginia North Carolina South Carolina & Georgia do ordain, declare & establish the following Constitution for the government of ourselves & Posterity.