Article IV Section 3. of the American Constitution reads, “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union…” This means that Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, and McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate have the power to admit any state in the world as the 51st state of the United States. They could perhaps meet for lunch and chat about what states to admit. It might overwhelm their merely human minds with august excitement if their chat led to talk of admitting Germany and France. Both admitted would add at least 150 million new Americans to America. A truly august yet improbable proposition. But what about Guatemala? Yesterday I heard of a man from Guatemala working in the US who lost his job because of the coronavirus. He was sending $300 a month to his family in Guatemala. If Pelosi and McConnell admitted Guatemala, that man would not complain. He and his family could move to any one of 51 states and earn up to $15 an hour. Many unemployed Americans speak Spanish and might move to Guatemala and take one of the thousands of new jobs that would open up in Guatemala as American government units and private businesses develop in the new state. It’s worth chatting about over lunch. The Constitution doesn’t mince its words. It gets right to the point. It dropped a power on the head of Congress that makes possible right now a radical transformation of the whole world. For good. All the past efforts to transform the world were bad. Very bad. This one is good. It would definitely be good for Guatemala. And even for Germany and France. It’s worth at least chatting over.
Daniel McNeill