5 ideas for better government in the US | Jeff Maurer

0:00A quarter millennium into the American experiment for the perfect union, most of us would look around and probably agree, yeah, we ain't there yet. You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. This year, the United States marked 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted. It's tempting to picture 1776 as a moment of perfect unity, a nation of people all pulling in the same direction. But systems innovator Jeff Maurer says the reality was a lot messier. America was divided. Inequalities, infringed rights, shared debts, taxes, soldiers in our streets.

0:46And we fought religion against religion, farm against factory, enslaved against free. That was the America of 1776. But it's also the America of today and every day, because these tensions come from free people choosing how to live freely. In this talk, Jeff makes the case that what carried Americans through 1776 wasn't agreement. It was a willingness to come together anyway. He proposes five new amendments to the U.S. Constitution covering privacy, government accountability, transparency, and how we run our elections. Not everyone will agree with them, and he knows that amending the Constitution is difficult by design.

1:30It takes a movement, and building one, he argues, starts somewhere much closer to home. That's coming up right after a short break. This episode is brought to you by Walmart Business. The best leaders might tell you the work that moves an organization forward doesn't happen in spreadsheets or supply chain emails. It happens when you have the space to think big. That's the idea behind Walmart Business. It's built to take the friction out of running an organization so your team isn't losing hours to procurement logistics when they could just be focused on the problems that actually matter. With an ever-expanding business assortment, everyday low prices, and fast, reliable shipping, Walmart Business keeps your operations running smoothly.

2:14Shop online, in-store, or through the Walmart Business app. however works best for you. Simpler operations, smarter spending. It's Walmart built for your business. Sign up for a free Walmart business account at business.walmart.com. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Ah, fall, that cozy season where we swap the swimwear for sweaters and sunnies for scarves. But before the Halloween decorations are put away or the Thanksgiving table has been set, there's already holly jolly music playing in the grocery store, reminding you that the year is coming to a close. Time to kick end of year into high gear.

2:57When you use Apple Card with Apple Pay, you earn 2 % daily cash back on all purchases, including food, decorations, gifts, and more. Get a head start on your end of year purchases. Apply for your Apple Card in the wallet app on your iPhone today and start using it right away with Apple Pay. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs, Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch, terms and more at applecard.com. This episode is brought to you by TikTok. I used to think great work was about being in the right headspace. Then I found a TikTok video that made me think about my physical space.

3:30An interior designer explores how things like ceiling height and room size might influence how we think. Now I wonder how much of our environment shapes our work without us noticing. Now I'm looking at my workspace, asking what kind of thinking I'm making room for. On TikTok, one idea can change how you see something you thought you knew. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. This segment is brought to you by Google Workspace with Gemini, the AI tools for a better way to work. Here on TED Talks Daily, I spend a lot of time learning about big ideas, and sometimes I'm able to speak with the people behind them.

4:05But before I sit down for a conversation, there's a lot that goes into understanding the idea, the person, and what I'm genuinely curious to ask. My prep can include everything from background research and notes to potential themes and questions. And when you're working with that much information, the challenge is turning it all into a conversation that feels thoughtful and focused while still leaving room for surprise and discovery. Google Workspace with Gemini can help that process because Google AI is built directly into tools like Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive. And Gemini Notebook gives me another way to work with the information I've gathered, helping me explore connections across my sources and think through potential themes or questions before an interview.

4:49It doesn't replace my research or decide where the conversation goes. That's my job. It can help me spend less time organizing information and more time thinking about the idea at the heart of the conversation, what I'm genuinely curious about, and where the discussion might take us. And that gives me more time to focus on the part that matters most, the conversation itself. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini and try it for free for 14 days at goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini. And now our TED Talk of the day. It's the night of April 18th, 1775, and Paul Revere gallops toward Lexington and Concord.

5:32He warns that redcoats, professional soldiers, will attack the unarmed men, women, and children there. Imagine that conversation. Pa, what's that noise? It's nothing, Ma. Fake news. Go back to bed. Instead, they got up and Pa kissed Ma and the kids goodbye, leaving to fight the redcoats. But what if Pa had just gone back to bed? 250 years later, we think of America's independence as an inevitable destiny. However, we need to see that moment as they saw it, with all the same struggles and uncertainties. America was divided. Inequalities, infringed rights, shared debts, taxes, soldiers in our streets.

6:21And we fought religion against religion, farm against factory, enslaved against free. That was the America of 1776, but it's also the America of today and every day, because these tensions come from free people choosing how to live freely. The spirit of 76 brings us together. Those Americans chose to come together, to work together, to give of themselves to a greater cause and for a greater good. Voluntarily, they extended trust and assumed responsibility, creating the integrity that silently orchestrates as the metronome of American society. The spirit of 76 lives in all of us. I grew up in the fire department, fortunate enough to serve with World War II veterans.

7:17From them, I learned not only firefighting, but why we fought a world war and the values of service, community, and good government. I saw exceptional people planting seeds so that future generations could sit in the shade. They taught me that by joining together, we create a better world for those around us and for those who come after us. That's the lesson I want to share. The founders gave us the tools so that we too can achieve something greater than ourselves by joining together in the can-do-anything-is-possible spirit of 76, a moment pregnant with possibility. It was in that spirit that the Continental Congress reconvened here in Philadelphia.

8:09In the years leading up to that moment, the future delegates had time to really define liberty. Now, those definitions evolved from colonial America to the Continental Congress to the Constitutional Convention and straight through to today. What the Congress decided was this. While we may not be equal in our talents or circumstances, we are each endowed with natural rights. Among these, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A fuller list, both then and now, include property, privacy, human dignity, self-defense, and equality under our government. The Congress knew that America would need its own rules and government.

8:58They wanted a government just strong enough to protect those natural rights, but too weak to violate them. Congress had an idea, and it looked like an hourglass. Our natural rights flow from us, through our Constitution, and down into a government to protect those rights. That's why officials swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the government. The founders knew we'd always need a more perfect union, finally balancing the Constitution with new amendments, which are a serious and weighty undertaking. A quarter millennium into the American experiment for the perfect union, most of us would look around and probably agree, yeah, we ain't there yet.

9:46However, we have both the wisdom of the past and the vantage point from which to glimpse the future. The further back we look, the further ahead we see. Now, it's our responsibility to honor and protect our children and unknowable future generations of Americans. But what do we fix and how? One of my mentors from the fire department was Lester. Early in the war, Lester repaired aircraft in Morocco. Years later, I asked him how, as a young man, he stayed focused on that work. After all, there was war, women, and danger. He had never even been away from home before. Lester just laughed and said, oh, Jeff, that was easy.

10:34The mechanic was on the first flight up. Actions have consequences. And because the consequence was clear and immediate, it, we got the desired behaviors and outcomes. Question, can we create consequences to get better government and stronger checks and balances like rock, paper, scissors? How do we protect our natural rights from tyrannical kings armed with technology? And what fixes governmental dysfunction and corruption. Let's think big, be bold, and aim high. I propose five new amendments that leave behind a rising and not a setting sun. First, a life amendment to protect your absolute sovereignty over your body.

11:31You are free from government tattoos, trackers, implants, and scans. You choose what goes into your body and what you do with your body. You have perpetual right to your likeness, your voice, your memories, and your DNA. No one can create an AI video of you now or clone you in 100 years. King George can't force George Washington to get dental implants with GPS tracking. Second, a privacy amendment to protect you from Big Brother cameras and sensors that track you, whether attending a rally or just walking your dog. You are protected to transact privately, free from central bank digital currencies.

12:18All your digital messaging is protected as private among the participants. Redcoats can't track Paul Revere using traffic cameras, texts, or bar tabs. Third, an accountability amendment that automatically sunsets or expires all laws after 10 years. Kind of like a yard sale for laws without continued support. It creates consequence by moving election day right after tax day. and it makes all members of Congress ineligible for re-election if they fail to pass a balanced budget and spend within it.

13:04Alexander Hamilton would sing the praises of a balanced federal budget. Fourth, a transparency amendment that requires all federal candidates publish their personal income tax returns for the years...

13:25...publish their personal income tax returns for the years both before and during their terms. It breaks the cycle of corruption by prohibiting campaigns from donating to other campaigns, and it ends dark money by requiring the same transparency for political action committees, publicly tracing every dollar back to an original individual donor.

13:56Benjamin Franklin will not need bifocals or electric lights to know who's buying his politicians. And finally, fifth, an amendment for better elections. Now, term limits often get suggested first, but they'll just shift power to political parties and staff, where voters can't vote for change. Instead, this amendment prohibits midterm redistricting and ends straight-ticket voting.

14:28It requires all politicians go on record for every vote and allows voters to recall any federal official at any time.

14:46Elbridge Gerry, signer to the Declaration, fifth vice president of the United States, and the literal Jerry in gerrymander won't get to redraw his districts and pick his voters. Now that we have these five new amendments, how would we adopt them? Article 5 spells it out using Congress and the state legislatures. But ratification is intentionally hard and requires a social movement like we had for women's suffrage or prohibition? How do we create a national movement of local grassroots support? Let's go back to Paul Revere for an answer. Why did the Midnight Ride succeed? As a businessman, Paul Revere had spent years face-to-face with his neighbors around Boston, getting to know them, their families, their needs and dreams.

15:39He built relationships and earned trust. Betsy Ross may have sewn our flag, but Paul Revere stitched together a movement, weaving the social fabric of America, strong, resilient, and united. Now it's our turn. Let's be leaders, not victims. As for victims, King George ruled over obedient and apathetic victims. Today's hyper-partisan political system does the same. So what's the fix? It's connection. Here again, Paul Revere rides ahead, showing us the way. Go talk with your neighbors face to face. Whether you have a front porch or a front stoop, go meet with them. By connecting, you heal and strengthen America.

16:30You are the cure for all the ills of a government not yet as great as our country and our people. Before America was a country, it was an idea. An idea that no matter our differences, each and every life has value and rights. The very freedoms that give rise to human dignity and flourishing. America, the country, is the promised protection of those rights. and together, America can endure in the hearts of all people, in all places, in all times. America is the hope of humankind yearning to breathe free. As generations of Pauls and Lesters fade into history, Americans 100 or 1 ,000 years from now need to know this.

17:20The spirit of 1776 beats in every generation and in each of you. Thank you.

17:34That was Jeff Maurer speaking at TED Democracy Philadelphia in 2026. If you're curious about TED's curation, visit ted.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is a podcast from TED. This episode was fact-checked by the TED Research Team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Lucy Little, Emma Taubner, and Tanzika Sungmarnivong. Additional support from Daniela Ballarezzo, Christopher Faze-Bogan, Valentina Bohanini, Banban Chang, Brian Green, and Lainey Lott. Learn more at podcasts.ted.com. I am Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.

18:15Thanks for listening.

18:23Thank you.

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