The problem of procedural perversity

While studying for his citizenship test, mathematician, logician, and philosopher Kurt Gödel is said to have discovered an “internal contradiction” or loophole in the United States Constitution, the discovery of which threatened to derail his path to citizenship. Although the official formalization of this contradiction was never put in writing, it is suggested that its essence is related to the fact that Article V of the Constitution, which describes the process for amending the Constitution, can be applied to itself.

In particular, Article V contains an explicit restriction on what can be modified in the Constitution:

“… provided that no amendment made before the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any way affect the first…