But the 9th and 10th amendments are pretty explicit aren't they? You can't criticize the Bill of Rights for implying something when it explicitly states the opposite of what you say it implies.
The fact is that words on paper are ultimately powerless. It comes down to maintaining a culture that believes in those words. We've failed to maintain a culture that takes the 9th and 10th amendments seriously. That's not the Bill of Rights' or the Framers' fault.
You are correct that words on paper are powerless, but in the end they stand for ideas and ultimately truths which live in the minds of men. I believe that if a leader came forward with the simple ideal to spread the rights contained in the BOR to every person on the planet, he would revolutionize modern diplomacy and foreign policy with that one simple test.