Laws are meaningful checks on the authority of particular individuals and institutions even if they aren't 100% effective. The Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights, have done more to check the growth of America into resembling modern day Europe than any kind of independent political activism since ratification.

Compared to the Articles, sure, it was a growth in state power. Compared to the rest of the world or the ambitions of modern statists, it has been useful. No matter what, ensuring an environment of freedom requires more than one tool. No one ever claimed otherwise.

Let me put it this way, if you get rid of the constitution now, you're not getting the articles, you're getting the modern UK, France, Germany, Canada, etc.