A real, federal America — an America that adhered to its Constitutional structure — would look very different than today’s America.
Instead of enforcing one public policy for the entire country, a federal America would allow the several states to develop their own unique solutions to local problems while still guaranteeing the basic rights outlined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It would be these common freedoms that would unify Americans. Meanwhile, the problems of the day could be debated, discussed, and eventually implemented at the state level.
This would implement the genuine will of the people and lead to democratic growth in a variety of ways:
The more that government does, the less the citizens feel obligated to do. And so citizens sop caring about anything other than their own individual (and often petty) desires.
It bears repeating than in a federal America, the federal government would still play a pivotal role in defending basic rights for all Americans. And in fact, the federal government would do a much better job at doing just that instead of attempting to impose a common policy over fifty very different states and thousands of local communities. The executive and the federal judiciary could concern themselves with enforcing the Bill of Rights while Congress would not have to meet as often and write so many new laws.
To make this more concrete, consider the issue of the legalization of drugs. Currently, the federal government imposes one blanket policy over the entire country, when in fact it ought to be the right of the states, and communities within those states, to implement their own policies with regard to drug use, including for medicinal purposes. Same with the issues of assisted suicide, the drinking age, and even climate change and health care. But what would never change would be the federal government’s role in, for example, keeping all speech free, or in ensuring the rights of the accused are protected, or enforcing the writ of habeas corpus: liberties and protections that are explicitly mentioned in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights but which are rather precariously situated at the moment.
This is not some utopian ideal. Rather, this is the way the American Constitution is supposed to function. Federal power was always intended to remain limited and restrained in favor of state and local regulation. The Tenth Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights, explains quite clearly that, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.” A federal America is enshrined by the law of the land, and is not some political fantasy.
For real democracy to sprout in America, there is no need for any new laws. The Constitution, in its current form, is a great guarantee of rights and liberty.
What needs rethinking is the balance of power between states and the federal government. Americans should consider the harsh fact that the federal government is far larger today than it was ever intended to be, and that government, at heart, is only legitimate to the extent it expresses the will of the governed. Americans have extraordinary powers as citizens to make changes to the country. But for any change to happen — real, meaningful change, not the fake “change” peddled by politicians — it will require that citizens look to each other, instead of the government, in implementing creative solutions to problems. This is an empowering thought, and all it requires is adherence to the federal structure as outlined by the Constitution.
[...] I came across this post – What a federal America would look like – and thought it was worth sharing. I hope you find it interesting too and take the time to read some of the other articles on their site. The current tax system takes tax money from the states and redistributes it to further federal agendas in education, energy, agriculture, and other Congressional p et and pork projects. … Freedom means responsibility, and by making states take care of their problems, be it health care or homelessness, real power would be placed in the hands of everyday c itizens to tackle these problems…. [...]