Post

Region: Capitalist Paradise

Messages
The United States of Midlands 1 year 364 days ago Dennock wrote:1819…then vs now. Then: Very rarely did the federal government overstep their bounds Most power was within the states, as long as constitutional provisions were followed Congress could conduct enough to satisfy the problems the articles created Now: Congress can simply use outdated antiques to suppress states rights, for example marijuana legalization Congress can misuses “necessary and proper” or the commerce clause to, out of nowhere, create new areas they can legislate Power has mostly became centralized over the past century States are much more limited in how they conduct themselves When the court is of a certain political leaning it takes an activist stance that was unheard of then When will it stop? How far will it go? As power has shifted towards the feds on things it never did 200 years ago we have seen America slowly become a centralized government. Sometimes for good (civil rights) and sometimes for worse (roe v. wade). My interpretation of our constitution is, in matters of federal power, the power of the feds should be limited to what is in the constitution or any law or action that is necessary for our continued survival (war, tax, etc). The various power clauses need to be construed as strictly as possible, or we run the risk of them becoming further misused and misinterpreted, then what good is the constitution since it basically is ignored as a “damn document that gets in the way”, leading us into a totalitarian dystopian America. Yes, we are becoming more centralized because the world is becoming more complex and interconnected, requiring more done by the government in general and more of it done by the central government. We can't possibly know how far it will go. We can no more imagine the world in the middle of the 23rd century than the Constitution framers were able to imagine ours (just one bit: back then the 10 biggest American towns and villages - there were no cities - had the combined population about the same as modern Peoria).

Messages

The United States of Midlands 1 year 364 days ago

Dennock wrote:

1819…then vs now.

Then:
Very rarely did the federal government overstep their bounds
Most power was within the states, as long as constitutional provisions were followed
Congress could conduct enough to satisfy the problems the articles created

Now:
Congress can simply use outdated antiques to suppress states rights, for example marijuana legalization
Congress can misuses “necessary and proper” or the commerce clause to, out of nowhere, create new areas they can legislate
Power has mostly became centralized over the past century
States are much more limited in how they conduct themselves
When the court is of a certain political leaning it takes an activist stance that was unheard of then

When will it stop? How far will it go? As power has shifted towards the feds on things it never did 200 years ago we have seen America slowly become a centralized government. Sometimes for good (civil rights) and sometimes for worse (roe v. wade). My interpretation of our constitution is, in matters of federal power, the power of the feds should be limited to what is in the constitution or any law or action that is necessary for our continued survival (war, tax, etc). The various power clauses need to be construed as strictly as possible, or we run the risk of them becoming further misused and misinterpreted, then what good is the constitution since it basically is ignored as a “damn document that gets in the way”, leading us into a totalitarian dystopian America.

Yes, we are becoming more centralized because the world is becoming more complex and interconnected, requiring more done by the government in general and more of it done by the central government. We can't possibly know how far it will go. We can no more imagine the world in the middle of the 23rd century than the Constitution framers were able to imagine ours (just one bit: back then the 10 biggest American towns and villages - there were no cities - had the combined population about the same as modern Peoria).

Context • Report