There could have been NO American "Civil War" without Big Government!
The US Constitution brought the potential of big government at the federal level to America.
In my opinion...
It is the nature of big government itself that enables a hierarchy that oppresses we the people. Many have spoken of "working within the system"; and they very well know whereof they speak. There's the rub. The system lends itself all too well to manipulation.
Our first constitution, the Articles Of Confederation, had no provision for a big federal government; no president, no congress, no supreme court, no taxes--these were the function solely of state government--and, of course, none of the federal departments and agencies, a standing army, etc. that later came into being.
By Lincoln's time, federal government, under the new constitution had grown (mushroomed) along with the growth of the country and beyond...
Today, our biggest problems and complaints have to do with all of the above and more-- all at the federal level, and all at the expense of state's rights!
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And, it has been chiefly since the civil war that federal big government has grown ever larger and even more oppressive.
The constitutional convention that met in secret in Philadelphia in 1787 was only to update The Articles Of Confederation, not to do away with it completely and replace it with a new constitution.
There were two major schools of thought involved at the ConCon, those of the Federalists and those of the Anti-Federalists...
And, the new constitution would never have come into being at all had not a Bill Of Rights been finally added.
The Constitution requires the constant vigilance of the people, otherwise it is corrupted by its officials and others and turned against the people themselves, as the founding fathers constantly warned.
The question is, or should be, should our original, first, constitution have been amended only as originally intended? Or was the new constitution a good thing, but carried too far?
Could/would federal government be controlled?
For good reason the (small government minded ) founding fathers didn't envision a federal establishment beyond what was needed to provide necessary supplemental (minimal) service to the state governments. At that time there were 13 states (countries) in the union.
(Yes, states are countries.) Now 50 countries!
And consider the following from the Constitutional Convention, etc.:
"...If Mr. Yates was correct in his assessment that his country, in 1787, was too large and extensive to be a workable consolidated "republic" what would he think of the territory we currently occupy, supposedly as a "republic" (but actually as a consolidated democracy)? If thirteen states were too many, with too much area for a workable republic to function correctly, what can we say for fifty states, plus whatever other territories we currently occupy?..."
Ref
http://www.cakewalkblogs.com/
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Just think: No Lincoln, no civil war and all that came with it, and certainly no resulting big, huge, government, as we know it today!
Something to consider, and ponder deeply.
See Also:
Anti-Establishment History
http://www.cakewalkblogs.com/antiestablishmenthistory/entry_archives.aspx
Some Things To Remember About Our Constitution...
http://gunnyg.blogspot.com/
How Bad Are Things Now?
http://gunnyg.blogspot.com/
Turning Point In American History?
http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/
Our Greatest Crisis Since The Civil War...
http://gunnyg.blogspot.com/
MORE:
Gunny G Blogs, Etc.
http://gunnyg.blogspot.com/
and...
http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/
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Hey, See the Reader Responses on each article,
they are gems in themselves!
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Gunny G: BLOGGER 1984 +
http://gunnyg.blogspot.com
and...
http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/
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When Karl Marx Worked For Horace Greeley (JFK mentoned this in 1961)
ReplyDeletehttp://gunnyg.blogspot.com/2011/09/when-karl-marx-worked-for-horace.html