"Could a movement to re-establish the states in that original federal Union be the pressure release valve we ALL are seeking?"
I read an article1 recently which referenced a Washington Post headline stating "There are two Americas now". It goes on to cite various divisions among people following the recent election, which are of course obvious to most paying any sort of attention. The article asks "Are the Founding Fathers visionaries to be adored or oppressors to be abhorred?" We know that, unfortunately, the original vision of the founders did not get a chance to play out. Their vision was of a federation, not a national supremacy. These terms, federal and national, exist as one in vocabularies today, but they are quite different. Citizenship, its allegiance, benefits, and protections did not always come from and be forced down from the national level, but citizen rights were protected by states individually. The people were state citizens -- not to be confused with the modern day, oxymoronic "sovereign citizen". And the federal government was subservient to the states, not to whichever demographic won the latest national election. Why is this so important? Because nationalism today is forcing unity and unrelenting 'equality' where it is not desired, and that is causing division.
Of course, we've been told not to look back at this time because the baby of uncompromising state-rights has been thrown out with the bathwater of slavery and discrimination. States did have the right to discriminate, true, but so does a national government today. Hence the frustration every four years. And the evidence only further compounds when we consider the violations of law, utter destruction, and deaths that had to occur in order to change our system of government. And yet the indoctrinated fear of state discrimination has thus far remained greater than the fear of an all powerful national government.
Until now?
As of late, it seems that awareness of nationalization is growing, though who could have called that those most upset by national supremacy (even unknowingly so) would be the ones who have so greatly "benefited" from it? Of course, I use the term "benefitted" loosely, as benefits often have a way of increasing a people's dependence on big government, rather than being a real benefit to their well-being.
And yet, here we sit. CalExit is the buzz word as U.S. Citizens residing in California look to secession just the same as many states have tried, and failed, to do since citizenship was nationalized in the 1860s. On the other side of the fence, well intentioned conservative organizations such as the Tenth Amendment Center continue to remain under the impression that these federally created states still have uninterrupted nullification power. Then there are those who wish to go the rather dangerous route of altering the current Constitution by way of an Article V convention of the states.
Truly, we are dancing all around our own stumbling block of national citizenship and unlawfully created states. And now it's not only the conservatives who are dancing; it's those on the other side as well. Those who have clamored for more government, more spending, and greater evidences of national supremacy are coming to a realization that it doesn't always benefit everyone. And yet, as the pendulum has once again swung, one has to wonder, will those wielding the national blade continue to give it more power? Or will we use this time to take America back to that original experiment?
While we're considering this concept of "Two Americas" today, and the divisiveness that we see, we think back to our states being our countries. We think back to state citizenship. Could it be that it's time to return to something that resembled that original vision? Could a movement to re-establish the states in that original federal Union be the pressure release valve we ALL are seeking? Could it be that restored states and state sovereignty may be the very thing that could unite us?
1http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/24698-trump-s-victory-leftists-complain-there-are-two-americas-now
