Back to the Future

"When are we going to ever use this?" the naive tenth grade boy asks his American History teacher. The well-informed instructor, knowing the importance that the strand of historical events holds for our present reality replies "The first Tuesday of every November starting at age 18 until they throw dirt on your coffin."

I have been wanting to shed some light on history and why it is so important for me and a couple of good friends (one is the best platonic friend I - or anyone else for that matter - has ever had) supplied me the inspiration I needed to get the ball rolling. So I'll tell you exactly why I care about past leaders as much as I do present ones.

Because without Alexander Hamilton there would have never been a Barack Obama.

That sounds pretty far-fetched but it is a fact. The current struggle that we watch between conservatives and liberals today started about 15 minutes after the ink of the Declaration of Independence dried. Two schools of political thought sprung up immediately and grabbed each other by the throat. One (that understood the rules of grammar) began statements with "The united States are..." while their counterparts claimed "The United States is...". The difference does not look that substantial at first but, grammar aside, the two could not be more dissimilar. I'll be more specific.

The Anti-federalists would tell you that the united States are a collection of free, sovereign and independent states (nations) that have joined themselves together loosely for common trade and defense but that mind their own business in intrastate matters.

The Federalists would tell you that The United States is a powerful union divided into separate subordinate jurisdictions that have very little autonomy and no right to challenge the authority of the union itself.

And who said a little grammar isn't important on Election Day?

And then these two groups set claws into each other while brave men faced off against Redcoats sent by King George who said "The United States is going to do what I say or I'll burn it to the ground."

So much for "The King's English".

Well, we know of the Declaration and we know of the Constitution. Well, the Declaration was approved in 1776 and the Constitution was ratified in 1788. That leaves the fledgling nation in a state of complete anarchy for almost 12 years. Or maybe not. The Second Continental Congress called for the drafting of Articles of Confederation in June of 1776. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 but served as the de facto system of governance as of  November 1777. Thirteen individual nations banded together loosely enough to maintain their own identity but tightly enough to stand together against common threats. Sort of like a family of brothers that like to be their own men but would never let a bully waylay one of their own.

Back to my Hamilton claim. Hamilton was one of the Federalists. He was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. He, as well as the other Federalists, believed that the Articles of Confederation lacked something. They somehow were not strong enough. They were strong enough to enable 13 rag tag nations to upset the most powerful nation of the era - perhaps the greatest empire to ever grace the face of the Earth - and force the massive empire to surrender. (to put this in today's jargon, it would be similar to a single outlet mall putting the entire Wal-Mart corporation out of business.) But they weren't strong enough to rule those same 13 nations.

The government needed power. And in order to do that the Articles had to go.

So the Federalists fought for a strong Constitution and a centralized Federal government that would have authority and could offer stability. The Anti-federalists fought back with writings and debates of their own and when the Federalists took the upper hand and central government began to loom as unavoidable, the brilliant Antis came up with ways to assure State sovereignty - an Electoral College to elect the Executive and having the Senate be elected by the state legislatures. Many provisions were included to ensure that States would plot their own laws and decide what was best for themselves. As the fight for the States continued, the Federalists got their central government but the Antis forced it into the smallest central government possible and then drafted 10 Amendments, a Bill of Rights, to cripple it.

And then came more amendments.

At first they were benign, even beneficial. "President and Vice President run together one the same ticket", "You can't own another human being" and "black people can vote".

And then they took a turn for the weird.  "A grown man is not allowed to make, buy, posses or drink a beer" and "We have the right to steal money from your paycheck before you even see it". One of these was to be repealed and the other not - they reversed that. Now if you have enough money after taxes you can buy yourself a taxed beer.

And then things really deteriorated. (I'm skipping some steps but will revisit them in future articles). The Feds started taxing everything. Gasoline, durable goods, inventory, booze, utility bills (You have to pay a tax to pay your bill? Really?), literally everything.  The Feds tax enough to make George III say, "Hey, wait just a minute! This is ridiculous!". And then came "czars" that answer to no one and don't exist in the Constitution. Then there were agencies like the EPA that can disregard the 4th Amendment. There were entitlement programs where people get money to not work - paid for by people that have to work to be taxed to support the entitlements.

And then states decide to vote on  laws to enforce existing  Federal immigration policies, to allow or disallow homosexuals to marry, to allow people to posses and use small amounts of marijuana (all things falling under Amendment X)- and the Feds stepped in every time - if not to reverse, to threaten to reverse.

Now Hamilton has succeeded. Instead of "the united States are" it is becoming more along the lines of "The Union of American Socialist Republics is". The states have no rights. The have no autonomy, no identity, no ability to govern themselves.

And so arises a Messiah that can use the immense powers of the Federal government to pay our medical bills, appease foreign despots, bring peace to the world, even change global weather patterns.All because of a strong Federal government and he'll be able to do more if he can pass "sweeping new powers" on a regular basis, appoint more czars, raise more taxes, spend more money, borrow more money from people who'd prefer we were dead. Makes perfect sense to me.

This is Hamilton's dream - except for the part where he is the king. It came through many historic figures to certain degrees: Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, two Johnsons, two Roosevelts, Wilson, Carter, Clinton, two Bushes and now an Obama. They've been helped by a slew of governors, congressmen, senators, justices, cronies, lobyists, etc

But that's another story for another day.