Federal vs. State vs. Local

[Wells]

Big Government is a metaphor for the amount of control government exerts over your life and the amount of power it determines it needs.

Government regulating that your food be safe to eat versus government stepping in forbidding your child to eat the brown-bag lunch you prepared for them.

Government running an accountable operation versus a massive bureaucracy the private sector could do better, and cheaper.

That sort of thing.

And its always hilariously subjective in its application. Which is how the GOP gets away with claiming its pro "small government".

[Omega10]

The Texas state government is saying loudly and clearly that local people can not be trusted to make their own laws.

[Kellhound]

Goldilocks Government?

You could say that.

[Stormdash]

The Texas state government is saying loudly and clearly that local people can not be trusted to make their own laws.

Yeah, man. What's popular sovereignty ever gotten anyone anyway?

[Reeve]

Big Government is a metaphor for the amount of control government exerts over your life and the amount of power it determines it needs.

Government regulating that your food be safe to eat versus government stepping in forbidding your child to eat the brown-bag lunch you prepared for them.

Government running an accountable operation versus a massive bureaucracy the private sector could do better, and cheaper.

That sort of thing.

And since it's a phrase with no specifics, it can be conveniently tailored to mean whatever the person listening wants it to mean.

[Elegiac]

I asked earlier -- why is it just completely wrong to lobby for secession which is tacitly illegal but okay to lobby against, say, firearm ownership? Or abortion? Or for or against heteronormative marital restrictions? Advocacy is... advocacy. Laws (dun dun DUN!) can be changed.

The Supreme Court could reverse the tacit prohibition of secession and it would be legal; a constitutional amendment could be ratified explicitly permitting it and it would be legal.

Allow me to rephrase, then.

Secession is, and should remain illegal.

That, and because it's objectively superior way to govern a large ethnically and culturally heterogeneous society, and very modular.

In terms of structure, yes, the state model works fairly well; but the distribution of power and responsibility is incredibly poorly handled in the US. Their level of autonomy invariably means the worst states perpetuate their own poverty and create an intergenerational drag on the republic as a whole.

Or lots and lots of small governments. Nothing about the size of the population requires, nor for that matter is helped by a bloated and topheavy central government.

It does if you have any sense of the US as a contiguous polity and not what it ceased to be the moment the Constitution came into effect.

- - - Updated - - -

Government running an accountable operation versus a massive bureaucracy the private sector could do better, and cheaper.

You assume doing something cheaply is necessarily a virtue in of itself.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah, man. What's popular sovereignty ever gotten anyone anyway?

A lot of trouble, given how many dictatorial regimes are set up through popular uprising.

State and local governments tend to be vastly more illustrative of why more democracy is not necessarily a good thing. Trustees tend to be more effective than delegates, after all.

[Kellhound]

Allow me to rephrase, then.

Secession is, and should remain illegal.



In terms of structure, yes, the state model works fairly well; but the distribution of power and responsibility is incredibly poorly handled in the US. Their level of autonomy invariably means the worst states perpetuate their own poverty and create an intergenerational drag on the republic as a whole.



It does if you have any sense of the US as a contiguous polity and not what it ceased to be the moment the Constitution came into effect.

- - - Updated - - -



You assume doing something cheaply is necessarily a virtue in of itself.

- - - Updated - - -



A lot of trouble, given how many dictatorial regimes are set up through popular uprising.

State and local governments tend to be vastly more illustrative of why more democracy is not necessarily a good thing. Trustees tend to be more effective than delegates, after all.

The simple fact is the US is too diverse for the Federal Government to really represent "the people". The average person in, say, Boston, has about as much in common (if not more so) with the average person in London (UK) as they do with the average person in Cheyenne.

[Elegiac]

The simple fact is the US is too diverse for the Federal Government to really represent "the people". The average person in, say, Boston, has about as much in common (if not more so) with the average person in London (UK) as they do with the average person in Cheyenne.

And here's the question.

Why do 'cultural' differences preclude unitary government.

[Ulfhedinn]

Anyone who bitches about government being too big, but only means federal, is a hypocrite.

These would be the same people that make government bigger every chance they get. The only time they don't love big government is when they are not in charge.

[Kellhound]

And here's the question.

Why do 'cultural' differences preclude unitary government.

A larger number of people not being actually represented. Yes it happens at the state level as well, neither are good, but the state level is more contained. And the Federal level has its purpose (defense, international affairs, uniform trade, etc).

[Ulfhedinn]

A larger number of people not being actually represented. Yes it happens at the state level as well, neither are good, but the state level is more contained. And the Federal level has its purpose (defense, international affairs, uniform trade, etc).

As best I can tell the only people not being represented are the poor... and that goes for all levels of government.

[Rhine101]

I don't see the issue here. It's basically the same as how cities work. The city can create any law it wants as long as it does not violate State and Federal laws. The States handle their own businesses because People in Oklahoma may have different issues and ways to handle things that folks in New York so having the Fed treat them both identical is worse than self governance.

However, sometimes the Fed does need to step in and keep everyone within a certain bound and ensure that State A can still deal with State B so the whole nation can prosper.

I think Community college with 1 year of Government class should be mandatory for all US citizens.