Actually, the US has far too many states. Put them together.The task is simple: You are in charge of halting the current national trajectory, breaking apart the existing political/governmental structure, and devising a system of localized authorities which can both function as various entities and exist (and flourish) within the current and future global community. — Elysium House
It's just a name. The states haven't been united since the drawing of the Mason-Dixon line. Some federal governments, in some economic climates were able to hold it together more effectively than others, but in the last 40 years - since Reagan - the divide has been growing wider, while other rifts have been opening up. I see no way to reconciliation. — Vera Mont
My what???your lament — Hanover
Over which???over the dissolution of state's rights — Hanover
That, plus the independence states already held from the colonial arrangement, were the fatal flaws that doomed this nation to disunity.that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
It was fought to protect the institution of slavery by a confederacy that did nothing to try to protect the individual state rights within its confederacy. — Hanover
States' Rights The Rallying Cry of Secession
Southerners consistently argued for states rights and a weak federal government but it was not until the 1850s that they raised the issue of secession. Southerners argued that, having ratified the Constitution and having agreed to join the new nation in the late 1780s, they retained the power to cancel the agreement and they threatened to do just that unless, as South Carolinian John C. Calhoun put it, the Senate passed a constitutional amendment to give back to the South “the power she possessed of protecting herself before the equilibrium of the two sections was destroyed.”
As to the division between the left and the right, that geographical division is best defined not by drawing a line somewhere north of Maryland and meandering south of Missouri, but instead by drawing circles around major metropolitan areas and leaving out suburban and urban areas — Hanover
the insurgents would be left fighting over ideology alone, — Hanover
In any event, the last great resurrection ended with a handful of crazies getting locked up after storming the Capital. — Hanover
The problematic aspect of your lament over the dissolution of state's rights was that the war that formally drew them legally bound together under the same Constitution was not one fought for any lofty principle. It was fought to protect the institution of slavery by a confederacy that did nothing to try to protect the individual state rights within its confederacy. It's just that South wanted its own slave protecting laws for its region and so it went to war. — Hanover
resurrection — Hanover
Actually, the US has far too many states. Put them together. — ssu
First of all, fuck Washington DC. That the Capitol is so "important" is pure bullshit. Add it to Maryland, actually make Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey one state for starters. — ssu
The objective could be to have just 20 states that are somewhat equally distributed in population.
- Decrease the number of Federal executive departments and give the control 100% to the states. You need only State, Defense, Interior and Justice departments. Nothing else. So off with the executive departments of Labor, Education, Commerce, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban development, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security. — ssu
And if even the States start to whine about their excessive new work and demand federal level coordination, then simply put them into the department of Interior. — ssu
Emphasize and empower the county/municipial level. — ssu
reduce the police state. — ssu
Various areas of the US have affinities with each other that are not represented by state boundaries. — BC
A world government without some Bill of Rights similar to what America has is a non-starter. — RogueAI
For a country frequently looked to as a global leader, the United States has consistently failed to step up in international partnerships. In fact, the United States has one of the worst records of any country in ratifying human rights and environmental treaties.
I don't know what you mean about China. In its current form, it's hard to imagine the Chinese establishment agreeing with a bill of rights that would enshrine free speech protections. — Count Timothy von Icarus
It's a fun game to play, and there is certainly some validity to some of the arrangements. But there are mistakes to make too. — BC
so it seems the whole thing is DOA until China reforms. — RogueAI
They won't do it voluntarily, not any of 'em — Vera Mont
Do not overestimate the changes here. For example in Finland we have had municipalities and districts put together and made larger, but the changes to the bureaucracy isn't as radical as one could anticipate. The basic result often is that some bureaucratic service you need that once was close by, now is somewhere really far away. That's basically what happens from the viewpoint of the citizen.Careful: The object of the game is to minimize the government AND create a new system that is preferable. — Elysium House
Wait a minute. The USSR collapsed peacefully, after which Russia went through a period of deformation, then reformation, now deformation again. Is reform the next stop? — BC
No human endeavour is unalloyed, even less any that involve large numbers of people. China may be unified in its suppression of minorities and its expansionist ambition - I have no inside information on that. Russia doesn't seem to be at peace within itself, nor all of the same mind as to its 'foreign policy'. And the United States is most definitely not united atm.I have seen no proof presented that breaking up large nation-states is an unalloyed good or even slightly helpful. — BC
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