Few "American" have any clue how their country was supposed to work. They have never read more than the first paragraph of the Constitution, civics classes have been replaced with condom-rolling lessons, and at every turn, the media and politicians pound minsinformation into their heads - not that those idiots have any better clue.
Let's take a moment to imagine what the United States would be like today if it was still the united States.
There is no nation called the United States, and no such citizen as a US citizen. There are 50 semi-autonomous nations who have delegated certain functions to a central body to share the cost of defense and military command, regulate interstate traffic of goods and ensure people could travel freely among the States, and formulate foreign policy for the mutual benefit of all the States, and most of all to mint a single currency for use in all the States with equal weights and measures to facilitate commerce.
There is no such thing as a US passport and no individual is subject to federal law. In fact, the only internal power the federal government has over the States is to adjudicate disputes between themn and issue a tax bill every year to fund the federal budget.
The tax bill is apportioned to each State according to its representation in the federal government (population). The States then determine the means by which they will collect the taxes and pay the bill - be it sales tax, per capita tax, lottery, or some other means. The feds have no control over the internal workings of the States, except to protect the rights of individuals from usurpation by the State. The only other tax the federal body could collect is tariffs on imports and exports.
The decadal census determines how many people live in each State, a number of Representatives is approtioned to the State, then the State divides its population up into equal units, called Districts. Each District elects their Representative to the federal House.
The people also elect their own Legislatures, who in turn choose the two Senators that each State has. In this way, the people hold the Legislators accountable, who in turn hold the Senators accountable, who in turn approve of every major action taken by the Executive branch, including appointments and treaties, to ensure the Executive is held directly accountable to the interests of the States.
Other than border patrol and customs, and federal district courts (one district for each Supreme Court justice), there are no federal agencies allowed to operate within the sovereign territory of the States. The federal government cannot own land, there are no national parks, there are no territories or protectorates (Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.), and in fact the only possession of the feds is 100-square mile plot of swamp land called the District of Columbia, which essentially means it is held in commonwealth for the States.
There is no Department of Homeland Security, no FEMA, no FBI, no Parks and Wildlife, no Health and Human Serices, no Department of Education, no NASA, no National Endowment for the Arts. The Cabinet could publish advisories on Best Practices for the States, but they could not enforce anything.
The only laws that affect individuals are passed by the States for their own citizens and according to their unique cultures and situations. This keeps the process and enforcement of laws close to the people who must follow them, because people who live in Connecticut have different sensibilities and living conditions than those in New Mexico.
Folks living in the State have almost no interaction with the federal government other than the gold and silver coins they use in commerce. There is no national bank. For those who prefer, the State banks print paper certificates equal to the amount of gold and silver in the State banks, so people can carry and use paper notes in their daily affairs, rather than heavy coins.
Most folks who travel State to State will cash in their notes before leaving the State, unless the State has a transfer agreement with other States, which most do, since the weight and measure of the coins is regulated by the federal treasury and is the same in all States by Constitutional requirement.
Imagine a world where anonymous jack asses living high on the horse while digging in your pocket don't exist, where your representative lives down the street from you, where hordes of uniformed thugs have no power over you. Imagine a world where they were treated and acted like servants to sovereign individuals who lived on the land, not citizens. Imagine a world where your money had had the same value for 6,000 years and couldn't be inflated because they couldn't manufacture it out of thin air.
Image a world where there was only one legal system for everyone, great or small.
That's what the united States were supposed to be.
My biggest problem was always the change in the election of Senators, which were originally chosen from state legislatures. But, otherwise, I concur... in its current form it's simply a mess, and basically unworkable.
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