Conversion on the Road from Philadelphia

Something has gone dreadfully wrong on the road from Philadelphia, September 17, 1787.

When Benjamin Franklin stepped out of the Constitutional Convention at the end of that fateful day following its acceptance, the story is that a lady, Mrs. Powel asked him what the drafters had given us, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”  He purportedly replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Nearly 225 years later what is the verdict, have we kept it?  In fact, do most Americans even know what a republic is?  Do they know that the real power is vested in the States, not the federal government?  Do most in government even know this?

There is a general undertone of uneasiness in the body politic, a sense of foreboding.

The powers of the federal government are actually quite few and limited, by design.  Most of our Founders and Drafters were quite leery of a strong, centralized government.  And rightfully so. 

Those powers are to defend our borders and defend our interests at home and abroad, coin the money and deliver the mail.  And that’s about it.

The federal government is not constitutionally tasked to manage the nation’s agriculture or education or energy or health care or retirement or certainly the nation’s businesses.  Nor is it very effective or efficient when it tries to do all of this.

These things under our Constitution are, and rightfully should be relegated to the States and entities within the States.  Taking care of the individual needs of people is not found in the Constitution and is not a legitimate function of the federal government.  Quite frankly, it’s not very good at it.  When it comes to helping people, those closest to the person and the situation are best suited to help those in need.  Our history is one of family helping family, friends and neighbors helping friends and neighbors, churches and benevolent foundations helping those in their congregations and communities, and local villages and cities helping those in their midst.  As a last resort one might look to the State.  The least favorable prospect would be to look to some faceless bureaucrat in a cold, gray building far off in Washington, D.C. for help.   

Unfortunately, over the decades the federal government, like a growing leviathan has been sucking up all of the oxygen and national resources leaving precious little in local communities and charitable coffers for benevolent works.  It has illegally usurped the responsibilities of State and local governments amassing enormous power in Washington while chipping away our personal freedoms, liberties and private property rights. 

The best thing that the federal government could do is to give the people their money and freedoms back and then, well, quite frankly get the hell out of the way!