Inflation

[rufus]

Did anyone happen to read that article about the fellow in North Carolina that got in trouble with the federal government for issuing and using his own silver coinage? It was called a Liberty Dollar. They were made in Idaho, but he was using them in North Carolina.

I guess this really seems to threaten the federal government. Why I don't know. Gresham's Law says that bad money drives out good. Actually it says "bad money drives out good money if the exchange rate is set by government."

Any way, there must be some other aspect of this case of which I am not aware; those Liberty Dollars would be hoarded up while the fiat currency would be circulated.

Sometimes news articles leave me wondering. It is not what they say, but what they don't say.

Rufus

 

[bakerjw]

IMHO it is all about states rights and state sovereignty. We are the united states of America and not the federal government of America. It was intended to be states united together where each state controls itself with the exception of powers granted to the federal government and not states controlled and conformed by the federal government.

To that effect states lost a lot of their power with:
- The passage of the 17th amendment. The senate was intended to be the states voice in the legislative branch. Senators were elected by state legislatures. Now it is a popular vote.
- Rulings on interstate commerce (growing your own crops affects interstate commerce and can be regulated by Washington). Any item manufactured anywhere in the US affects interstate commerce.
- Mr. Lincolns war of aggression. Slavery is absolutely 100% wrong but that was not the reason that the war was fought.

As for the democratic process and how we fit in on the state level as compared to the federal level. If there is an issue in my state that is coming up for a vote I call my representative and senator and talk to them about it. I'm not a lobbyist and have no pull with them other than the fact that I am one of their constituents and I have made the effort to let them know my stand on the issue(s) at hand. As for federal representation... I write and call them but in the end it is just a numbers game to determine which way the political winds are blowing. Every senator and representative office gets inundated by thousands of emails, faxes, and letters a day on every imaginable issue. They are out of touch. But I can affect change in my state. Representative democracy works from the ground up. It is just that those at the top are too filtered to hear or care.

 

[Wifezilla]

true democracy looks a lot like a lynch mob. I guess the difference depends upon whose neck the noose is placed.

Democracy is 3 wolves and 1 lamb voting on what to have for dinner.​

 

[Robo]

Quote:
State's Rights pull our country apart. I believe the state should have power, but if we truly had state's rights things would be horrible.
A state could refuse to pay a tax and the federal government couldn't demand tax money. See why our first government failed?

 

[Tokajein]

Quote:
Gas here is now $5 a gallon

 

[Robo]

Quote:
The problem, as I see it, isn't the States rights, it's the Federal usurpation of power. I would love to live in a real republic where, if the State I'm in isn't doing it right, the next State over might be and I can move there, but still be guaranteed minimal basic freedoms by the Federal Government. That ain't the way it works nowadays, and maybe never did...

And don't even get me started on corporations as legal entities...
ETA: Or Unions!

The federal government does need to be more powerful than the state government for what you are saying to work, but right now it is too powerful. If there were some middle ground or compromise in between that would be good, but we have yet to find it.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
The problem, as I see it, isn't the States rights, it's the Federal usurpation of power. I would love to live in a real republic where, if the State I'm in isn't doing it right, the next State over might be and I can move there, but still be guaranteed minimal basic freedoms by the Federal Government. That ain't the way it works nowadays, and maybe never did...

And don't even get me started on corporations as legal entities...
ETA: Or Unions!

The federal government does need to be more powerful than the state government for what you are saying to work, but right now it is too powerful. If there were some middle ground or compromise in between that would be good, but we have yet to find it.

They're supposed to be equal parties. When they WERE equal in power, it actually worked quite smoothly. That was, however, pre-1861. Then #16 showed up and destroyed the system and turned the Federal government into an Orwellian nightmare of a government.

Just to head off the inevitable, the system of states' rights was not protecting slavery. Slavery was protected by the federal government via the Fugitive Slave Law, and was actually harmed by States' Rights thanks to states using nullification (ooh, that dirty word!) against said Slave Law.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
State's Rights pull our country apart. I believe the state should have power, but if we truly had state's rights things would be horrible.
A state could refuse to pay a tax and the federal government couldn't demand tax money. See why our first government failed?

Worked dang well for a while, so your position is unsupported by history.

By our "first government" I assume you are erroneously refferring to the Articles of Confederation. Technically, our first government over all the States was the British Parliament. They could demand taxes and the States could not override those demands - look how well that worked out. So said States exercised their right of secession and successfully declared independence.

The Articles actually worked out nicely - in fact, Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and others only wanted minor changes rather than switching to the Constitution. It would've been better that way.

Thought question - which can do more total damage to the people? A massive national government or a State government?

 

[Robo]

How did the Articles of Confederation work out smoothly? States refused to pay taxes, a government can function properly with states reusing to do something. I see your point about the large federal government, but it needs more power than that under the Articles of Confederation.

 

[rufus]

Sometimes history is inconvenient for the current political philosophy. The truth has no bearing upon the story that we are told. History gets rewritten to fit the needs of those doing the writing. Revisionist history is all the rage. It is called propaganda. Speaking the truth if contrary to the party line can be fatal.

Was the Civil War about slavery or states rights? The wrong answer can get you into trouble. Sometimes it is best to feign ignorance and remain moot.

Rufus