[derosa8]

What would you say to someone that argued the 14th amendment was needed and incorporation doctrine is a blessing that helps protect the people from over-reaching state governments? For example, when North Carolina said they could force women citizens to be sterilized. Without the check of power on the states in the 14th amendment, this atrocity would have been perfectly legal.

[Jason Jewell]

Ask the pro-centralization person if he favors looking to the United Nations to rectify abuses perpetrated by the U.S. government. The principle is the same.

Historically, the ultimate way to free yourself from an oppressive jurisdiction is physically to leave it. Jurisdictions that are too oppressive face competition from nearby ones that give their inhabitants fewer problems. The implication of this reality is that a plethora of small jurisdictions is better for liberty than a handful of big ones.

This is a good piece dealing (in part) with the issue you have raised: http://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block48.html

[derosa8]

Thanks for the response Dr. J. Decentralization definitely seems to be the only approach consistent with liberty. It’s just sometimes odd when I see libertarian type lawyers arguing that centralization is good e.g. the 14th amendment and incorporation checking the power of the states.

But good question to ask about the U.N. for sure. Thanks for the comment.

If anyone else has info or comment specifically regarding forced sterilizations in NC or other things of that nature, please add your two cents!

[gutzmank]

1) The Federal Government has done far more harm than the state governments.
2) More local government is more apt to be like what we want than more distant government.
3) The Federal Government is controlled by completely unrepresentative people — 9 Harvard Law and Yale Law graduates on the Supreme Court, permanent DC residents in the administrative agencies, etc.
4) Federal policymaking tends to be by people who never were elected and never have to answer to anyone elected. That’s why we got 30 years of forced busing, a new mandate about lightbulbs, a 21-year drinking age, a 1.5-gallon toilet mandate, Obamacare regulations stripping millions of people of their health policies, a ban on prayer in public schools, etc. None of these things would have been imposed by elected officials.
5) Federal officials take an oath to uphold the Constitution, which reserves control over most of what they do to the states. If they’ll lie taking that oath, they’ll lie about anything.

[Author]

Posts