There are limits to how much a piece of legaleze can constrain a government. When theoretical government diverges from actual government, actual government wins.
We had democracy because we had a militia system of national defense and a sufficiently egalitarian wealth distribution. We had federalism because communication across the nation as a whole was slow, and arbitraging between state legal and tax systems was expensive and difficult.
We have a two-party system because we have First Past the Post elections for our most important offices. No amount of ballot access reform can fix the Two-Party System. Only changing how votes are counted can do that.
Likewise, now that we have fast transportation, social programs are going to gravitate to the federal government as long as there are no walls between states -- physical or virtual. Currently, we do have walls in the form of residency requirements for in state tuition and California's Proposition 13. Otherwise, it behooves one to live in a low tax state while productive and move to a welfare state if one gets sick or suffers bad fortune.
To bring back the Old Republic, we need to reinvigorate the militia spirit and put a damper on tax/welfare arbitrage. My candidate proposal for the former is to replace TSA frisking with a *civilian* Air Deputy system. Have hundreds of thousands of vetted frequent fliers armed with daggers and tasers in return for a small airfare discount. Likewise, have huge state militias ready to guard disaster areas against looters.
The true lesson of 9/11 is that a free society cannot rely on full time guardians in the event of Black Swan events. You need either a true militia or a police state.
There are limits to how much a piece of legaleze can constrain a government. When theoretical government diverges from actual government, actual government wins.
We had democracy because we had a militia system of national defense and a sufficiently egalitarian wealth distribution. We had federalism because communication across the nation as a whole was slow, and arbitraging between state legal and tax systems was expensive and difficult.
We have a two-party system because we have First Past the Post elections for our most important offices. No amount of ballot access reform can fix the Two-Party System. Only changing how votes are counted can do that.
Likewise, now that we have fast transportation, social programs are going to gravitate to the federal government as long as there are no walls between states -- physical or virtual. Currently, we do have walls in the form of residency requirements for in state tuition and California's Proposition 13. Otherwise, it behooves one to live in a low tax state while productive and move to a welfare state if one gets sick or suffers bad fortune.
To bring back the Old Republic, we need to reinvigorate the militia spirit and put a damper on tax/welfare arbitrage. My candidate proposal for the former is to replace TSA frisking with a *civilian* Air Deputy system. Have hundreds of thousands of vetted frequent fliers armed with daggers and tasers in return for a small airfare discount. Likewise, have huge state militias ready to guard disaster areas against looters.
The true lesson of 9/11 is that a free society cannot rely on full time guardians in the event of Black Swan events. You need either a true militia or a police state.