The Greatest Threat to States’ Rights

Those of you who have the album may remember this line from DC Talk’s Jesus Freak,

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I have to say something similar. The greatest single threat to States’ Rights today is states who are governed by inept politicians elected by ignorant and apathetic voters.

While the first blow to States’ Rights came in the aftermath of the War Between the States, the real damage occurred during the civil rights battles of the late 20th Century. In that era, many states simply refused to protect their citizens because of race, and so the Federal Government was forced to step in and establish justice. This was first demonstrated in 1957 when President Eisenhower was forced to federalize the Arkansas National Guard to ensure the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.

From that point on, States were either forced or coerced into relinquishing their powers, or, through sheer incompetence, simply gave up their powers to the Federal Government.

The most recent example of State incompetence is the State of Louisiana. Here we have State and local authorities who, despite being warned for decades of the severe threat posed by a strong hurricane, were either unable or unwilling to protect their citizens. Pundits across the nation have offered their solutions to this problem, and most of those solutions involve the State giving up more power and control to the Federal Government, and that is precisely what will happen.

Let’s face it, State officials, especially in the South, are usually regarded as ignorant rustics who were either elected on name recognition or through bribery. That notion, of course, is merely a stereotype, but a stereotype that is often an apt description, which brings us to my next point.

As the power of the Federal Government grows, few citizens today bother to vote in local elections, and fewer still bother to educate themselves on the positions of local candidates. It would be interesting to poll the American people and see how many of them could give the name of the President and compare that to how many could name their own governor. I don’t think such a poll has been done, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised by the results. The common belief is that the State Legislature is only a debate society. The real power, it is believed, resides in Washington. This sentiment has led to what political scientists call a “non-voting voter,” a voter who votes for President, Senator, and Representative, but leaves the rest of the ballot blank.

Because of this, the common stereotype of local officials becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. We believe that State officials are inept, so we don’t bother keeping up with them, and because we aren’t keeping an eye on things, inept politicians get elected. Then a disaster occurs, illustrating local official’s incompetence and confirming our original belief that local authorities are bumbling fools. Then comes the call for the Federal Government to step in and fix things, which usually results in more power shifting to the Federal Government.

Here’s where the real damage to our Rights occurs. The power of the individual citizen is quite strong at the local level, a little less so at the State level. But at the federal level, the individual citizen is nothing more than an ant, toiling away in his own insignificant realm. The halls of the U.S. Capitol building are vast and provide plenty of places for politicians to hide. Their distance from the common folk, in regards to both geography and power, has vaulted these “statesmen” into a new noble class. It is no longer enough for the common citizen to reassert his power by speaking in front of the city council, or starting a petition. Now he must play by their rules. Alas, it should be the other way around.

The citizen’s first step to regaining his power should be reestablishing his confidence in his State government. That would require educating himself on the positions of candidates and ensuring the election of competent individuals to state offices. Then a reassertion of State power is required. We should demand more local control. We should demand that our Senators represent our State (which is, after all, the original intent of the Senate), and not simply try to be 100 co-presidents. Power shifting back to the States means power shifting back to the people.

–J.E. Heath
per-fidem.org

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