EU-ing the US of A

From few and defined to plenipotentiary

The European Union (EU) was created by the Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force on November 1, 1993

In this treaty the EU designated plenipotentiaries from amongst the European countries. If you’ve never heard the term “plenipotentiary,” here is the dictionary definition:

plenipotentiary

noun

plural plenipotentiaries

: a person and especially a diplomatic agent invested with full power to transact business

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plenipotentiary

The central government of the European Union was vested with full authority over the entire union. There is no power withheld from that government, and whatever that government may dictate, the individual country governments must obey.

Since this government was put in place in 1993, Europe has suffered national bankruptcies, rampant migration, and rapid deterioration of European society. If anyone doubts these statements, consider the police “no go” zones in the UK, the rape gangs whose victims are made out to be the guilty parties, energy costs multiple times higher than what they once were, farms being confiscated in the name of “climate change,” and I could go on (and on and on).

This is what happens when a government is given plenary power. The rise (and fall) of the Soviet Union evidenced this decades before the formation of the EU.

This was never, however, the plan for the United States.

After the early settlers in America fought fiercely to free themselves from the tyranny of an abusive autocrat, they set about creating an as yet unseen form of government intended to provide for the mutual security of the states, and to preserve the rights and liberties of its citizens.

These freedom fighters understood that any state on its own might find difficult the task of repelling an invasion, and they understood the benefit of presenting a unified policy for foreign affairs.

Recognizing government was a necessary evil that must be minimized if liberty was to be preserved, our forefathers established a limited central government to accomplish their purpose. The Union was first created via the Articles of Confederation.

Unfortunately, there were shortcomings to these Articles, deficiencies which led to, among other problems, rampant inflation. So they endeavored to “form a more perfect” Union, about which James Madison wrote the following:

“The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negociation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will for the most part be connected. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the state.”

The Federalist Number 45

Notice, the powers of the federal government are “few and defined,” not “numerous and indefinite.” This was done specifically to limit that with which the federal government was involved, most of which would be outward-facing. In other words, the federal government was set up to do very little domestically. And with a few exceptions, until approximately the 1930s, the federal government did very little domestically.

The Tenth Amendment was written as an explicit reminder that the powers of the federal government were specifically outlined in the Constitution, and that any power not therein delegated was not available to the federal government:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

In the 1930s, however, the courts began reinterpreting the general Welfare clause in a way as to grant Congress power to write any laws they believe to promote the “general Welfare.” In so doing, the courts conferred on Congress implied powers. This was a drastic departure from the prior 150 years of adhering to the defined powers clearly outline in the Constitution.

This new interpretation has allowed the government to grow far beyond that which was intended by the founders. As such, it is racing headlong toward exercising the same plenipotentiary power the EU’s government.

What’s worse is that, at least since the late 1980s, though likely earlier, Americans have become convinced that government is the answer to all of life’s problems.

Can’t earn a living? Get government to fix it. Can’t compete in the free market? Get government to fix it. Can’t afford healthcare? Childcare? A house? An education? Get government to fix it.

Government has become for many the end-all-be-all of authority and assistance. The founders would never have approved. And if we don’t want to end up like the EU - make no mistake, we are barreling headlong the same direction - people need to stop looking to government for solutions and instead look to themselves. Returning government to its proper constitutional bounds is the only way America will survive and once again thrive.