Since some time in late 2019, I've spent a good bit of time thinking about our country and its founding, and several times over have read and re-read our founding documents. I've pondered what our founders envisioned and how we've ended up where we now stand, so far from what the Constitution lays out for the union. While many causes may be cited for the decline, one of the most prominent reasons is the general public's lack of knowledge of our founding documents and their history.
Joseph Story, Supreme Court Justice from 1812 to 1845 wrote about this in his book, Familiar Exposition of the Constitution. So important is this concept in his writing, that even the foreword states:
Story realized that, if the Constitution is to remain our basic law, all citizens (not just the lawyers) must understand its provisions and protect against its infringement by those who would disregard it. Accordingly, he produced this treatise, dedicated to the people of his home state of Massachusetts, with the hope of inspiring "a more warm and devoted attachment to the National Union, and a more deep and firm love of the National Constitution." The essential role of an educated citizenry in ensuring fidelity to our Constitution is emphasized in his concluding remarks, where he warns that our constitutional democracy might "perish in an hour, by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, THE PEOPLE."
I personally believe lack of understanding of one particular sentence - the Tenth Amendment - plays a significant role in our Country's decline.
Whenever the Tenth Amendment is mentioned, most people who have any knowledge of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will automatically think of, "States' Rights." Yes, this amendment speaks of the rights of the States, but there is more to this somewhat simple and straightforward sentence.
Amendment X
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.
While the thrust of this amendment is reserving rights to the States and/or the people, it holds included within its wording a powerful assertion - the power and responsibility of the United States government is restricted to that which is explicitly granted it by the Constitution. This is a concept that was forgotten long ago, and is more often than not intentionally ignored now.
Why is this so important? The Constitution defines very strict limits within which the United States government is supposed to operate, but we, the people, mainly through ignorance, have allowed it to grow beyond its bounds. The Constitution doesn't allow for the government to grant itself additional powers, but we have allowed it to do so. The federal government now operates far outside the limitations imposed by the Constitution and exercises powers it unlawfully confiscated from we the people. Following are some very important examples of where the government has absconded with powers that violate the Constitution.
Article I, Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
ALL central legislative powers are granted, by the Constitution, to Congress, but the authority to delegate those powers is not. Those in government clearly don't understand this. What does this mean?
Congress does not have the authority to give the President power to write law (i.e. Executive Orders). Such a grant of power is a violation of the Constitution and therefore null and void. The President, as chief law enforcement officer for the country, may issue orders enforcing existing laws, but he may not issue orders that create new laws. Only bills authored and approved by Congress may be passed to the President to be signed into law.
Likewise, instituting regulatory agencies (EPA, FDA, ATF, etc.) is anathema to this first-article principle. For all intents and purposes, the rules and regulations set forth by regulatory agencies are laws. Violating such rules and regulations carry the same penalties as breaking laws, penalties such as fines and imprisonment. However, in instituting such agencies, Congress has essentially delegated its lawmaking responsibility to unelected officials; yet Congress alone is granted authority and responsibility for making laws, as even Article I, Section 8 makes explicit when it states, "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. " Laws may only be made by our elected representatives; they may not be written by unelected officials. Congress has no authority to delegate its powers, therefore all regulatory agencies created are illegitimate, and all regulations set forth by any such agency are null and void under the constitution.
This also explains how the federal government has become the largest employer in the United States, something that was never intended by our founding fathers.
Another place ignorance of the Tenth Amendment can be seen, very vividly, and for most of us, personally, is government spending.
Article I, Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
That's a somewhat long section, but much pertains to government spending. The main purposes for which Congress is permitted to raise taxes, and for which they are permitted to spend money are, as the first paragraph states, to pay the country's debts, to provide for national defense, and to promote the general welfare. "General welfare" is an often misconstrued phrase. It does not mean individual welfare - individuals did not enter into this pact - states did. The federal government does not have responsibility to provide for individuals - the "United States" is a federation of independent states; each state retains responsibility for its residents. While the federal government is accountable to us individually, taxing for the purpose of providing payments to individuals (i.e. welfare, social security, etc.) lies outside the purview of the federal government. These provisions for spending are more about what states may not be able to accomplish individually, such as maintaining continental infrastructure and defense against foreign forces, not helping those who are destitute nor forcing people to save for retirement.
Likewise, the government's responsibility for encouraging and promoting the arts and sciences is not through investment but through protection of intellectual property via time-limited patents.
Any spending beyond paying national debts and providing the common welfare of the states is nothing more than theft on a grand scale that violates the express dictates of the Constitution. This includes giving money to foreign countries for any purpose other than repaying debt from a loan
Story states the following in relation to government spending based on this section:
The power of taxation is not, however, unlimited in its character. The taxes levied must be (as we have seen) either to pay the public debts, or to provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States. They cannot be levied solely for foreign purposes, or in an aid of foreign nations, or for purposes not national in their objects or character.
It is clear, taxation has very specific purposes, and beyond these, it is unconstitutional and nothing more than theft. This is the same type of "looting" which was characterized in Ayn Rand's, Atlas Shrugged. For anyone unfamiliar, I recommend also reading the story of Davy Crockett and Horatio Bunce: https://fee.org/resources/not-your-to-give/. The long and the short of it is, Congress does not have the power or authority to raise funds for charitable purposes of any sort. Charity is personal and voluntary - making it compulsory via taxation is robbery.
To apply this to some specific current events, the government has no business, andcertainly no authority, spending tax money funding pharmaceutical research and trials and paying pharmaceutical companies for products.
To wrap this up, as its already quite long yet spent nearly cover all that's wrong with the current state of the federal government, according to the Constitution, the powers of the federal government are few and limited, and all other powers and authority are reserved to the States and/or the people. If we are ever to return to the America envisioned by our founding fathers, we need to educate people and return to this important foundational principle. The States don't answer to the federal government - the federal government answers to the States. The power to change the current situation lies with we, the people.
I know my comment will be unpopular and met with a good bit of resistance from some that read it but, I believe it must be said.
One of the GREATEST violations of sovereignty of states was in the period of 1861-1865. The states that left the Union to form the Confederate States of America did so peacefully. It wasn't until lincoln invaded the Confederate states which were at that point a sovereign nation, that there was bloodshed. The southern states were treated as insurrectionist but they never once tried to force their agenda onto any unwilling participant of the secession.
There are so many that believe this to be a part of the "lost cause" doctrine but they only know what has been pushed on them by a whitewashed and biased education system. (Another area where THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT has overstepped it's bounds).
We could go on for a very long time listing the overreach of the "federal" government, which was never supposed to exist.