16 Feb 2018 What Does It Mean The USA?

What Does It Mean “The United States?”

This goes to the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Different states in the union have different cultures.  The two things that helped bound them together was a unifying language, English, and the concept of freedom. Now freedom only applied to white males.  It has taken a long time to extend that freedom to all.  At the time of the country’s founding it was white males.  These males had vast differences in how they wanted to live their lives and how to be governed.  Do you want a large federal structure with states having a smaller say or the other way around?  Europe is trying to figure this out.  Should the European Union be the more powerful organization or the individual countries? The challenges with Europe is the union consists not of states but countries.  These are centuries old and have different languages and cultures.

For the most part the USA was formed by men who came from Great Britain or their parents did.  So, did that make it easier? The advantage that the colonist had was logistical. They did not have to supply each other over thousands of miles of ocean. The colonists were victorious and thus started the grand experiment of democracy.

To this day the conflict between states rights versus federal still exists. However, the federal power structure has become so large it has more or less “won.”  The Constitution tries to put defined limits on federal power but over time since it was instituted Congress has found ways to “read into it” more than the founding fathers may have intended. “To promote the general welfare” words have been very costly. “Regulating Interstate commerce” has also been the tool used to expand federal power. There is wording in the Constitution that tries to limit the reach of the federal government and keep the states strong. The Civil War was fought over slavery and states’ rights. As with any war, 2-3 decisions changed the outcome.

So federal power was cemented after the Civil War. During the 20^th Century the difference between the states started to narrow. This was due to transportation and immigration. People moved from the cities/towns they grew up in. Two World Wars and Vietnam provided an environment for people in different states to get to know each other. Immigration is changing the country from white European to a blend. It will be interesting to see how the state structure holds up as the federal government continues to grow.

People still have a strong affinity from where they came from. In my experience, few people speak badly about “home.” I don’t know the statistics, but it would be interesting to know the percentage of people who started in the place they grew up vice those that moved away. During the 21^st Century you will see this migration at a national level. People will move more freely around the world.

States will always exist and have some power.  The federal government will get larger and more powerful.  Is what we really want?