Is Federal Control Consistent with Freedom and Independence?
Senator Bob Rucho of North Carolina gives us a glimpse of what leaders may have looked like if the Articles of Confederation, America’s first Constitution during its Revolutionary War years, had prevailed. He seems to remind us not to forget that the Declaration of Independence is the quintessential founding manifesto of the American nation, then composed of locally oriented citizens responsible first to their own governors, courts, and other state leaders.
This youthful vision of Revolutionary America lasted for 11 years before central control asserted federalist power once again, now via Washington rather than London. Rucho’s famous Tweet hints at how far we’ve fallen under the managerial elite: “Justice Robert’s pen & Obamacare has done more damage to the USA than the swords of the Nazis, Soviets & terrorists combined.”
Yes, the Nazis and Soviets had “freedom of speech” too—that is, within their predetermined ideological boundaries. Say what you want so long as it’s politically correct. Dissent was also welcomed, so long as it was weak, fragmentary, and without impact (as is so much political grumbling today). But no upsetting of the political applecart was allowed.
These two socialist nations of World War II were among the first to consolidate power in the new online world made possible by the telephone and radio. Franklin Roosevelt’s fireside chats between 1933 and 1944 became the model for television news anchors today: “Roosevelt’s cheery voice and demeanor played him into the favor of citizens and he soon became one of the most popular presidents ever, often affectionately comp
ared to Abraham Lincoln,” as Wikipedia points out.
Technological control of the masses may have found television the perfect medium to assert federal power, but the computer revolution has now received the baton. We are dazzled by novelty—and willingly surrender our freedoms and independence.
