[brightball]

I read most of it. Was quite a long read and most of the later sections were attempts to reinforce his overarching point across different areas of possible consent.

The issue that I take with a paper from 1870 appearing today regarding the governing power of the Constitution is largely one of sheer irony for the situation that we are currently is...because our current system of government was exactly what the US Constitution was designed to prevent.

It's fitting that this was written in 1870 only a few years removed from the Civil War and in the midst of Reconstruction when the US began it's current trek toward consolidated federal power in which a man really does have very little say in the matters of his own governance. State and local governments are more tangible and adaptable to the votes of the people and the ongoing interests of it's citizens as times change.

States that can experiment. Learn from each other. Compete with each other. See things in other states that they like and adopt them with their own local nuance if need be. As a bonus, states have to have balanced budgets.