[kjdndisneinj]

You've got some interesting points here, but it definitely reads more like conspiratorial thinking. What realistic difference is there between "The States" and the federal government? In the end you're still going to have a government enforcing these things, unless you depart radically from our current societal structure.

It sounds like you're just skeptical of a powerful centralized state, and it's coming out through the lens of historical American federation/republicanism. That isn't wrong, but it's as much a history of competing factions as it is an strong intellectual basis.

You're not the only one skeptical of a powerful, centralized state. Try reading Kropotkin or Luxemburg. You might find the ideas resonate with you. Those authors have a coherent ideological basis, and suggest paths to decentralized democracy that has been realized in various forms in recent history, but is radically different to the current American government.

[chillingeffect]

> What realistic difference is there between "The States" and the federal government?

It's huge! The power to drive international trade and warfare, for starters! Also, the ability to create laws that don't reflect people in your area/community.

Also wrt this thread, states don't (generally) enforce searches at their borders, because states aren't fighting for domination with nation-states. States are only trying to control their geographic area.

Thank you for the references, I'll check them out.