Gavin McInnis on Baby Boomers

[Kinser79]

(05-22-2016, 04:26 AM)Galen Wrote: You have been digging around in history enough to see that Classical Liberalism actually worked.

And more importantly can be applied to current material conditions. If I had to provide a label I'd say I'm drifting toward Classical Liberalism with a strong dose of Federalism and Cultural Libertarianism mixed in.

Quote:The several states could create money but it would have to gold coin and not paper.  This provision of the Constitution exists because of the experience with states trying to print their way out debt which ended badly after the American Revolution.

Actually Article I, Section 10 limits the states to Gold or Silver coin, but Article I, Section 8 grants Congress power to coin money but doesn't further define what money is. As such the coining of money through means other than gold or silver (IE paper or copper coins or token coinage--like most change in the US currently) is strictly limited to the Federal Government.

I would argue that Art I, Sec 10 limits the States to either using gold and silver in the payment of debts or any other thing that Congress makes legal tender (in the case of the US Federal Reserve Notes and the token fractional coinage). So long as both sections are in place, or something like them (in say a different constitution) sovereign debt is impossible to the states, but not impossible for the federal government.

Naturally of course if one were to introduce hard money to the US again there would likely need to be federal banking regulations to control the backing in specie of the notes printed privately. And I'd be perfectly fine with a bimetallic standard provided that gold doesn't overpower silver, in which case it should be only gold. I believe that exchange ratios between gold and silver have changed a bit from the 16:1 ratio of the late 18th century.

 

Quote: The Constitution is best understood as a free trade and mutual defense pact.

You'll get no argument from me there. I've long thought that the country really is too large even with modern communication methods to attempt to run it in a unitary fashion. Not because of the size of our area, but rather our population. Unlike the Chinese I don't think Americans think on a civilization time line or frame of mind. That being said the Chinese are pretty much unique in having the longest running civilization. The west has abrupt points of starting and stopping and today's Europeans are clearly not Romans.

Quote:On the whole you are correct about the limitations the state governments would be under.

Indeed as citizenship is based on the entirety of the US, with the free movement of people across state boundaries, should some states choose to conduct insane experiments people can vote with their feet if the ballot box proves ineffective.