A question arises while reflecting upon the politically fractured landscape of the
United States in early 2001: Is now a time for more
state's rights, or for stronger
federal government?
Either could be said to provide
healing effect, while both could also be argued to cause harm.
Looking on
the bright side, strong
federal would bridge ideological differences and strengthen the US through Unity. On the dark side, A strong
federal government could also cause resentment in the south, which has been a hotbed of
state's rights concerns since the nation was formed.
More state's rights could allow ideological differences to
coexist peacefully but existing differences could also continue to tear the country apart as
historical precedent has shown them to have done in the
Civil War, a war begun mostly over
state's rights*.
During one of the
myriad interviews I watched during the
election debacle,
Jesse Jackson made an eloquent statement about state's rights:
The Union won the war.
*
Slavery was also a cause of the Civil War, but the south saw this unspeakable evil as an issue for states to choose.