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PaperclipPerfector  29d ago (text post)   35301 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 3, 2025

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The Federalist Papers never conceived of an imperial executive because they never conceived of an imperial state. The Federal government was always intended to be small, with most real governance done by the states. And until 1941, with the exception of the Civil War, this is exactly what it was.

In 1913, the federal budget was only about 2-3% of GDP. It was funded almost entirely by tariffs.

Today, the federal budget is about 25% of GDP, funded mostly by taxes of individuals. The federal government touches every aspect of our lives, and its bounds exceed anything the founders could have conceived. If this is to be the case, it is better to be governed by democratically-elected representatives than by an unelected elite.

The founders never intended America to be ruled by unelected judges and bureaucrats. To restore their vision, it is imperative that we shrink the size of the state as much as possible. But as this directly takes money out of the mouths of very powerful and corrupt people, it will not be easy.

Today, the federal budget is about 25% of GDP,

That made me go "wait, is that even right?", but you're right:

So a bit less than a quarter.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, since I pay federal taxes and they're on the order of 25%, too. Mental model of the world updated. Thanks.

The Federal government was always intended to be small, with most real governance done by the states. And until 1941, with the exception of the Civil War, this is exactly what it was.

Kind of kicks it down the road dunnit? Did they expect the States (doing most of the governments) to be dominated by state legislatures or state executives?

One could think of the check on states as the faction response in Federalist #10. Sure one state could be dominated by an executive and another by the legislature. But if one outperforms the other people will move to that other state. That is, competition between states ought to lead to good outcomes.

Of course this presupposes easy population movement which is somewhat sticky in practice.

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