Lew Rockwell interviews Tom Woods, on his new book, Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century. Thanks to the internet, Americans can learn about such forbidden ideas as the Principles of 1798, when Jefferson and Madison laid out the idea that to give the central government the sole ability to interpret the constitution was the path to tyranny, and that the states have the right and the duty to oppose tyrannical actions by the feds.
Regimists try to demonize the idea of nullification, as they attempt to demonize all ideas that undermine centralized power, but that is not scaring libertarians, Tea Party people, and other dissidents. Nullification, decentralization, self-government, self-determination, even secession: the time of these un-PC ideas is here, and the Woods book may be the handbook of the revolution.
You can listen to the podcast here.
3 comments:
As much as I hate what the federal government is doing right now, I'd rather not have a confederation of sovereign states.
Nullification is a dangerous move, incompatible with the textbook definition of federalism, which will only render the federal government powerless with regard to state abuses of power.
In the past an overly weak federal government led to issues with discrimination against blacks and infringements on freedom of religion and school choice. If nullification came into being, I can definitely see Muslim bathrooms, "Jaime Crow" laws, and anti-Semitism as well.
I am really unhappy to see this movement among my fellow paleoists. It is a completely unnecessary, extremist step which will return us to the unstable, unjust, anti-federalist Articles of Confederation.
Another thing, one cannot claim to support "original intent" of the Constitution and nullification at the same time, as they are two separate types of government - federation and confederation.
I agree that nullification is a dangerous strategy. A restoration of the Constitution would mean repealing the 17th Amendment, which wouldn't establish completely sovereign states. Instead, it would restore Senators' incentives to keep as much power as possible out of the hands of Washington, which would balance the House's natural incentive to centralize power. That would help move us back towards a truly Constitutional, limited government. I wrote similar thoughts here: http://repealthe17thamendment.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-do-we-do-now.html
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