The Sayings of Abu Francis
I say, I’m not big on patriotic holidays. In the United States, we have Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Patriot Day, Veterans Day and, the father of them all, Independence Day.
Don’t get me wrong – I love my land as much as the next guy. We humans are hard-wired to connect to the place of our birth or where we grow up. Home.
I just don’t connect to the nation-state. I don’t believe in the borders they invented, the wars they have fought to protect and expand them, or the myths they spin to keep people loyal to them.
(As I write this, world leaders are wringing their hands about possible nuclear war – all over three border areas of Ukraine where people speak Russian.)
All over the world, the nation-state replaced monarchies and empires. Those large centralized systems, once run by kings and emperors, are now run by wealthy business interests. We call these people “oligarchs” if they run Russia or Ukraine. Oligarchy is not democracy, but at least more people from diverse backgrounds can buy their way into the ruling class.
In many parts of the world, villages and other decentralized systems of living have been forced to be a part of nations. Families, clans and tribes can be controlled more easily. People who had lived peacefully because they had distance have been drawn into conflict by being forced to share nationality (witness Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Rwanda).
The United States was once a bunch of colonies founded by corporations (i.e. Virginia Company, Plymouth Company, Hudson's Bay Company, Massachusetts Bay Company, etc.) chartered by British kings to extract the wealth of New World for the benefit of the empire. They became states after the colonial oligarchs decided being middlemen was for the birds.
For a decade, the States coexisted in a confederation with minimal central government (no president, no executive agencies, no judiciary, no taxes; a Congress to run foreign affairs, conduct war and regulate currency). Each state got one vote in Congress and any act of Congress required a super-majority of nine out of 13 states. Amending the articles required the unanimous consent of the states.
The push for a constitution came from Federalists Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who (among other things) felt the Confederation was bad for business and couldn’t pay for war. Shays’ Rebellion – an uprising of Revolutionary War veteran-farmers protesting the confiscation of their land to settle debts – gave urgency to cries for a more effective security state.
With the aid of George Washington, they did an end run around Anti-Federalists (decentralists) like Patrick Henry, John Hancock and Samuel Adams by convening to amend the Articles with the draft of a new Constitution in their back pocket.
The Federalists won by agreeing to add the Bill of Rights, and history has basically been written by those favoring a powerful central government. Historians almost unanimously characterize the Confederation as “weak” and “ineffective” – although the Articles could have been considered strong and effective against the consolidation of power.
Ironically, recent media is dominated by stories about the Supreme Court rolling back centralization on many hot-button issues – in the name of the Framers’ original intent. Centralization?
I happen to be in Austin, Texas as I write this. Texas has banned most abortions after about six weeks – enforceable only by lawsuit. A complete ban is in the works, triggered by the recent Supreme Court decision to allow states to regulate or restrict abortion.
The Austin City Council is mulling a resolution to effectively ignore the ban. Called the Guarding the Right to Abortion Care for Everyone (GRACE) Act, the city will recommend that Austin Police “avoid devoting personnel and resources to investigations relating to a person obtaining an abortion or providers performing them,” according to the Austin Chronicle.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza has already said he will not prosecute cases against people who provide or obtain abortions.
The instinct to decentralize law enforcement is not new. Segregationists ignored state and federal laws in the South. The federal government is still wrangling with states that legalize cannabis. Whatever we feel about a particular issue, shifting decisions towards local control feels more democratic.
Thanks to the Federalists, we have a massive central government that has led America into all the foils of empire, from endless war to an economic-growth paradigm that has plundered the planet. The land suffers as nation-states put their narrow economic interests ahead of everything else.
I love this land. Just not crazy about the country. That’s why I’m not afraid of the collapse of the United States – ecologically and economically – as we have known it. Maybe we’ll finally find freedom.
What say you?