Sounds like anti-Federalism, no?
Sounds like anti-Federalism, no?
Read the book by that title. ( The Anti-Federalists) Not everyone agreed with the federalists for good reason. Reads like a prophecy book.
I think the term Federalist and Antifederalist can be confusing.
Here is my understanding but I may be wrong.
Federal-ISM - is our designed system in the Constitution whereby one method to restrain power of the (national) U.S. government is to balance the power is between the U.S. government and the States. That balancing of powers and doling out only certain powers to the U.S. federal government with others reserved to the states and individuals is one method of keeping the Federal (or National) government under control.
I think during the time of the Constitutional debates, the Federalists were the ones who wanted to pass the new constitution, and the AntiFederalists were wary of this new Constitution and wanted something closer to the old Articles of Confederation and felt it would lead to tyranny eventually. They weren’t against the states having power, they actually felt they wouldn’t have enough. So the term “antifederalist” as used during the constitutional times is almost backwards from what it should mean intuitively. (Anti federalists were actually for “federal-ism” but didn’t think the Constitution provided enough strength to the states to balance the new government)
It’s also confusing because the term “federal” is now linked to our U.S. Government at the national level, and has become almost a dirty word to conservatives because of the tyranny going on as they trample over state and individual rights, but Federal-ISM as a concept is a good thing as it just means two different parts of government keeping each other balanced and each in its own sphere with its own limited responsibilities and authority!
Don’t know if this is off topic, but the whole concept of federalism (keeping power balanced between US and States) is something people need to be re-educated on. I think most Americans nowadays see a direct line between themselves and the U.S. government, and the states are just this puny little thing off to the side that hands out drivers licenses and repairs roads. We need to get back to the founders vision! If Mark Levin’s book stirs up talk and debate and gets people thinking about this - that is a good thing.
I still get confused sometimes, and hope I’ve gotten this right in this post! Please correct me if I’ve actually gotten it backwards.