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Of historical note, 1911-1920 was a horrible decade. The meat grinder of WW I rightfully overshadowed significant changes to our constitution. Still, the populist amendments have and continue to do great harm to our republic.

The 16th legalized an income tax. A later (FDR?) supreme court found that progressivity was constitutional. So much for equal protection, right? It has morphed into a communist fantasy that relieves producers of their hard earned wealth.

The 17th removed state input from federal law making. The upper house of our national legistlature that was designed to be above the rabble of the populist mob has become a copy of the lower house, albeit with six year terms. Rather than cool the temper of representative government, the likes of Kennedy fan the flame of class warfare to the detriment of our country.

The 18th banned alcohol, a bad idea rescinded less than fifteen years later.

The 19th granted women the right to vote. I will defer to men braver than me to point out any downside.

IMO these populist amendments, and later scotus rulings regarding them, set the stage for our current problems. The democrat party as we know it could not exist without the female vote, the graduated income tax or senator's reliance on inner city votes bought with the sweat of producers.