It always surprises my lefty acquantances when I claim to be a big proponent of the federal government. This is not at all the same thing as being a proponent of a big federal government. It is in fact the opposite; being an apologist for federal governance: a co-equal branch with the various states, but with specific powers to coordinate amongst the states, the common defense, court systems, treaties, apportionment of taxes, standardize weights and measures, the coining of a common currency... What we have instead is a central government. This leviathan was born the day Senators were no longer elected by their respective state legislatures.
An all powerful central government that enforces law arbitrarily is not much different than anarchy.
You are in good company, for Patrick Henry and James Madison had a similar dustup. They knew EXACTLY what to expect if the states left the senate.
At the Virginia ratification convention on June 6th 1788, Madison responded to Patrick Henry’s charge that the Constitution’s enumerated powers would be usurped and our freedoms destroyed by a national government that would quickly seize all power.
Madison: “If the general government were wholly independent of the governments of the particular states, then, indeed, usurpation might be expected to the fullest extent. But, sir, on whom does this general government depend? It derives its authority from these governments, and from the same sources from which their authority is derived.”
The 17th Amendment, Gateway to Despotic Government