Imagine that what you like and what you can’t stand are different from the preferences of other people. That shouldn’t be too hard. To some degree that’s true of all of us. Now imagine that you can make broad generalizations about those preferences based on what part of the country people live in. There’s actually some evidence to support that, as this article from Atlantic points out:
Rentfrow had a breakthrough in 2013, when he and others published a study that suggested the U.S. has three “psychological regions.†The first, in the Midwest and parts of the Southeast, is “friendly and conventional.†It has high levels of extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness—three more of the big-five personality traits. “The characteristics of this psychological region suggest a place where traditional values, family, and the status quo are important,†the authors wrote. (The southern United States also tends to be more courageous, according to his research.)
In a second region, which consists of the West Coast, the Rocky Mountains, and the Southwest, meanwhile, Americans tend to be “relaxed and creative,†the authors wrote. People in these areas are very open—another big personality measure, marked by a tendency toward curiosity, variety, and imagination—but rank comparatively low on most all other traits. “In general, the qualities of this region depict a place where open-mindedness, tolerance, individualism, and happiness are valued,†the authors noted.
Finally, there’s the “temperamental and uninhibited†region, which consists of the Northeast and, to some extent, Texas. These states have higher neuroticism than the others and are moderately high on openness. “This particular configuration of traits depicts the type of person who is reserved, aloof, impulsive, irritable, and inquisitive,†he wrote. To which we on the East Coast say, You talkin’ to me?
Get that? Your ideas of what’s good, what’s bad, how you want to live may differ from those of people in other parts of the country. That you’re right and they’re wrong is far too simplistic a way of looking at it. Their history, culture, experiences, and relative preferences are just different from yours. Your idea of heaven and that of your neighbors may be different from that of mine and my neighbors. It might even be my hell.
Sounds like a darned good case for federalism to me.
This reminds me of something Malcolm Gladwell said on Joe Rogan’s podcast the other day about what he calls the four varieties of crime and justice in art. I think you might like this Dave, it’s only about 4 minutes long:
https://youtu.be/OnEjzmR9Hvw?t=226
Yes, that’s good. Most of the “detective” shows on television these days are police procedurals which practically by definition must be “Northerns”. Something he doesn’t address is sci-fi, either in the movies or on television. Practically all of it fits into one of his categories. Star Trek is a Northern. Star Wars is an Eastern. Serenity is a Western. There have even been a few Southerns. Same with medical dramas.
Something I wish more Americans contemplated is why “Easterns” are much more credible here than they would be in the UK, Sweden, or Germany.
The federal system given us by the Founders has been pretty much destroyed and replaced by a strong central government. The States have only vestigial rights nowadays. The big hit was Lincoln’s Civil War (which was a bad mistake), but added to that are Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressivism, Woodrow Wilson’s administrative state, FDR and the New Deal, and LBJ’s War on Poverty. Each systematically tore down as much federalism as it could.
The impeachment hearings (shows?) have revealed the reality of the Deep State, now admitted by everyone, and they have shown that the denizens in the Pentagon and State Department, in addition to the FBI and CIA, have contempt for our elected officials and deny that Presidents, Senators, and Representatives should control policy. This attitude is widespread throughout the entire Civil Service and affects all federal agencies.
The real issue today is not so much federalism as whether we have an elected, accountable government. That I doubt. We have an embryonic Praetorian Guard. For now it usually ignores the elected officials, except when they agree with the Praetorians, but someday the Praetorians will appoint the elected officials themselves. Republic to Principate, the usual evolution.
An exaggeration. Unless you’re a federal employee or active duty military the odds are extremely high that 90% of your day to day contact with government is via areas regulated by the state in which you live. My sense is that most of those who want to federalize everything don’t actually have a lot of experience.