I have always been fascinated by situations where conflicts within value systems and policies of institutions, societies, and cultural groups get negotiated. Sometimes the conflicts are necessary for the organization in question to even exist. Case in point - the United Nations. The emphasis placed on the sovereignty of nations states, the desire to promote universal human rights, and the ability of cultures to live according to their own systems of belief, are constant sources of friction. This has particularly been the case when you investigate human rights violations and disastrous peacekeeping missions. And yet, without the principle of sovereignty being enshrined in the Charter, the UN would certainly cease to exist and would be incapable of doing anything to uphold more humanistic values!
Similar conflicts seem to lie beneath the surface of our own political system. One of the most troubling of those conflicts is, of course, that between federalism and civil rights. These two seemingly fundamental ideals have been battling it out since the founding of our nation-state. Federalism has, problematically, often won this battle. The idea that the Federal Government does not have the right to step in and "police" the actions of States when they are dealing with traditionally reserved or non-designated powers, has allowed politicians (and increasingly, corporations) to get away with a range of disgusting activities.
Most recently, we have seen the complete loss of representative government within the city of Detroit. When Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed an "emergency manager" to control Detroit unilaterally, despite never being elected to office by the city's population the people of Detroit effectively lost all ability to have a say in the way their city operates. You heard that right. A supposedly "democratic" American city - in point of fact one of the cities that laid the foundations for American prosperity and power in the world - became an authoritarian state. The authority in question set about dismantling Detroit's pension and school systems, and privatizing areas that had traditionally belonged to the people as a whole. Free spaces and public utilities were also up for grabs. All in the name of "fiscal responsibility."
Lately, the situation in Detroit has taken an even more disturbing turn, as the emergency manager's office and the wealthy corporate interests behind that office, have taken an interest in Detroit's public water system. Suddenly citizens of Detroit have found their water bills skyrocketing. Having difficulty making the unreasonable payments, more and more people are having their water turned off. The city is full of homes with no running water. In the middle of summer people are finding themselves stuck with no clean drinking water, an inability to shower, and the unsanitary situation of not being able to use the toilets.
So what are the people doing about this, you might ask? Well, in MOST American cities the people would put pressure on their local representatives - councilmen and women, the mayor, etc. to negotiate re-payment plans that locals could live with. Or to ensure that those water bills are accurately priced and the people are not being taken advantage of. Oh but that's right! Thanks to the "emergency manager" being imposed on Detroit, the people have no representatives to turn to. They have no recourse at the city and state level.
Let me re-state this clearly and concisely - American citizens are having their water taken away and they have no ability to democratically prevent this because their rights to choose their representatives have been stripped from them.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that there must be more to it or that it cannot be as bad as I, (and Rachel Maddow, and the guardian ) am making it out to be! Of course, if something like this was actually happening in a major American city, the Federal Government would do something to protect the needs and rights of the people. Except...here's where that pesky Federalism comes into play. States have the rights to create their own Constitutions and pass their own laws. They have the right to decide the formats of State and local governments. In Michigan today, that means, all of this is technically legal. Of course, this ignores the brutal and possibly rule-breaking techniques used to get these laws passed through the Michigan legislature. But none the less, if the Federal Government were to step in, they'd be faced with the backlash of supposedly "small government" conservatives screaming that this was tyranny!
Yet surely these actions violate the Civil Rights of Detroit's citizens. According to the United Nations, the situation is even worse than that. The take over of the water supply, and the holding it over the heads of Detroit's population like some Somali warlord controlling the food stores demanding exorbitant fees, is the violation of a basic human right. After the UN made that declaration, the media exploded and Americans across the country called out for action.
Oh wait, no, that's right! The move was ignored by most national media organizations, with the exception of certain MSNBC nightly anchors (Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes), and international outlets, like Al Jazeera. After all, there's no time to discuss the decline of a great American city into a wasteland of despair along the lines of a poverty stricken, failed state, when Hillary said she was broke!
The bitter irony behind my whole rant is that the very notion that Detroit's citizens should have a say in how Detroit operates locally is based on, you guessed it, Federalism. Because of course, the principle is not the problem. Just like the conflicts in the UN Charter, the principle is necessary for the success of the United States as a whole. However, we need to re-think its application. Federalism is there to protect the people from government tyranny, NOT to protect smaller state-level tyrants from Federal interference! As such, Federalism should never come before Civil Rights, just as sovereignty should not be placed above human rights. To do so, is to miss the point entirely.
Similar conflicts seem to lie beneath the surface of our own political system. One of the most troubling of those conflicts is, of course, that between federalism and civil rights. These two seemingly fundamental ideals have been battling it out since the founding of our nation-state. Federalism has, problematically, often won this battle. The idea that the Federal Government does not have the right to step in and "police" the actions of States when they are dealing with traditionally reserved or non-designated powers, has allowed politicians (and increasingly, corporations) to get away with a range of disgusting activities.
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| Protests in the Streets for Civil Rights - Because Federalism Can Be Used to Justify the Unjustifiable |
Most recently, we have seen the complete loss of representative government within the city of Detroit. When Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed an "emergency manager" to control Detroit unilaterally, despite never being elected to office by the city's population the people of Detroit effectively lost all ability to have a say in the way their city operates. You heard that right. A supposedly "democratic" American city - in point of fact one of the cities that laid the foundations for American prosperity and power in the world - became an authoritarian state. The authority in question set about dismantling Detroit's pension and school systems, and privatizing areas that had traditionally belonged to the people as a whole. Free spaces and public utilities were also up for grabs. All in the name of "fiscal responsibility."
Lately, the situation in Detroit has taken an even more disturbing turn, as the emergency manager's office and the wealthy corporate interests behind that office, have taken an interest in Detroit's public water system. Suddenly citizens of Detroit have found their water bills skyrocketing. Having difficulty making the unreasonable payments, more and more people are having their water turned off. The city is full of homes with no running water. In the middle of summer people are finding themselves stuck with no clean drinking water, an inability to shower, and the unsanitary situation of not being able to use the toilets.
So what are the people doing about this, you might ask? Well, in MOST American cities the people would put pressure on their local representatives - councilmen and women, the mayor, etc. to negotiate re-payment plans that locals could live with. Or to ensure that those water bills are accurately priced and the people are not being taken advantage of. Oh but that's right! Thanks to the "emergency manager" being imposed on Detroit, the people have no representatives to turn to. They have no recourse at the city and state level.
Let me re-state this clearly and concisely - American citizens are having their water taken away and they have no ability to democratically prevent this because their rights to choose their representatives have been stripped from them.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that there must be more to it or that it cannot be as bad as I, (and Rachel Maddow, and the guardian ) am making it out to be! Of course, if something like this was actually happening in a major American city, the Federal Government would do something to protect the needs and rights of the people. Except...here's where that pesky Federalism comes into play. States have the rights to create their own Constitutions and pass their own laws. They have the right to decide the formats of State and local governments. In Michigan today, that means, all of this is technically legal. Of course, this ignores the brutal and possibly rule-breaking techniques used to get these laws passed through the Michigan legislature. But none the less, if the Federal Government were to step in, they'd be faced with the backlash of supposedly "small government" conservatives screaming that this was tyranny!
Yet surely these actions violate the Civil Rights of Detroit's citizens. According to the United Nations, the situation is even worse than that. The take over of the water supply, and the holding it over the heads of Detroit's population like some Somali warlord controlling the food stores demanding exorbitant fees, is the violation of a basic human right. After the UN made that declaration, the media exploded and Americans across the country called out for action.
Oh wait, no, that's right! The move was ignored by most national media organizations, with the exception of certain MSNBC nightly anchors (Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes), and international outlets, like Al Jazeera. After all, there's no time to discuss the decline of a great American city into a wasteland of despair along the lines of a poverty stricken, failed state, when Hillary said she was broke!
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| I know Hillary...I know |
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