For me, federalism is fast becoming a way of viewing the world. For example, I had a “federalist moment” immediately upon leaving Montpelier–at church, no less! The closing song included the words “Sing a new church into being”; given the degree to which “words make worlds,” it could happen! If you’re interested in the rest of the lyrics, let me know and I’ll email them to you.
Fed moment # 2 (with background): Both my sons are preparing to be teachers–Charles, 21, is farther along than his younger brother. He’s studying math education, but is also profoundly interested in philosophy–including political philosophy (I can see him earning a PhD in the philosophy of integral calculus…). I shared The Boxes with him yesterday, and he’s fascinated: the first thing he said to me this morning was “So how would you describe a blue-box federalist?” Naturally this engendered quite a conversation! We talked about federal education policy (including my anti-federalist assertion that the Department of Education is unconstitutional), and health-care policy (I’m all for nationalizing primary and critical care). His response: That makes sense–health-care is fundamental to life itself, in a way that education is not–it’s more a liberty-and-pursuit-of-happiness thing. Not bad for a vacationing college student!
(BTW, Stuart, 19 and a future English teacher, is far too busy writing comic fantasy stories to converse–with me, he only debates, and I lack his youthful stamina!).
Please share your federalist and/or anti-federalist moments with us! Everyone’s insights help us all to think and to grow.
Puckermom }{ (a.k.a. Laura)
Stuart’s making; he’s in another world at the moment.
I’m a comics guy, myself. Email me what he reads..!
[...] Laura left the NEH Institute at Montpelier, she realized she was surrounded by Federalist Moments while Larry wanted to provoke More Serious Questions about Constitutional [...]