Parties and Power

Judging from the life work of the US Founders, I contend that, to a large extent, they were seeking ways to decentralized powers.

Yes, they created a centralized federal government to handle a small set of issues that they felt needed to be handled by a central government. Yet, for the most part they appeared to have wanted to empower individuals.

The Constitution made no mention of political parties and the Federalist Papers spoke with disdain of the factions that held power in Europe.

The system of national political parties rose after the founders. The political parties are built around a hierarchical structure and seem to work as a force that centralizes power.

Some of the speakers at the convention have compelling rhetoric about liberty.

Yet, to truly judge the effect of the GOP, one needs to look beyond the rhetoric to the structure of the party for the structure of a political system is often more telling about what a group does than the words spoken while building the structure.

The structure of the GOP is one that concentrates power. The people drawn to participate in the convention are people who are drawn to centralized. The expected effect of the GOP is greater centralization.

So, while the convention looks like it is a great deal of fun. The convention itself makes me fear for the future of this nation.