From: Randall Parker 

In article , jcuccia{at}bigfoot.com says...
> Ah'm a suthuna, son, and think the states do have rights.

Only sentient beings can have rights. But I do agree that there are things
that the states should be able to do without the feds interfering. There
are a few practical reasons why I support this idea aside from the fact
that it was the intent of the Framers.

>
> The problem with the idea of state's rights is the homogeneity of American
> culture; the states are no longer the "laboratories" for
self-government
> that the founders envisioned.

American culture is actually becoming more heterogeneous. I can cite many
examples of how this is so.

Look at TV and racial preferences. 20 years ago and even 10 years ago
(remember the Cosby Show?) the top 10 TV shows for blacks and whites had a
fair degree of overlap. No longer. One reason is that their cultures may
well be diverging and causing the change in preferences. Another reason may
be that with more channels more narrow tastes can be catered to.

Technology is allowing a lot more types of cultural groupings to form since
there are more ways to get different kinds of music, art, literature, and
so on. Communitaorians even complain about this trend and some of them seek
to use the coercive power of the state to prevent it from continuing (with
ideas akin to what those communist Pioneer kids have to go thru in Cuba).


> I think majority attitudes in most states differ very little on
"hot-button"
> issues like drugs and homosexual marriage, and so some people looking for a
> place where their particular predilictions are sanctioned have trouble
> finding one.

Not true! Travelling from Santa Barbara to the South still seems to me like
a big shift in attitudes.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5