auntblabby wrote:
it seems to me that "states' rights" is one of those elastic things that people use for various reasons, but at the same time are always ready to deny to other conflicting groups - states' rights to mandate GMO labeling [like in Vermont] but denying other states the same right within their borders, for example.
Utah is a leader of "states' rights[.]" Because about 70 percent of our land was co-opted by the federal government in the 1800s prior to statehood, the land was never returned to state management for things like permanent development, leased ranching and grazing rights, water, thermal energy and, of course, oil (not that we have much). Most western states are in the same boat. Our states are slaves to the ravenous federal plantation. This status quo has changed significantly since the 1970s when states such as Utah stood up to the plantation owners and sued, preempted and nullified to regain what was ours in the first place under contemporaneous federal law. We are still fighting for our state's rights.
Now, other states, both northern and southern, have used states' rights to benefit themselves. But, let us not denigrate the concept of states' rights. As has been describe within this topic, states' rights actually assisted freed and excaped slaves before and during the Civil War, so it has done good. As with any constitutionally delegated authority, such authority can be used for good or bad.