Federations are a manifestation of the natural law principle of subsidiarity. The Dolphin canton takes this principle very seriously. What that means practically is that, whenever any national government program is being reviewed, the first question asked will be: can this be better handled at a lower level of government (such as the state, county, municipality, or perhaps outside of government altogether)? If the question is answered in the affirmative, the canton will not be supporting the program at the national level, though it may support whatever assistance may be needed to transfer the program to whatever level may be judged more appropriate. Isn't this making things worse for the taxpayer? Probably not. National programs such as Medicare are so rife with corruption that pushing the program down to a lower level will probably result in better oversight. In addition, this provides the possibility of innovation, which a single top-heavy national program will squelch. Economies of scale are not always optimal at the highest level.
The purpose of government is to allow people to cooperate in accomplishing deeds that the majority find necessary.
One of the top stories in the news today is about the US Supreme Court hearing arguments of an abortion case that may result in a reversal of Roe v Wade. As the interim champion of the Dolphin canton [1], I would not support government giving money to Planned Parenthood. It should be clear that opposition to abortion will never go away, which means that Roe v Wade, like Plessy v Ferguson (1886), went beyond where the people really stand on the issues. Plessy v Ferguson allowed segregated schools in some instances. This was reversed by Brown v Board of Education (1954).
There are two things in my mind that make it impossible to accept the right of abortion. First, it is clear from biology that the very first cell produced by the joining of the sperm and egg cells (the zygote) has a genetic signature different from both parents. This continues to be true throughout the period where it is called an embryo until the birth of a new human being. Therefore, the fetus is not part of the woman, but ...
The first meeting of the national canton forum would be primarily about the champions of the various cantons getting to know one another. Secondly, they would begin to reveal the patterns of the value systems that will be used in determining how each will support (or deny support) to various government programs. Probably the first step will be to go around the President's cabinet table, and have each champion say which of the departments represented they would ax. Such fun! As champion of the Dolphin canton, I would certainly not support the Department of Education, but that would not be the end of the list.
It occurs to me that the last canton to be formed will be the most extreme liberals. I think they will only participate when they feel left out of the good reputation the others are getting from lowering taxes.
