The danger in our system is that the general government, which represents the interests of the whole, may encroach on the states, which represent the peculiar and local interests, or that the latter may encroach on the former.
John C. CalhounRead
What is it but a cunningly devised scheme to take from one State and to give to another - to replenish the treasury of some of the States from the pockets of the people of the others; in reality, to make them support the governments and pay the debts of other States as well as their own?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes redistribution of wealth between states, arguing that it benefits some at the expense of others.
John C. Calhoun's quote highlights the idea that government policies that redistribute wealth from one state to another are inherently unjust. He suggests that such actions force citizens to shoulder the financial burdens of other states, supporting their governments and debts, thereby critiquing the fairness of governmental fiscal strategies that fail to consider individual state sovereignty and responsibilities.
Themes
RedistributionWealthStatesGovernmentTaxation
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate, to illustrate the effects of taxation on states.
More from John C. Calhoun
All quotes βThere is a tendency in all parties, when they have been for a long time in possession of power, to augment it.
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I hold that there is a mysterious connection between the fate of this country and that of Mexico; so much so that her independence and capability of sustaining herself are almost as essential to our prosperity and the maintenance of our institutions as they are to hers.
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The error is in the assumption that the General Government is a party to the constitutional compact. The States ... formed the compact, acting as sovereign and independent communities.
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There is not an example on record of any free state holding a province of the same extent and population without disastrous consequences. The nations conquered and held as a province have, in time, retaliated by destroying the liberty of their conquerors through the corrupting effect of extended patronage and irresponsible power.
John C. CalhounRead
Stripped of all its covering, the naked question is, whether ours is a federal or consolidated government; a constitutional or absolute one; a government resting solidly on the basis of the sovereignty of the States, or on the unrestrained will of a majority; a form of government, as in all other unlimited ones, in which injustice, violence, and force must ultimately prevail.
John C. CalhounRead
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