Berkowitz: "Reading Into the Constitution"

Berkowitz: "Reading Into the Constitution" by MSW.  MGB: When most people talk about originalism or constitutional federalism, they are seeking the halcyon days before the 14th Amendment had any teeth and the commerce clause was used to restrict union power and regulation - seeking a return to the 90s - the 1890s - or social Darwinism and Robber Baron Capitalism. 

As Catholics, we don't believe in that.  Distributists, who are essentially libertarian socialists, seek a time before Vatican II when everyone listened to the Church - and indeed before the milenium, the first millenium, when the climate was pleasantly warm and the economics were confessionally Catholic - there were no protestants and there was no finance.  In essence - a return to Feudalism, but a kinder, gentler verson. 

I think we need to move forward, not back to either era, with a libertarian socialism that takes full advantage of technology and where cooperatives depend on themselves - not the clergy.  Indeed, the recent clericalism would be replaced with a more protestant ecclesiology - although the Sacraments would retain the Catholic model, with Catholic education and social services replacing government in most respects (although family services in Catholic Charities would shift from pushing teens and addicted parents from adoption to enabling them to start their own families with community suppport). 

As far as constitutional arrangements, I would seek amendments to enable regional government, especially with regard to spending and taxing - with part of taxing including the option to designate alternative providers, including Churches.