Governors complain about the federal government telling states what they can and cannot do.

Then, those same governors turnaround and tell cities and counties what they can and cannot do. 

The 10th Amendment says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” 

While there has long been debate around the nip and tuck between federal powers and states rights, the most American view of government is found in the first three words of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, “We the people,” or the last three words of the 10th Amendment “to the people.” 

Government is closest to “we the people,” of course, at the local level, viz. city council, county commission and board of education. 

It is local government which most directly impacts our lives. 

It is local government which is most representative of the people in a district, ward, city or county. 

Local control has long been the bastion of conservatism. 

Why then are the most conservative of governors — Florida’s Ron DeSantis, Texas’ Greg Abbott and Georgia’s Brian Kemp — usurping local jurisdictions with their statewide executive orders and mandates? 

These governors resist federal mandates.

Yet, they issue mandates of their own, prohibiting local school boards, city councils or county commissions, from making decisions about their own communities. 

Let’s think about this. 

These governors don’t want to do things the federal government way.

They don’t want to do things the local government way. 

It is obvious, they only want to do things their own way. 

They, and they alone, want to make decisions for everyone. They, and they alone, know how to keep people safe, keep businesses open, keep hospitals operating, keep the economy running and keep students learning in schools. They, and they alone, have all the answers. 

This new interpretation of absolute states rights is, in essence, absolute governor rights and is absolutely not what the 10th Amendment guarantees. 

A government of, by and for the people works best when it is closest to the people being governed. 

Clearly, there are times the federal government, or the state, must intervene, but day in and day out, it is local government that must govern our communities and make decisions in our best interests. 

Doesn’t it just make sense for local decisions to be made locally by leaders who know their own communities the best and who will be held directly accountable by the people who live there? 

But what is really going on isn’t about the powers of the federal government, states rights, local control or even individual rights and freedoms. 

The battle over vaccines, masks, social distancing and all forms of mitigation is really all about social responsibility, being our brother’s keeper, esteeming others better than self and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Those are principles older than the 10th Amendment, older that the Constitution and older than the Preamble. 

 

Jim Zachary is the editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.