link to original reddit post by /u/Anenome5
Rothbard's 'Anatomy of the State' essay explaining why and how the Federal government is able to keep expanding its powers over time in this John C. Calhoun quote:
A written constitution certainly has many and considerable advantages, but it is a great mistake to suppose that the mere insertion of provisions to restrict and limit the power of the government, without investing those for whose protection they are inserted with the means of enforcing their observance [my italics] will be sufficient to prevent the major and dominant party from abusing its powers.
Being the party in possession of the government, they will, from the same constitution of man which makes government necessary to protect society, be in favor of the powers granted by the constitution and opposed to the restrictions intended to limit them. . .
The minor or weaker party, on the contrary, would take the opposite direction and regard them [the restrictions] as essential to their protection against the dominant party. . .
But where there are no means by which they could compel the major party to observe the restrictions, the only resort left them would be a strict construction of the constitution. . . To this the major party would oppose a liberal construction . . .
It would be construction against construction—the one to contract and the other to enlarge the powers of the government to the utmost.
But of what possible avail could the strict construction of the minor party be, against the liberal construction of the major, when the one would have all the power of the government to carry its construction into effect and the other be deprived of all means of enforcing its construction?
In a contest so unequal, the result would not be doubtful. The party in favor of the restrictions would be overpowered. . .
The end of the contest would be the subversion of the constitution . . . the restrictions would ultimately be annulled and the government be converted into one of unlimited powers.
Read the rest: https://mises.org/library/anatomy-state
Absolutely brilliant work that hits hard, never lets up, and cuts to the bone of the problem of the State.