What Would Government Look Like Today If We Actually Followed the Founding Principles?

Imagine waking up tomorrow in a country that operates exactly as the Founders intended.

The federal government would be almost unrecognizable to us today. Not because it would be futuristic, but because it would be far smaller.

First: Taxes.

Under the Constitution’s original intent, federal taxation was minimal and indirect. Before the 16th Amendment (1913), there was no income tax. The government operated mainly on:

• Tariffs (taxes on imports)
• Excise taxes (taxes on specific goods like whiskey)
• Apportioned direct taxes only during emergencies

James Madison wrote in Federalist 45 that the federal government’s powers are “few and defined,” while state powers are “numerous and indefinite.” The idea of an annual seizure of a portion of every citizen’s income would have been abhorrent.

The Founders feared direct taxation because it places the federal government between a man and his labor, creating dependency, surveillance, and control.

Second: Welfare.

What about Social Security, food stamps, and disability programs?

They wouldn’t exist federally.

The Founders designed a nation where welfare was local. Neighbors, churches, private charities, and state governments cared for the poor. Benjamin Franklin warned that formalized government welfare encourages idleness and strips away dignity:

“I am for doing good to the poor, but…I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.”

In other words, the focus was personal responsibility, community charity, and state-level solutions. A federal welfare system not only goes beyond enumerated powers but also creates national dependency on Washington rather than local relationships.

Third: The Power of the “Evil 1%.”

Today, many blame “that evil 1% of the rich” for keeping the poor in poverty. And while there are certainly corrupt elites who manipulate systems to their advantage, the Founders’ model actually stripped them of such power.

Here’s why:

• ✅ No centralized redistribution system to lobby.
  If the federal government isn’t collecting and redistributing trillions, billionaires can’t buy influence over those funds.
• ✅ Wealth is decentralized.
  With minimal federal taxation, wealth stays in communities. Local economies thrive because people spend, build, and invest locally instead of sending their income to D.C.
• ✅ Charity is personal.
  If welfare is handled by churches, charities, and states, the “1%” cannot control it for public image or policy manipulation. Giving becomes relational, not transactional.
• ✅ Opportunity expands.
  When the government is not picking winners and losers through subsidies, tax loopholes, or regulatory hurdles designed by elite lobbyists, every citizen competes on more equal footing.

So what does this mean practically?

• ✅ Your paycheck: You would keep nearly all of it, aside from sales taxes, tariffs built into goods, or minimal excise taxes.
• ✅ Charity and welfare: Churches, synagogues, private organizations, family, and state programs would fill the gap, with the understanding that the moral duty to care for the poor is yours and your community’s, not Washington’s.
• ✅ Federal government: It would be primarily responsible for national defense, foreign policy, and maintaining order among the states – not managing healthcare, schools, and retirement plans.
• ✅ The “1%”: They would hold wealth, yes, but without centralized power structures, their ability to influence your daily life would be drastically reduced.

But would this work today?

Critics argue that such a system leaves the poor unprotected. But defenders counter that centralized welfare creates permanent poverty classes and strips away accountability, while local and faith-based systems offer help with dignity, moral guidance, and incentive to improve one’s life.

Ultimately, the Founders’ model assumed a virtuous and engaged citizenry who understood that freedom without responsibility quickly becomes chaos – but government redistribution without virtue leads to tyranny.

Invitation to Think

Imagine America if we returned to that model.

Would we be poorer, or would we be wealthier in freedom, dignity, and responsibility – no matter how rich the “1%” becomes?