Friday A/V Club: A Nightmare Vision of a World Without Congress

The 1947 "instructional" film The Powers of Congress

Ever wonder what would happen if we woke up one day to find that Congress has disappeared? Coronet Instructional Films explores this horrific world in 1947's The Powers of Congress. The courts would collapse! Texas would have its own army! And without any regulations restraining it, a railroad would be free to charge you $600 for a ticket! That's 600 New York dollars, of course, since Washington would be out of the currency business. Watch and learn, libertarian!