Hold on a second... the US federal reserve bank is... PRIVATE?

[Wingshot]

I would be very careful about quoting articles from the "APFN" as an unbiased source ... this organization represents a specific view of what government should and should not be involved in. To get a clear picture you may want to look at the candidate they are endorsing for the 2008 presidential election - Ron Paul.

"I understand the Federal Reserve, but the 'presidentially-appointed Board of Governors' are the only involvement that the Government has, and the selection of members for that board can only be selected from a group of people that are appointed by the private undisclosed banks"

Wrong - the President nominates members of the board who are then confirmed by the Senate. "Private undisclosed banks" do not appoint anyone.

While Ron Paul and others feel that the Fed is "unconstitutional" that has yet to be tested in the Supreme Court. There are plenty of arguments against historical Fed policy and its impacts on the economy but keep in mind that the activities of the Fed are actually fairly transparent when compared to many other National Banks.

I suspect that given the Fed's misjudgment on the credit crisis will have significant effects for a long time to come as economic policy is formulated.

As for interpreting the Constitution ... that is a debate in and of itself as every passage of the constitution and its amendments will be tested and re-interpreted as our culture changes. For instance the "right to bear arms" when first written was based on keeping state militias that could thwart a federal army or foreign attack. Today the idea of a citizens militia is a fantasy (at least in terms of being able to effectively oppose organized military action) so the given current technology and changes in US culture (from a primarily rural agriculture based economy to an urban manufacturing/technology based economy) what does "the right to bear arms" mean?

Is the US a good place to be? I think that all depends on how you define a "good place" and your current situation. It is probably better than some and worse than others.