Introducing decentralization

User-managed groups educational pamphlets
1

I’m starting to compose my thoughts on how best to introduce the idea of decentralization to the general public, and here’s what I have so far:

  • It’s important that we be able to live our lives according to what we think is right and what is best for us
  • It’s often difficult to know the truth about these things
    • Different backgrounds and different experiences can lead to different worldviews
    • Even people who have thought very hard about these issues disagree, and though some claim to know the truth, no consensus is in sight
  • Some views about what makes a good life and a good society involve ideas about how everyone should live, or what rules should govern everyone
  • However, different views lead us to accept different ideas about the good life and different views about the rules that should govern our societies
  • If we care about respecting people’s right to make these kinds of decisions for themselves, we will acknowledge that our paradigms may not be acceptable to all people, and therefore should not be forced upon them any more than those individuals would be justified in forcing their views upon us
  • Centralized geographical authority carries with it the implication that a group of people can speak on behalf of the greater population and arrive at a set of rules embodying a compromise that works for everyone
  • If, as we have suggested, no set of rules works for everyone, then the centralized model is flawed
  • It may be that no alternative to the current system is feasible, but we can at least work towards making our system more respectful of differences between people by searching for voluntary alternatives or creating them ourselves, and by withdrawing our support from centralized solutions when possible

Any thoughts, suggestions, or interest in participating in the creation of this pamphlet?

2

I think it sounds a little too vague and technical for many people to understand what you are talking about.

Maybe apply it to a real example:

a New York City meat packager will probably have different views compared to an rural Oklahoma cattle farmer.

It is only natural they come to different conclusions about life values and morality and support two different, incompatible sets of laws.

Decentralization reserves the most controversial moral and legal issues to be determined locally, either by individuals, families or communities, rather than by states or the federal government.

Should the 51% of the citizens living in urban areas determine the laws of rural areas, where they have never lived and do not understand the culture, and despite widespread opposition from the people in these areas?

Such an approach does not make sense as a guide to a peaceful, orderly, just, and free society. It is no different from 51% of any group robbing the rest, claiming it was both just and for their own good.

Self-governance was one of the most significant gifts of our founding fathers. When they crafted the Constitution, they purposefully avoided a centralized national union, instead favoring a federation among states. They forbade the federal government from acting outside of a specific list of delegated powers, and reserved all other powers to the states, local governments, or the people.

Today, we have the national media and federal government weighing in on issues like abortion, gay marriage, medical marijuana legalization, regulating decency standards on television and radio, school vaccination and mental screening policies, and managing the economy via central banking, regulations, bailouts, subsidies, and protective tariffs. The original intent of the Constitution denied all these powers to the central federal government…and for good reason.

And what of world government? Would you like to try to tell Europeans how they should live, and vice versa, through the force of law?

3

Thanks for the suggestions! I didn’t intend the outline to reflect what the pamphlet would ultimately end up sounding like, just the ideas that would ideally be contained in it. But I think that your examples are really good ones, and I’ll definitely work a lot of what you said into a final product. If you’d like credit as a coauthor when everything’s said and done, I’ll need your real name. Thanks again!

4

No problem, and no credit necessary. anxious to see the final print.