5 ms·
What many libertarians want is decentralization. As much as possible. They probably want to get rid of all powerful Federal Government but local governments (as
by afsina 9y ago
What many libertarians want is decentralization. As much as possible. They probably want to get rid of all powerful Federal Government but local governments (as small as possible) and confederations are usually fine.
- thanksgiving 9y agoAnd now we will soon have "separate but equal" restrooms in Texas. I find state rights advocates to be the worst™ people in the world. They advocate for state rights when it suits them. Absolutely hypocritical bunch. We've decided as a nation that there are some rights and responsibilities that we have regardless of where we live within this nation. How many times do we have to fight for civil rights?
- whatshisface 9y agoYou're making the strange assumption that the federal government will always be be more in line with your own political views than your state government. After all, at the end of the day a hard-right state is less bad for liberals than a hard-right country, because only in the first case can they try to find a job in California.
- lostcolony 9y agoYes, he's assuming the government will not be terrible to live under. But saying "at least with local government, terrible governments will be localized" is a copout. Can we have non-terrible governments? If so, it makes sense to try and ensure everyone has one.
- afsina 9y agoTo me this is like telling "Government will be right for everyone this time, if we tweak the parameters right". Applying rules of Empiricism to large scale governing will just make things worse as long as people have very different world views. Besides, locality has inherent advantages such as familiarity, cultural similarity and accountability. So at least some local governments will be probably suitable for your liking.
- thanksgiving 9y agoI've lived in a small, rural town in Texas and a big city in New Jersey. While the dynamics of local power are very different, I never felt like anybody in power was accountable to me (I am a nobody). The power of two or three wealthy families is readily visible almost like a movie in a small town. The power structure in a bigger city from what I can gather is a little bit more complex since there are more players. However, I don't think "the powers that be" in a local level are any more accountable to the governed in a localized setting than in a national setting. I mean think about the last HOA you lived in and tell me you felt the power structure there was "fair".
- thanksgiving 9y agoJust to be clear, injustice at the state level is still injustice. Oppression of minorities at the state level is still oppression. Dragnet surveillance at the state level is still a blow to privacy. The state rights advocates like I said are the worst. States are too big. What we should focus on is the individual.
- kolinko 9y agoSpeaking as someone from Poland/EU, which is heading in the opposite direction... Many people seem to be complaining about certain absurd EU regulations that were forced upon us. I, for one, am extremely happy - centralised government has saved us from a lot of absurd ideas the local policymakers had. Also, we have one extra level of courts, where you can go when your government breaks law. Not to mention all the benefits for commerce and travel - knowing that other EU states have similar laws and standards helps a lot.
- anentropic 9y agoi.e. warlords
- afsina 9y agoIf it comes to that, having a local warlord over a large state warlord is the better option.