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> But "the government" is people. The way matter is subatomic particles. The same thing at very different scales exhibit very different properties, and althoug
by fab13n 13y ago
> But "the government" is people.
The way matter is subatomic particles. The same thing at very different scales exhibit very different properties, and although technically true, it's misleading to consider governments as sets of people. They lack some essential features exhibited by individuals and small groups, features which we aptly call _humanity_.
The parent's proposal is to delegate stuff which require humanity to much smaller groups, which operate at scales where humanity still exists. It's a good idea, albeit not a new one: decentralization. It's very difficult to execute properly. Moreover, humanity isn't only composed of positive qualities: poorly executed decentralization easily turns into tribal clientelism.
- ctdonath 13y agoPoorly executed centralization easily turns into communism, which fails spectacularly on anything but tribal scales. Decentralization sure has its problems, but tends to beat the alternatives. Of course, where you end up in each system and how you benefit/suffer there may influence whether you agree.
- fab13n 13y agoI certainly wasn't advising against decentralizing. Only warning against thinking of it as an easily implemented no-brainer, a la "just decentralize everything, and everything is going to start working smoothly, like magic". Naive libertarianism hasn't proved to be more effective than naive Communism, and most people including myself believe it isn't.
- ctdonath 13y agoWasn't intending to contradict you; sorry if it came off that way.
- goggles99 13y agoExcellent reply. My take on this is. People who spend other people's money by the truckload are rarely going to spend it in the wisest possible and responsible way. The other points are these... With government spending the money, a small percentage of people are distributing this money that was collected from the general populous and the feeling of giving someones money away to others is not the same as if it were your own money (especially when it is going to poor results programs)