Decentralism in a Nutshell

I was reading this blog that I ran across tonight (Left-Liberty.net and found an article that I found quite interesting. It was aptly titled An Overview of Decentralism

Decentralism is a political theory that I have read some stuff on but never really got a really good grasp of what it was about. This article really puts it in the simplest terms possible.

So I, in turn, have decided to write here, in a nutshell, based on that article, the main tenets of the Decentralist theory.

Here they are:

1. Big = Bad.

The centralized state, the hierarchical bureaucracy, is a failure. It is authoritarian and top-heavy. Big government is dangerous.

2. Power should be diffused to the lowest level possible. For example, the community level. Nothing should be decided at a level beyond those who are affected.

3. Freedom comes first. From that flows order and harmony of the society at large.

This sounds like a really good idea. I don't think it would ever happen because people, as I have stated time and time again, are inherently greedy and once they get a small taste of power, they get power-hungry and want more of it. But it is a good theory, nonetheless.

It seems to me that more would get done and people's basic needs would be met more easily if everything was decentralized.

It makes me wonder a bit if the style of government that was set up by the Articles of Confederation would have been a better system than what we have now. I think I'm going to read more about those Articles and get back to you on that.

Source: http://otterlimits.blogspot.com/2012/02/decentralism-in-nutshell.html

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