Symmetry wrote:TA1LGUNN3R wrote:That, of course, would have a greater impact on the term, its effects ranging from libertarianism to anarchism. I meant it in the context of the current view of conservatism. That they're all bible-thumpers whose support borders on fascist policies, where the State has all the power for the benefit of our safety. I think the original idea of conservatism, in regards to U.S. gov't, was as much power to the people as possible, with only basic federal gov't to provide defense and mediation between the states (separate entities).
Of course, one could argue that such a definition is no longer valid for conservatism, since the majority now view it as the right-wingers. Times change, so what was previously "conservatism" is something different.
I merely meant to point out that those who may identify themselves as "conservative" may not support greater security at the detriment to liberty, and they don't have to be exclusive. One could espouse reduction of an Authority for the exact reason of wanting greater liberty.
-TG
I'm not sure that I really buy into the appeal to originalism that forms such a core part of modern American conservatism either.
What I wanted to point out is that a drive towards or away from centralisation won't necessarily entail greater liberty. It will more likely lead to a different kind of centralisation.A homosexual might, for example, have fewer liberties if local government was given power over same sex marriage or civil unions when a national government might be inclined to pass a blanket provision.
A gun owner might feel the opposite when it comes to gun control.
A lot of the arguments about government power dwell on this issue. I don't think it's a zero sum game between centralisation and liberty.
You bring up an interesting point; but that may not be the case considering the following: There are higher costs of someone leaving from a nation-state because of their dictating LAW X is significantly higher than a mere city dictating LAW X. And that decentralization enables higher responsiveness from local governments to cater to their communities needs; whereas, a nation-state steps on the freedoms and liberties of many because it doesn't have to be nearly as responsive to the needs of its people. (there are many reasons why nation-states do so, but let's focus on one part).
For example, let's use your homosexuality example. If the nation-state bans homosexuality, well, it goes underground of course, but also it's hard to avoid the enforcement of it. If that decision is left to cities to decide, then the people there have a more direct vote on the matter, thus making the local government more responsive to the needs of its citizens.
What decentralization of government provides is a significantly higher capability for local governments to be held more responsive to the needs of their communities.
Now, what the above does is greatly enable people to
opt out of that city/community, and join another one (because it lowers their moving costs significantly). It lowers the costs because it's much more difficult to leave a nation-state than it is to leave a city/community.
This can't be done within a nation-state because the law is applied everywhere, but if such a law were to be enforced by each city, then it acts as an advertisement: "We don't like fags." So others can look at that city and say, "Well, f*ck that city and it's narrow-mindedness, I don't want to live there."
You may be correct in stating that a decentralization doesn't
necessarily promote greater liberty; however, more centralization definitely does not bring greater liberty. (There's this sweet spot,or diminishing returns, on centralization v. decentralization).
tl;dr: Decentralization of government greatly increases one's capability to avoid harsh regulations, thus increasing one's liberty.
Another great example is shown through the reason as to why having taxes decided by a State is much better than having
all taxes dictated by the federal government for each state. This is basically the central planning v. spontaneous order issue (or statist v. decentralized for this case).