Decentralization is the Hope of the Future

I have always loved to tell stories. I think, personal storytelling has in many ways, become a lost art. So let me begin by sharing a story. This story begins with a young family man who lives in a war torn area in Western Europe.

This young man lived in Alsace, Lorraine. The French and German governments would fight over the land. This man dreamed of a new life. He decided to travel across the globe to find a better future.

His travels were brutal. He and his family landed eventually in Canada, and he hoped for a brighter future for his loved ones. He spent a short time in Canada, hoping to become farmers but soon they went to the United States to further look for better land to farm.

In his travels to the United States he eventually went to the Midwest and put up steaks in Wisconsin. He began to farm and build a life for his family. His five year old son who was born in Alsace, Lorraine would eventually move to Minnesota to give his family a future by farming there. That son was my great grandfather.

I share this story about my family because, like many immigrant families, they came to this country looking for a better life. Many people were looking for freedom, looking for peace, and looking for a life of prosperity. I’m not sure why America was seen as the beacon of hope in the 1800s. What I do believe is America for whatever reason was seen as the land of the free. It drove people here hoping for a better life.

I suspect many immigrants were tired of the violence in a war torn land. They wanted less restrictions on their life, and they wanted a chance to have more prosperity in the form of less taxation. They came to the United States looking for more. I’ve heard it said that America was the Great Experiment, and I tend to agree with that idea. When I look at the past of the United States, what I see is a story of decentralization, that eventually lead to its own downfall by becoming overly centralized.

What is the definition of decentralization?

The definition can best be described in the idea of control being spread over multiple authorities, and the United States Constitution embodied that concept in writing. What is the definition of centralization, though? The definition of the word centralization is “the concentration of control under a single authority” and I would argue we saw this happen time and time again throughout our history. We have seen this played out on both the federal and state levels throughout the United States of America.

We are seeing politics become extremely divisive. In the last several years, we’ve seen people go further to the right politically or those on the left go further left in their political ideologies. Many people on the right seem to care about the border or are against Woke ideology. Many people on the left seem most concerned about furthering the Woke ideas or pushing for more globalization.

What I’m seeing play out is those on the right are pushing for nationalism, and those on the left are pushing for globalism. I know that is a very overly simplified description. I am just trying to give an image of what I’m seeing. I think both sides are missing the real issue as far as I’m concerned.

I think the real issue is decentralization versus centralization. I’ve heard some arguing that nationalism versus globalism is decentralization versus centralization. I would disagree. If the nationalists are looking for further central control, that is not embodied in the concept of decentralization.

Why is it that decentralization so important? I’ve always been drawn to the concept of decentralization, but why? I think for me specifically it’s because of innate desire for freedom. I looked back at my life and the idea of living free is a reoccurring theme. I believe that freedom is best exhibited in a decentralized context, because with control being shared over multiple authorities, it allows for more transparency, and a better chance of freedom.

I desire to see a world that is decentralized because I want to live in a world that is free. I will be sharing in a future piece what I think a decentralized world could look like. I wonder if this idea that I have was not how past generations of my family felt when they dreamt of a new life. Did they want more freedom? Did they see decentralization as the hope for a better future?

I am a father of four children. I want my children to live in a world where they are free. I want them to have a bright and hopeful future. This is why decentralization is so important to me. I believe that decentralization is the hope of the future and it’s worth fighting for. This is the real issue to me. I am fighting for decentralization.