Interesting discussion on Corey Robin's blog about the problems related to both, especially in the comments.
There is always the problem of the particulars of any time and any place. That's why my bias toward the local is quite clear that often those tyrannized by local mafias need to have some way of appealing for outside intervention for help. That's where the principle of subsidiarity comes in. Eisenhower was right when he sent in the National Guard to Little Rock.
But there's always a price to be paid if you can't or won't settle things on your own. If you are Milan calling in France to help you with your squabble with Naples, chances are that France isn't going to go home later, and you find yourself dealing with a worse problem. Everything depends on the motives of the big guy you call in to intervene. It's almost always better to get the job done yourself.
The mistake to take from the Federal interventions in the 60s and 70s was to accept the interventionist role as normative. The Left in this country has failed on the local level where the Right has mostly succeeded in Red States, where they have essentially purged moderate Republicans. The local then becomes a feeder system into the federal system creating the kind of dismantlement of protections enjoyed by earlier generations.
The battle first has to be won on the local level. I also recognize that once the battle is won there, then you have the ground prepared for the restoration of federal protections taken away and the introduction of protections not yet offered. But I want to see the initiatives coming from below. The chances, for instance, of a single-payer health care system being introduced in Washington State where I live are far more likely than ever seeing one introduced on the national level. If it succeeds locally, it will in time be adopted elsewhere, and then it will be easier to effect some kind of national policy. The Beltway is not a place to expect innovation. The best we can hope for from those who go there is a belated reactiveness.
The will to power and corruption cannot be eliminated. The question is at what level is it easier to contain and manage.
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