>>782851the idea that the rich find it harder to fuck over workers in a big state than in a small one is fallacious. generally speaking, you can assume the level of exploitation remains equal but that more localized control will allow technocratic issues to be administered better. (e.g. edinburgh is more qualified to decide on scottish education than london is.) i draw on the UK example purposefully: the UK is the best example of why centralization is a mistake. despite some superficial devolution to its constituent nations, it is the most centralized country in europe. even with devolution, the sub-nations themselves tend to centralize power in the capital too. (e.g. edinburgh makes decisions better made in inverness, a council in inverness makes decisions better made on skye… and that's the lowest level of local government there is!)
local authorities have basically no power in their local area because the national government (a) only allows them to raise revenue from a single, badly valued property tax with rates set based on what a guy looking out a car window thought the houses were worth in 1991, plus central subsidy, and (b) dictates that councils must spend the majority of their budget on a series of statutory obligations, particularly around elderly care. the central subsidy hasn't kept up with rising costs, so drawing up a council budget is basically always just an exercise in deciding what services to cut to avoid breaking the law. local authorities also have no incentive to allow local development, since any development will inevitably create more costs than revenue with the tax powers they currently have.
not surprisingly, most UK areas are declining shitholes and Britain has undergone a 20 year wage stagnation and massive productivity stagnation. it is a country of massive exploitation entirely for the benefit of the richest people in a single area of the country. an independent scotland or wales or a unified ireland or a more devolved england would still be exploited by the bourgeoisie, but at least the library hours wouldn't be kafkaesque anymore, at least bin collections could go back to being weekly, at least leeds (the largest city in europe without a mass transit system) could build a tram without the treasury spending
literally 30 years nitpicking their plans because they're not allowed to do it without cent
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.