Michael Lissack federal government. The federal layer subsumes some of the activities of the states, by setting their limits, and organizing work above the state level. If the feds went away, the thousands of local towns would still continue to do their local jobs-streets, plumbing and lights. But the work of towns subsumed by states and finally subsumed by a nation is made more powerful. That is, towns organized by this subsumption architecture can build, educate, rule, and prosper far more than they could individually. The general principal is one being much discussed in Europe subsid- iarity, which means is that decisions should be made at the lowest level of government possible, municipal or regional, with higher bodies intervening only when absolutely necessary. Subsidiarity is unfamiliar to most people, but not to the adherents of the Roman Catholic Church where it has long been an established part of traditional doctrine. First enunciated by Pope Leo XI, but later recalled in the papal encyclical Quadragesimo Anno at the time of Mussolini, the principal of subsidiarity holds that “it is an injustice, a grave evil and a disturbance of right order . for a large and higher organi- zation to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently by smaller and lower bodies.” The center would. not direct or control so much as coordinate, advise, influence, and suggest. To steal people’s decisions is wrong. The choice of word is deliberate because the sense of morality im- plied by it is crucial to its working. Subsidiarity means giving away power. No one does that willingly in organizations, yet federal organizations will not work unless those in the center not only have to let go of some of their power but actually want to do so, because only then will they- trust the periphery. Trust. Hmm. In her Reviving the American Dream Alice Rivlin writes: “the states, not the federal government, would take charge of accom- plishing a ‘productivity agenda’ of reforms designed to revitalize the econ- omy and raise incomes. These reforms would address needs such as educa- tion and skills training, child care, housing, infrastructure, and economic development. Once clearly in charge, the states would compete vigor- ously with each other to improve services and attract business by offering
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