i'm still trying to work this out in my head.
my frame of reference is as a usamerican, but i'm sure someone with a passing familiarity with the country's history can keep up.

i want to like the idea of communities and regions being able to manage their own affairs. i'm finding it hard though. historically, the most egregarious violations of liberty were done by the states. i wouldn't chalk this up wholly to the provinciality of state governments, as most power had been delegated to the states until the civil war and later world war ii. but still the fact remains that these were only undone when cooler heads in washington prevailed.

to preempt one of the more common arguments, i really honestly detest the idea of driving people out of their homes and all they belong to and creating political refugees. and even that recourse isn't wholly certain: for example a while ago the federal government banned the transportation of minors across state lines in circumvention of state laws requiring parental notification. with that sort of interpretation of "interstate commerce" who's to say what could happen.

basically what i'm getting at i guess is that i want everything localized because that's nice but i want everyone to agree with me because i'm right on everything.

Fun fact: the ridiculous level of corruption in Chinese government is mostly concentrated in its provincial governments.