Peace Pilgrim Quotes

We have found, in our country, that when people have the right to make decisions as close to home as possible, they usually make the right decisions.

Solutions and ideas should come from the bottom up, generated by local communities and not mandated from Washington.

In a true democracy of India, the unit is the village.

I don't think the federal government should be a part of everything. I think that governing should be done state-by-state... so that you can tailor your governing to the people's needs.

We have to allow people in the states to make their own decisions, to get government agencies out of the way and let local people make decisions about what's best for them.

I think a lot of things could be handled locally.

Central authority is bad. The bias should be for freedom. And without a central authority, there are lots of little authorities, and we learn which ones to trust.

Devolution [decentralization of government] cannot stop at the State House. It must go down to City Hall.

There is a lack of emphasis and detail on self-government of business enterprises and community government. There is too much emphasis on the part that the Project Director and his staff play. Governmental officials should not impose their will on the residents, but the government should be formulated by the residents. It is absolutely essential that the personnel understand and sympathize with the policy of self-government.

Decentralization is always a passion of those in opposition

I hope that we increasingly shift power to local governments.

I am hostile to the idea that collective solutions have to be made by committees and then imposed top-down. I very much prefer bottom-up solutions.

A strong devolved government is vital so that we have proper local decision-making, helping to strengthen the economy and build a more united community.

Local self-government…is the life-blood of liberty.

People want the government to go back to the people.

Small scale is critical to local life, to the ability of local people to control what happens where they live.

I would rather have 1000 school board members than one president and no school board members.

The value of democracy lies in the fact that good or bad government has its roots in the localities where people know each other and where they account for their actions to their neighbors.

Many states have legalized medicinal marijuana. I believe the president and the Department of Justice ought to respect the will of these separate states... We are capable of self-government. We don't need some federal gendarme to come and tell us what to do. I believe comity toward the states...ought to govern the policy.

I think that the more we, as a state, yield and cede decisions to the federal government, the lesser we'll be for it as a state.

Collective decisions about health care and education are best answered on a local level.

I want the least number of decision makers. We want to empower people to get more things done and also give permission to question orthodoxy.

Republicans believe that problems are best solved at the level closest to the people and that the nation's strength comes from the diversity of its people, not from an all-powerful central government.

Whenever Washington makes a one-size-fits-all decision, it doesn't work in states all around the country.

I try to grow my management team as entrepreneurs, make the structure decentralized.