“I look upon an increase in the power of the State with the greatest fear because, although while apparently doing good by minimizing exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality, which lies at the root of the progress. We know of so many cases where men have adopted trusteeship, but none where the State has really lived for the poor.”
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Concentrating power in a large impersonal body can look like protection, yet it tends to smother the individual initiative that real progress grows from. Rules handed down from the top rarely serve the vulnerable as faithfully as one responsible person who takes ownership of the problem.
When to use it
- A sprawling charity bureaucracy that reaches fewer people than a small local group who know them by name.
- A firm that centralizes every decision and quietly kills the drive of its most capable staff.
- A top-down aid program that misses the families a single volunteer neighbor reaches directly.