“I suggest that, if India is to evolve along nonviolent lines, it will have to decentralize many things. Centralization cannot be sustained and defended without adequate force. Centralization as a system is inconsistent with non-violent structure of society.”
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Piling authority into one center means you also need power to guard that center, and guarding it eventually takes force. A community that wants to run on cooperation rather than coercion has to push decisions back down to the people and places closest to where they land.
When to use it
- A company that hands decisions to local teams instead of one head office that must police everyone.
- A network of small co-ops that self-govern rather than a single boss enforcing every rule.
- A household where chores are shared by agreement instead of one person constantly policing the rest.