America needs, however, not just stronger communities, but a government that can use its resources to bridge the nation's yawning gaps. We need significant investments in cities and depressed rural areas. We need universalist government programs that can help not only the poorest but also the working and middle classes whose median wages remain, especially in the blue collar sectors, strikingly stagnant in an age of growth. The Greens support withdrawing the U.S. from the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank just when these institutions need to be substantially strengthened in order to control the wilder excesses of global capitalism. Withdrawal means sticking our heads in the sand for a dubious principle.
Decentralization does have a certain appeal, especially to populists.
We dislike feeling that our destiny is out of our control. Yet, in a globalized era, we cannot afford these luxuries. Capital is mobile, and the forces of governance must respond in kind. Markets are powerful - for good and for ill. The communitarian vision denies any institution that could harness their power for society.