Why Centralize?

Check out the text of this speech by Czech president Vaclav Klaus via, once again, BARCEPUNDIT.

Is it just me but, as both Europe and the U.S. centralize government power further, does it not seem a trifle odd that very few people seem to remember how bad communism and other ultra-strong central governments were throughout this century? The Soviet Union? Nazi Germany? Red China? Eastern Europe? Did any of these countries prosper? How much power over your life are you willing to give to government bureaucrats?