It is largely the huge Democrat run cities that are problematic. I've noted that the character of Cities begins to change soon after the population exceeds 1 Million. At that level people begin to act as though they are anonymous. I do not know how many US cities have populations that exceed a million, but you can safely exclude the majority that do from your computation of total population for 'Metropolitain Areas'.
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Some extreme calculations should also include a count of those who own a rifle, not a hand gun. Just a rough guess but I'd estimate that 67+ % of all rifles are owned by people living in Rural Areas.
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Here is a very edgy calculation that seems rattle The Woke. In a large city a Civil War might just as easily be fought using 10-cent disposable syringes. In other words battles could be fought very cheaply in large Urban cities.
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Have you not noticed that the Russians avoid large Cities in Ukraine?
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Anyone could fire a missile into a large city and have a 50-50 chance of hitting someone. Doing the same in a Rural Area might quickly become the evenings fireworks entertainment.
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Rural populations could grow their own food.Large cities would be dependant on produce transported through very large Rural regions.
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None of this is as straight forward as it might seem at first. A Rural-Urban civil war would be really nasty. I am quite certain that if Civil War breaks out in the US OR Canada it will be Rural vs Urban.
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Watch Canada's 2025 Federal Election, when I fully expect that TRUDEAU will become the FUHRER of Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
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P.S. I don't want to sound Sexist but I doubt if women spend much time thinking at War in any great detail.
Oddest fact about Canada ... Our PM Trudeau has NEVER set foot on the soil of an Armed Forces here base in Canada. I believe he once visited a CAF NATO base in Germany. THEY REALLY DISLIKE HIM.
You may know more about what is going on in Europw than I do but JIC. Here's a link to the many, many Farmer's Protests in Germany, France, Poland, Lithuaania, etc, etc. These World-Wide Rally events are coordinate by someone in Sweden. ... https://t.me/WorldWideFreedomRallies/27209
P.S. Due to a lack of job opportunities, my best guess is that half of the Canadian Armed Forces are from Rural regions. Our PM does seem to be VERY INTENT of destroying the CAF, at a time when every other NATO Nation is quickly expanding. They, the soldiers have noticed that too.
What a great article—today I learned both that charter cities exist and that “seasteading” is a practice more thought-out than just Peter Thiel grandstanding. Also, I love California, but those bumper stickers are amazing! Maybe I should move to Salt Lake City :)
Very well written and thought provoking! I agree with most of your logic and conclusions.
Like you I live in a small city that I’m mostly aligned with, next to a larger city that I’m somewhat aligned with, part of a metropolitan area that I’m not really aligned with in a state that I think has things completely backwards.
“In other words: we could A/B test cities for various utopian hypotheses, and keep what works best.” If we could ever arrive at this, I wonder what needs to happen to prevent what already occurred...expansion of city to state to nation. What is it that keeps the powerful of one city from attempting to expand their power and influence. Is that possible?
I'm not sure! I think, to some extent, that open borders between cities could keep people moving to wherever they want to move to, but if one city becomes particularly desirable, I'm not sure what's to prevent it from becoming Tokyo? (Or if that should be prevented?)
I do think keeping the cities united through various layers of larger government could help. And I do think a city can only become so big before it becomes a not very great place to live in which case people will probably move to another city. After all, no cities so far seem to be too big?
I like the idea of being able to surround myself with mostly folks I agree with. Who doesn’t? I am reminded of the X-Files episode where Mulder was granted a wish and wished for peace on Earth. He found himself the very last person alive on Earth. In my home state of North Carolina, our gerrymandered state legislature has outlawed allowing cities and towns to be allowed to pass many environmental or housing laws or regulations. This shows how our current minority rule would never accept this idea. Maybe if the minority was not of the evangelical mindset where part of their belief system tells them to convert everyone to their beliefs. Not just a Christian issue btw.
Historically, city states were surrounded by feudal systems, or warlord systems. Since the vast majority of the wealth created in the US comes from cities, I cannot see how the rural areas would be willing to be relegated to poverty. But I guess if you own the plantation, not really a problem.
That's a good point. As long as there are people, there will be conflict! Being small doesn't mean the government will be good. And I still think there should be some protections in place for that, but I'm still thinking through what layers of government could be helpful to avoid the dangers of dark localism.
Our rural areas are already predominately impoverished (and you're right, that has also been true historically), but I do think remote work could help with that. Utah, for example, made state jobs remote so that they could hire from rural jurisdictions. Maybe that's one option?
I’d like to see the US make some underwater cities. We should get this tech going now in case dramatic sea rise happens. Plus it would just be so cool.
I firmly believe this is the long term end state of the entire world: city states and global mega entities
It'll happen in the US and in Europe too, i.e. Catalonia split from Spain, South France from France, etc. I wouldn't doubt if we saw an entity emerge that was a combination of the EU, US and British Commonwealth or something. Not exactly the UN, because it could be the union of all countries with western, democratic values.
YES, ok so I am researching these larger government entities next and I am absolutely fascinated by the concept of various layers of government (the UN, the EU, NATO, etc....) overlapping these city states. There are ways we should be united, but I'm curious if we could be united in a more loosely held/autonomous way??
Thank you for introducing me to your series! I'll be absorbing this right quick (though my immediate thoughts are that it might take more than 20 years.... ☺️)
I wrote this a bit back, but yeah, you're going down a path that is fascinating to me.
Like humans are inevitably tribal and countries like the US just too big. So I like the idea of fracturing, but where does the fracture stop? At city-states.
Then, as you've hit the nail on the head, you have to deal with trade, military, environmental regulation, etc. Why not at something much. much bigger?
Love this question, and especially appreciated the historical context re: Norway and Sweden.
I think it would be incredible if we could proactively work towards managing an evolution towards the “United City-States.” Realistically, I think it's very plausible that instead we gradually end up there in a messy, chaotic, undirected fashion.
Thank you so much for sharing that post! I actually do think there are several ways where we can pretty easily give more autonomy to smaller governments (without the chaotic variety taking hold) but I agree it needs to be a little more proactive....
Really looking forward to the next piece about a concrete way cities can gain more autonomy! Your optimistic mindset grounded in reality is a breath of fresh air to my often cynical thinking :)
Oh I'm so glad! Sometimes I can be very firmly feet planted on the ground, and sometimes I can be very head in the clouds. Perhaps that's why I write both nonfiction and fiction. Glad both are coming across in an actionable way 🥰
The HUGE DIVIDE that exists in the US and CANADA is RURAL (Mostly Right-of-Centre), vs URBAN (largely Woke, Leftists)
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It is very pronounced. Take a look at the map of OHIO - 2020 Election.
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https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/ohio/
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Yes, but 86% of the population lives in metropolitan areas.
It is largely the huge Democrat run cities that are problematic. I've noted that the character of Cities begins to change soon after the population exceeds 1 Million. At that level people begin to act as though they are anonymous. I do not know how many US cities have populations that exceed a million, but you can safely exclude the majority that do from your computation of total population for 'Metropolitain Areas'.
.
Some extreme calculations should also include a count of those who own a rifle, not a hand gun. Just a rough guess but I'd estimate that 67+ % of all rifles are owned by people living in Rural Areas.
.
Here is a very edgy calculation that seems rattle The Woke. In a large city a Civil War might just as easily be fought using 10-cent disposable syringes. In other words battles could be fought very cheaply in large Urban cities.
.
Have you not noticed that the Russians avoid large Cities in Ukraine?
.
Anyone could fire a missile into a large city and have a 50-50 chance of hitting someone. Doing the same in a Rural Area might quickly become the evenings fireworks entertainment.
.
Rural populations could grow their own food.Large cities would be dependant on produce transported through very large Rural regions.
.
None of this is as straight forward as it might seem at first. A Rural-Urban civil war would be really nasty. I am quite certain that if Civil War breaks out in the US OR Canada it will be Rural vs Urban.
.
Watch Canada's 2025 Federal Election, when I fully expect that TRUDEAU will become the FUHRER of Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Edmonton, and Vancouver.
.
P.S. I don't want to sound Sexist but I doubt if women spend much time thinking at War in any great detail.
.
.
Oddest fact about Canada ... Our PM Trudeau has NEVER set foot on the soil of an Armed Forces here base in Canada. I believe he once visited a CAF NATO base in Germany. THEY REALLY DISLIKE HIM.
You may know more about what is going on in Europw than I do but JIC. Here's a link to the many, many Farmer's Protests in Germany, France, Poland, Lithuaania, etc, etc. These World-Wide Rally events are coordinate by someone in Sweden. ... https://t.me/WorldWideFreedomRallies/27209
P.S. Due to a lack of job opportunities, my best guess is that half of the Canadian Armed Forces are from Rural regions. Our PM does seem to be VERY INTENT of destroying the CAF, at a time when every other NATO Nation is quickly expanding. They, the soldiers have noticed that too.
At this juncture the most commonly used WEAPON in Canada is LAWFARE.
What a great article—today I learned both that charter cities exist and that “seasteading” is a practice more thought-out than just Peter Thiel grandstanding. Also, I love California, but those bumper stickers are amazing! Maybe I should move to Salt Lake City :)
Haha, right??? YOU SHOULD move to SLC ☺️
Very well written and thought provoking! I agree with most of your logic and conclusions.
Like you I live in a small city that I’m mostly aligned with, next to a larger city that I’m somewhat aligned with, part of a metropolitan area that I’m not really aligned with in a state that I think has things completely backwards.
“In other words: we could A/B test cities for various utopian hypotheses, and keep what works best.” If we could ever arrive at this, I wonder what needs to happen to prevent what already occurred...expansion of city to state to nation. What is it that keeps the powerful of one city from attempting to expand their power and influence. Is that possible?
I'm not sure! I think, to some extent, that open borders between cities could keep people moving to wherever they want to move to, but if one city becomes particularly desirable, I'm not sure what's to prevent it from becoming Tokyo? (Or if that should be prevented?)
I do think keeping the cities united through various layers of larger government could help. And I do think a city can only become so big before it becomes a not very great place to live in which case people will probably move to another city. After all, no cities so far seem to be too big?
But it's definitely worth considering!
I like the idea of being able to surround myself with mostly folks I agree with. Who doesn’t? I am reminded of the X-Files episode where Mulder was granted a wish and wished for peace on Earth. He found himself the very last person alive on Earth. In my home state of North Carolina, our gerrymandered state legislature has outlawed allowing cities and towns to be allowed to pass many environmental or housing laws or regulations. This shows how our current minority rule would never accept this idea. Maybe if the minority was not of the evangelical mindset where part of their belief system tells them to convert everyone to their beliefs. Not just a Christian issue btw.
Historically, city states were surrounded by feudal systems, or warlord systems. Since the vast majority of the wealth created in the US comes from cities, I cannot see how the rural areas would be willing to be relegated to poverty. But I guess if you own the plantation, not really a problem.
That's a good point. As long as there are people, there will be conflict! Being small doesn't mean the government will be good. And I still think there should be some protections in place for that, but I'm still thinking through what layers of government could be helpful to avoid the dangers of dark localism.
Our rural areas are already predominately impoverished (and you're right, that has also been true historically), but I do think remote work could help with that. Utah, for example, made state jobs remote so that they could hire from rural jurisdictions. Maybe that's one option?
I’d like to see the US make some underwater cities. We should get this tech going now in case dramatic sea rise happens. Plus it would just be so cool.
You mean like this? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/jacques-cousteaus-grandson-wants-to-build-international-space-station-of-the-sea-180975635/
I've always been fascinated....
I firmly believe this is the long term end state of the entire world: city states and global mega entities
It'll happen in the US and in Europe too, i.e. Catalonia split from Spain, South France from France, etc. I wouldn't doubt if we saw an entity emerge that was a combination of the EU, US and British Commonwealth or something. Not exactly the UN, because it could be the union of all countries with western, democratic values.
I wrote about this a few years ago: https://www.danielsisson.com/articles/the-fracture-of-the-united-states-an-introduction
YES, ok so I am researching these larger government entities next and I am absolutely fascinated by the concept of various layers of government (the UN, the EU, NATO, etc....) overlapping these city states. There are ways we should be united, but I'm curious if we could be united in a more loosely held/autonomous way??
Thank you for introducing me to your series! I'll be absorbing this right quick (though my immediate thoughts are that it might take more than 20 years.... ☺️)
I wrote this a bit back, but yeah, you're going down a path that is fascinating to me.
Like humans are inevitably tribal and countries like the US just too big. So I like the idea of fracturing, but where does the fracture stop? At city-states.
Then, as you've hit the nail on the head, you have to deal with trade, military, environmental regulation, etc. Why not at something much. much bigger?
This is the way
Right!!!! You need very small AND very big!
Exactly! :)
Love this question, and especially appreciated the historical context re: Norway and Sweden.
I think it would be incredible if we could proactively work towards managing an evolution towards the “United City-States.” Realistically, I think it's very plausible that instead we gradually end up there in a messy, chaotic, undirected fashion.
This piece on localism feels relevant:
https://appliedcomplexity.substack.com/p/localism-is-coming
Thank you so much for sharing that post! I actually do think there are several ways where we can pretty easily give more autonomy to smaller governments (without the chaotic variety taking hold) but I agree it needs to be a little more proactive....
Really looking forward to the next piece about a concrete way cities can gain more autonomy! Your optimistic mindset grounded in reality is a breath of fresh air to my often cynical thinking :)
Oh I'm so glad! Sometimes I can be very firmly feet planted on the ground, and sometimes I can be very head in the clouds. Perhaps that's why I write both nonfiction and fiction. Glad both are coming across in an actionable way 🥰