Comment by ReactiveJelly
4 years ago
But I don't like being a federation. Having 50 states each infighting, competing to race to the bottom and attract business from each other, like 50 tiny nations, it's not what I want.
4 years ago
But I don't like being a federation. Having 50 states each infighting, competing to race to the bottom and attract business from each other, like 50 tiny nations, it's not what I want.
"competing to race to the bottom"
Looking at the US in the last 200 years, it has grown enormously rich, while many ossified systems in the world around it have collapsed. It seems that the competition you dislike does not turn individual Americans into paupers. An average American's living standard is so high that it is actually ecologically unsustainable.
The US was excellent at not being in Europe during WWII, and really great at accumulating a massive negative balance of payments for 40 years after the juice from that ran out.
"Not having your factories being bombed" has huge economic upsides.
3 replies →
This reeks of recency bias: 100 years ago, a british gentleman likely said the same about the superiority of the British Empire as proved by its lasting power - now it's a pale shadow of itself, with Brexit sealing its fate.
200 years is a fairly long "recency".
Also, the UK is still a nice place to live, probably nicer than it used to be at the height of the empire - just witness how many people are trying to move there, even ilegally. Large parts of the empire were money sinks, as was the huge navy needed to protect it.
2 replies →
Then set up a Constitutional Convention. People in NH view life differently than those in CA, and don’t appreciate the idea of one way for everyone, as determined by the folk in the large blue cities.
Well, that’s the direction it’s been going for 100 years, so you should be happy
Well your government has reached the point that it cannot govern at the federal level or reasonably receive strong mandates to deal with issues. Faith in democratic institutions is tanking.
This is what it looks like before the system breaks entirely. The buffers can't buffer anymore.