Futuristic tech looking city full of skyscrapers is one thing -- and I'm not opposed to that -- but can you also add a few fantasy old-world style elements for those who aren't that into the Tokyo/Blade Runner aesthetic?
In particular, I am a huge fan of and gunner for GIANT STATUES. I want more huge statues, all over the US. Like Lord of the Rings style statues. The same way most of the western states have held votes and adopted much cooler and better-looking state flags recently, each state should vote on and build a gigantic statue -- animal or person. Seriously, anyone who runs on a Build Huge Statues platform I'm all in for.
Utah's fund-raising to build a 300-foot statute and it's maybe a little weird but I don't care because I'm just excited to get one: https://townlift.com/2023/11/utah-may-get-a-statue-of-responsibility/ But also I want a big fierce mascot-type statue upon entrance to the downtown capital, too.
P.S. I realize you probably don't care and it goes with the brand, but reading white text on black screen is awful and discourages me from trying to read a whole long-form piece because my eyes are fighting my curiosity.
A few years ago I fell into the why isn't there a major city at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers internet rabbit hole and learned about Cairo. Apparently there was even a group that wanted to create a "New Colombia" type national capital there in the mid 19th century.
I'm all for the idea. I had a college internship in Washington, DC and absolutely hated the place... way too many smug assholes whose only release was alcohol. Never have been back since. I have, however, been to Brasilia several times (someone really needs to shoot a retrofuturism film there). It really helped develop the interior of Brazil and made the country (at least slightly) more multipolar. Deconcentrating the US East Coast would be a good thing, plus the spiteful side of me would love the DC bubble crowd being inconvenienced and knocked down a peg.
With all due respect to the idea, Cairo is a terrible place to build a major city for the simple reason that it's extremely vulnerable to floods. The land around it is only slightly above the level of the two massive torrents of water converging on it. Cairo is surrounded by levees to defend it against floods (which almost failed in 2011—the US army corps of engineers had to deliberately breech levees in less populated areas to divert the water), and expanding them to accommodate a bigger city would just displace the floodwaters downriver.
I suggest moving the site 50 miles to the north near Eldorado, IL.
For me, the biggest question is, how concrete is this intention? This is a very interesting essay, with a lot of interesting points at the level of metaphor, but there are a hundred reasons why this won't actually happen. But maybe more importantly, there are at least a few things in this general direction which actually could and probably should happen.
For starters, have you ever read Steve Sailer on the Sears Tower? The basic point was, the real power elite strongly tends to live and work out of the second or third floor, with the possible exception of people in NYC. You get can away from whatever's going on in the street when you want or need, but you're also close enough so that you can feel or engage with them as necessary. Skyscrapers are for middle managers, like Sears. Because Sears buyers can't interact with anything beyond their computer screen, they could be coopted by vendors. On the other hand, Wal-Mart made its vendors go to its turf in Bentonville, AR, where Wal-Mart beat them like rented mules.
So it's easy to imagine government employees and government functions being moved out of DC but it's much more difficult to imagine who's going to populate a mega-skyscraper in Cairo, IL.
In general, lot of bureaucrats want the illusion or the reality of being close to the center of power, but for embassies this is an actual need. The ambassador from Japan has to be able to get in a cab and talk face to face with an American somewhere inside one of the inner circles of power. Nobody in Honolulu counts.
Also, when you move the Executive Branch functions out of DC, don't put them in Seattle or Boston, put them in South Dakota or the like. Especially the domestic agencies like Commerce, Labor, or Interior. Then you federalize California land use and business/labor/education regulation. So if I want to open a Starbucks in Anaheim, I don't talk to an Orange County zoning commissioner, I call a presumably Republican Dept of Commerce bureaucrat in Sioux Falls.
You also say that liberals and conservatives would both be comfortable there. I'm wondering why on earth liberals would be comfortable there? I'm not a lib so I really don't care but for me this sounds like one of the deeper circles of hells for them.
Finally, DC as the capital of the USA is embedded in the Constitution in at least a couple places. I'm wondering whether you were supposing this would happen with or without a Constitutional amendment?
My second original comment got misplaced into a thread, my apologies, and I can't edit it in there. Hope you found it but here is the link you want to research if you haven't been aware of Jacque Fresco & Roxanne Meadow's life works:
I think Kanas would be a better site. It's almost geographically centered. The policy wonks would have to pass farms on the way to work and see how their ideas affect reality. They'd have to shop at the local places and eat local food. For weekend getaways, they could escape to Colorado, Texas, or even Vegas and Cali.
I really like the thinking, but you need to stay far aware from anything in Illinois. That state is dominated by Democrats in Chicago, has been hemorrhaging population for years, and has been squeezing its remaining tax base tighter and tighter.
Politically, anything that you would want to do would be a non starter in that state. Choose another Midwestern state.
"In other words, Virginia in 1800 was like a 'mountain' between Boston and Charleston, while Indiana in 1900 was like a 'valley' between Chicago and NYC."-Great line.
War of Independence was the reason founding fathers of Turkey chose Ankara as capital. After the war, it was about destruction of Ottoman establishment. You need to wait Civil War 2.0 for a new "capital". Circa 2040 GOP doesn't achieve that kinda goal in my opinion.
Saint Louis for sure has an optimal location for an American Ankara. But cleaning it out would be a nightmare.
For me the point of this is to not get co opted by normie conservatives. I want to force midwesterners to deal with something alien and somewhat hostile that inspires them to greatness.
if u think all aspirational value systems are fungible then sure
anyway I would point to how the Midwest voted for Cruz in 2016 as proof that they have no survival instinct and are drawn to goofy virtue signaling in high stakes situations where they can ill afford any margin for error
if the orcs ever come for them seriously the hobbits are toast. I'm just trying to give you the asshole energy of Texas or Florida so you can advocate for yourself properly.
Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska are the only Midwest states that voted for Cruz. Meanwhile your sunbelt behemoth Texas voted Cruz along with Oklahoma, Colorado, and Utah. Please just get back to making poorly sung Disney parodies. Maybe you can even do a GiveSendGo campaign to get a vocal coach.
Nebraska and South Dakota voted after the race ended in Indiana and Cruz basically tied in Missouri.
Trump did good in the eastern rust belt and great in the northeast and south, he sucked ass in corn country because midwesterners prefer virtue signaling to self advocacy.
Again, incredible essay. But Jacque Fresco has the concept beat, centralized government politicians and debt slavery do not exist and has 46 years of design implementation history regarding The Venus Project, Venus Florida USA.
Where the Smart City and people integrate seamlessly facilitating AI automated administration with all aspects of society, development, manufacturing, food & resource management, and so forth. And it's all about Self Governing and a true democracy as intended. Moreover, technology has progressed to the point where All the construction, production, transportation, communication & interaction is now possible to take the project very seriously.
What's more above this concept, is the political and government aspects of today don't exist, as it should be in America by now because the only thing that has failed in America is what doesn't work.
Futuristic tech looking city full of skyscrapers is one thing -- and I'm not opposed to that -- but can you also add a few fantasy old-world style elements for those who aren't that into the Tokyo/Blade Runner aesthetic?
In particular, I am a huge fan of and gunner for GIANT STATUES. I want more huge statues, all over the US. Like Lord of the Rings style statues. The same way most of the western states have held votes and adopted much cooler and better-looking state flags recently, each state should vote on and build a gigantic statue -- animal or person. Seriously, anyone who runs on a Build Huge Statues platform I'm all in for.
Utah's fund-raising to build a 300-foot statute and it's maybe a little weird but I don't care because I'm just excited to get one: https://townlift.com/2023/11/utah-may-get-a-statue-of-responsibility/ But also I want a big fierce mascot-type statue upon entrance to the downtown capital, too.
P.S. I realize you probably don't care and it goes with the brand, but reading white text on black screen is awful and discourages me from trying to read a whole long-form piece because my eyes are fighting my curiosity.
A few years ago I fell into the why isn't there a major city at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers internet rabbit hole and learned about Cairo. Apparently there was even a group that wanted to create a "New Colombia" type national capital there in the mid 19th century.
I'm all for the idea. I had a college internship in Washington, DC and absolutely hated the place... way too many smug assholes whose only release was alcohol. Never have been back since. I have, however, been to Brasilia several times (someone really needs to shoot a retrofuturism film there). It really helped develop the interior of Brazil and made the country (at least slightly) more multipolar. Deconcentrating the US East Coast would be a good thing, plus the spiteful side of me would love the DC bubble crowd being inconvenienced and knocked down a peg.
"Way too many smug assholes whose only release was alcohol"
Holy shit you've described the place perfectly.
LOL
With all due respect to the idea, Cairo is a terrible place to build a major city for the simple reason that it's extremely vulnerable to floods. The land around it is only slightly above the level of the two massive torrents of water converging on it. Cairo is surrounded by levees to defend it against floods (which almost failed in 2011—the US army corps of engineers had to deliberately breech levees in less populated areas to divert the water), and expanding them to accommodate a bigger city would just displace the floodwaters downriver.
I suggest moving the site 50 miles to the north near Eldorado, IL.
For me, the biggest question is, how concrete is this intention? This is a very interesting essay, with a lot of interesting points at the level of metaphor, but there are a hundred reasons why this won't actually happen. But maybe more importantly, there are at least a few things in this general direction which actually could and probably should happen.
For starters, have you ever read Steve Sailer on the Sears Tower? The basic point was, the real power elite strongly tends to live and work out of the second or third floor, with the possible exception of people in NYC. You get can away from whatever's going on in the street when you want or need, but you're also close enough so that you can feel or engage with them as necessary. Skyscrapers are for middle managers, like Sears. Because Sears buyers can't interact with anything beyond their computer screen, they could be coopted by vendors. On the other hand, Wal-Mart made its vendors go to its turf in Bentonville, AR, where Wal-Mart beat them like rented mules.
So it's easy to imagine government employees and government functions being moved out of DC but it's much more difficult to imagine who's going to populate a mega-skyscraper in Cairo, IL.
In general, lot of bureaucrats want the illusion or the reality of being close to the center of power, but for embassies this is an actual need. The ambassador from Japan has to be able to get in a cab and talk face to face with an American somewhere inside one of the inner circles of power. Nobody in Honolulu counts.
Also, when you move the Executive Branch functions out of DC, don't put them in Seattle or Boston, put them in South Dakota or the like. Especially the domestic agencies like Commerce, Labor, or Interior. Then you federalize California land use and business/labor/education regulation. So if I want to open a Starbucks in Anaheim, I don't talk to an Orange County zoning commissioner, I call a presumably Republican Dept of Commerce bureaucrat in Sioux Falls.
You also say that liberals and conservatives would both be comfortable there. I'm wondering why on earth liberals would be comfortable there? I'm not a lib so I really don't care but for me this sounds like one of the deeper circles of hells for them.
Finally, DC as the capital of the USA is embedded in the Constitution in at least a couple places. I'm wondering whether you were supposing this would happen with or without a Constitutional amendment?
My second original comment got misplaced into a thread, my apologies, and I can't edit it in there. Hope you found it but here is the link you want to research if you haven't been aware of Jacque Fresco & Roxanne Meadow's life works:
https://www.thevenusproject.com
Best,
ORION
I think Kanas would be a better site. It's almost geographically centered. The policy wonks would have to pass farms on the way to work and see how their ideas affect reality. They'd have to shop at the local places and eat local food. For weekend getaways, they could escape to Colorado, Texas, or even Vegas and Cali.
This essay is Incredible. I love people that think outside their boxes, Hooray!🔥🎸🔥
I really like the thinking, but you need to stay far aware from anything in Illinois. That state is dominated by Democrats in Chicago, has been hemorrhaging population for years, and has been squeezing its remaining tax base tighter and tighter.
Politically, anything that you would want to do would be a non starter in that state. Choose another Midwestern state.
"In other words, Virginia in 1800 was like a 'mountain' between Boston and Charleston, while Indiana in 1900 was like a 'valley' between Chicago and NYC."-Great line.
War of Independence was the reason founding fathers of Turkey chose Ankara as capital. After the war, it was about destruction of Ottoman establishment. You need to wait Civil War 2.0 for a new "capital". Circa 2040 GOP doesn't achieve that kinda goal in my opinion.
Cairo is a lovely place. I would not wish 'Congress' on those decent people at all.
We don't need to build something new. We need to invest something existing with fresh meaning.
The obvious choice is Saint Louis.
Scrub all the criminal elements (which would show resolve) and gussy up the place.
It's already got a very nice national unity monument in the form of the Arch.
Saint Louis for sure has an optimal location for an American Ankara. But cleaning it out would be a nightmare.
For me the point of this is to not get co opted by normie conservatives. I want to force midwesterners to deal with something alien and somewhat hostile that inspires them to greatness.
Then basically, you're no different than any liberal. You're just using 'inspiration' as an excuse to impose your version of 'trans' on them.
The Midwest is already great. In fact, it's our existing greatness that makes us 'complacent' and 'bland'.
We've achieved what the Coasts only dream about: Success.
if u think all aspirational value systems are fungible then sure
anyway I would point to how the Midwest voted for Cruz in 2016 as proof that they have no survival instinct and are drawn to goofy virtue signaling in high stakes situations where they can ill afford any margin for error
if the orcs ever come for them seriously the hobbits are toast. I'm just trying to give you the asshole energy of Texas or Florida so you can advocate for yourself properly.
Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska are the only Midwest states that voted for Cruz. Meanwhile your sunbelt behemoth Texas voted Cruz along with Oklahoma, Colorado, and Utah. Please just get back to making poorly sung Disney parodies. Maybe you can even do a GiveSendGo campaign to get a vocal coach.
Nebraska and South Dakota voted after the race ended in Indiana and Cruz basically tied in Missouri.
Trump did good in the eastern rust belt and great in the northeast and south, he sucked ass in corn country because midwesterners prefer virtue signaling to self advocacy.
Functionally, all 'aspirational value systems' are the same: The serve as means of conveyance of aspiration.
As for 'orcs', I hate to put it to you so bluntly, but your desire to discomfort the Midwest by 'doing a Brasilia' makes you an orc.
As for 'Ted Cruz', it seems to me you're trying to make a big inference from a small data set.
The Midwest was also the home of the Grange.
The problem with capitals is they attract a bad element. And the more money the capital has, the worse the element.
I'm with Calhoun on the correct political order for America: Decentralized, focused on 'civil organizations', and 100% consensual.
We should hold 'Congress' every couple of years in Holiday Inn conference center.
Again, incredible essay. But Jacque Fresco has the concept beat, centralized government politicians and debt slavery do not exist and has 46 years of design implementation history regarding The Venus Project, Venus Florida USA.
https://www.thevenusproject.com
Where the Smart City and people integrate seamlessly facilitating AI automated administration with all aspects of society, development, manufacturing, food & resource management, and so forth. And it's all about Self Governing and a true democracy as intended. Moreover, technology has progressed to the point where All the construction, production, transportation, communication & interaction is now possible to take the project very seriously.
What's more above this concept, is the political and government aspects of today don't exist, as it should be in America by now because the only thing that has failed in America is what doesn't work.