Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No. The true secret behind American growth and strength has been its continued decentralization. People constantly bemoan the tug-of-war between the various branches of the Federal government and between the Federal government and the states. In truth, this ongoing conflict and debate keeps too much power from flowing into the hands of an oligarchical few.
In fact, that is the true debate that is happening right now in this country, both on the Republican and the Democratic side. You have two populists, Trump and Sanders, who are doing their level best to topple the elites of both parties, citing how current party leadership for both parties really don't have the interests of ordinary Americans at heart in their think tanks and corridors of power. And the elites are firing back with everything at their disposal.
So if you look at the map of the country, New York does indeed have a very large percentage of the wealth. But the political power in the country, while residing in Washington, is spread out. The cultural center of the country is divided between LA and New York. The information center is in San Francisco and environs. And so on. Decentralization is a very good thing.
So if you look at the map of the country, New York does indeed have a very large percentage of the wealth. But the political power in the country, while residing in Washington, is spread out. The cultural center of the country is divided between LA and New York. The information center is in San Francisco and environs. And so on. Decentralization is a very good thing.
New York remains one of the centers of the financial world long London, Singapore, Zurich, Tokyo, Dublin, Bejing, Paris and Hong Kong any illusion of centralization on global scale has long left the barn.
New York remains one of the centers of the financial world long London, Singapore, Zurich, Tokyo, Dublin, Bejing, Paris and Hong Kong any illusion of centralization on global scale has long left the barn.
Do you actually have a point? We weren't discussing the world monetary markets. We were discussing the various power centers of the United States.
....People seemed happy with NYC as the capital. Philadelphia, the next temporary capital, didn't work out so well. There were constant evacuations to the countryside because of yellow fever. Heat was a real problem. The start in Washington, DC was even rougher.....
If you look into NYC history, you will see that summer epidemics sent the wealthier people fleeing out of the city in the early years of the republic. The village of Greenwich was one such summer retreat. The bad management of the Collect Pond probably contributed to the problem, but yellow fever brought in by ship and passed by human contact as also a problem. Some accidental excavations of multiple bodies where there were no recorded cemeteries are thought by some historians to be graves of the poor who died in these summer epidemics.
If you look into NYC history, you will see that summer epidemics sent the wealthier people fleeing out of the city in the early years of the republic. The village of Greenwich was one such summer retreat. The bad management of the Collect Pond probably contributed to the problem, but yellow fever brought in by ship and passed by human contact as also a problem. Some accidental excavations of multiple bodies where there were no recorded cemeteries are thought by some historians to be graves of the poor who died in these summer epidemics.
I have not read anything comparable in the biographies of both Washington, John Adams and Abigail Adams. Those biographies lay out in excruciating detail how poor a choice Philadelphia was as interim capitals. The two Adams' biographies were no kinder about DC. Honest George Washington profiled from land speculation connected with the capital city's construction so his biographer, Chernow, mentioned DC's shortcomings much more briefly.
If "The City" were the nation's capital, imagine how much more annoying some New Yorkers would be with their pomposity!
An interesting idea would have been to rotate the nation's capital so the bureaucracy could not have 'metastasized' to the degree it has...
Sort of like winning the seat of government being the NHL "Stanley Cup". Have the states compete for the 'honor' sort of like cities compete for the Olympics or the National Conventions.
Consider it a competition of best practices among governmental ideas. There would obviously be a need for a common metric by which to judge. I gather it would start an interesting dialogue.
Imagine a law that keeps the flies (Lobbyists) away from the Honey (Government trough) - this would probably be overcome in today's age by technology but there should be a way to sever undo influence. And sort of force those elected to represent, to be akin to sequestered jurors FROM the money power element but directly in contact with the people.
Wild idea, slightly off topic, make all representatives wear the equivalent of body cameras and the populace gets a haptic sensor control array so each time they are found doing something to enrich themselves and f the populace they can figuratively get theirs via shock therapy! Imagine what kind of people would run for (or from) office.
Can you argue with the fact that the government moved papers back to New York during the Civil War? And can you argue with the fact that many governmental functions, most notably the Post Office (the largest department at the time) remained in New York and never moved to Philadelphia or, perhaps until modern times Washington?
During WWII, the Constitution an the Declaration of Independence were moved to Fort Knox in Kentucky for safe keeping.
Based on your own argument, the capital of the United States should have been moved to Kentucky since the government moved documents there. That's a special kind of logic you've got there.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If "The City" were the nation's capital, imagine how much more annoying some New Yorkers would be with their pomposity! 
