Bay Area Pride
Paul Saffo's SFGate article suggests The Bay Area needs to act like a city-state.
The Bay Area has all the qualities of a successful city-state. Consider geography: The Bay Area... it is defined by a central bay and bordered by mountains.
In an age when nations have become so large that their citizens no longer identify with distant governments, city-states are political units large enough to have a global economic impact but small enough for even the most casual citizen to understand the relationships that make their city-state work.
...perhaps the Bay Area should follow Singapore's example in 1965 and threaten to secede. If we stopped tax payments to Sacramento and embargoed the export of iPhones, the rest of California would beg us to return - and on our own terms.
The Bay Area has all the qualities of a successful city-state. Consider geography: The Bay Area... it is defined by a central bay and bordered by mountains.
In an age when nations have become so large that their citizens no longer identify with distant governments, city-states are political units large enough to have a global economic impact but small enough for even the most casual citizen to understand the relationships that make their city-state work.
...perhaps the Bay Area should follow Singapore's example in 1965 and threaten to secede. If we stopped tax payments to Sacramento and embargoed the export of iPhones, the rest of California would beg us to return - and on our own terms.
posted by shane at 6:52 PM
2 Comments:
Yikes! I don't think of Singapore as a model to emulate. If anything I think of it as a textbook example of the worst of both worlds; hard-core market capitalism combined with hard-core law'n'order authoritarianism. Perhaps the city-state model could be humane guided by Franciscan values.
And somehow even Singapore gets passing grades from apparent Malatestist michael dickinson, at least for her hospitals and taxicabs. I would'nt know; never been. As a kid I never said 'when I grow up I want to be a 45-year-old American without a passport,' but I played the hand I was dealt foolishly (i.e. general lack of career ambition), and here I am. Then again, maybe I'm too hard on myself and it really is the 'Generation 13' phenomenon.
I wasn't suggesting that we emulate Singapore nor do I even read the article quote as suggesting it further than threatening secession.
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