4 ms·

Its not just ethnic minorities, either. I've been thinking that a possible solution to the rural/urban cultural divide in the US would be to allow the secessio

Its not just ethnic minorities, either. I've been thinking that a possible solution to the rural/urban cultural divide in the US would be to allow the secession of some metro areas from their parent states, forming new city-states in the process.

pavel_lishin 10y ago
Isn't Hong Kong a sort of semi-precedent? As I understand it, it never seceded from China, but was a semi-independent economic experiment.
- empath75 10y ago
  It was a British colony.
- geowwy 10y ago
  Not exactly. The British Empire coerced China into leasing them Hong Kong for 100 years. After the 100 year lease was up China agreed to keep Hong Kong as a semi-independent "special administrative region". The other special administrative region is Macau, and China has proposed that Taiwan become a special administrative region too.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    > China has proposed that Taiwan become a special administrative region too. Hah!
    - danieltillett 10y ago
      This is no laughing matter. There are few areas of potential conflict where both sides populations believe their side is 100% right. We are one stupid politician away from a world war fought over the issue of Taiwan.
  - danieltillett 10y ago
    Like everything in history it is a bit more complex than this. Parts of of Hong Kong were on perpetual leases while the New Territories were on 99 year lease [1]. In the end it all came down to pure politics and China was adimant that Hong Kong was to be returned in full. The UK was in no position to disagree. 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_over_Hong_Kong https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_over...
Animats 10y ago
Washington DC has such an arrangement, and it's such a headache that part of it was given back to Virginia a century ago, and there's talk of giving much of the rest of it back to Maryland.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  This isn't accurate at all. The Virginia side of DC was held back by stupid laws preventing any kind of development while it was part of DC; this led to it being ceded back to VA. The main problem with DC is that it is not a city-state at all; it's a federal district that isn't part of any state, and is administered by Congress (that branch of government that can't seem to get anything done). The people there have no representation in Congress, an inherently undemocratic situation, and are only allowed to elect their Mayor, which still has very limited power due to Congressional administration. The answer here is simple: it needs to be turned into a city-state. And not just the puny amount of land that is present-day DC; the entire northern Virginia area, Baltimore, and the area between DC and Baltimore needs to be part of the same state. Metro areas should not cross state borders; it's an administrative nightmare. This whole metro area should just be made into a single state. Maryland therefore should be eliminated: the eastern shore part should be given to Delaware, and the westernmost part should be given to WV. The eastern part up to the Chesapeake Bay (including Annapolis) is probably better off staying part of the new DC-state for simplicity, even though it's pretty rural in places, as there's no easy access from the Eastern Shore side, and there's a lot of military stuff in that area too which fits with the capital district. Finally, the whole thing needs a new name: "District of Columbia" doesn't fit a whole state, and "Columbia" is a horrible name anyway since it comes from Christopher Columbus, a brutal murderer who never even set foot on North America. I propose "Chesapeake" or "Potomac".

pavel_lishin 10y ago

Isn't Hong Kong a sort of semi-precedent? As I understand it, it never seceded from China, but was a semi-independent economic experiment.

empath75 10y ago
It was a British colony.
geowwy 10y ago
Not exactly. The British Empire coerced China into leasing them Hong Kong for 100 years. After the 100 year lease was up China agreed to keep Hong Kong as a semi-independent "special administrative region". The other special administrative region is Macau, and China has proposed that Taiwan become a special administrative region too.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  > China has proposed that Taiwan become a special administrative region too. Hah!
  - danieltillett 10y ago
    This is no laughing matter. There are few areas of potential conflict where both sides populations believe their side is 100% right. We are one stupid politician away from a world war fought over the issue of Taiwan.
- danieltillett 10y ago
  Like everything in history it is a bit more complex than this. Parts of of Hong Kong were on perpetual leases while the New Territories were on 99 year lease [1]. In the end it all came down to pure politics and China was adimant that Hong Kong was to be returned in full. The UK was in no position to disagree. 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_over_Hong_Kong https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_over...

Animats 10y ago

Washington DC has such an arrangement, and it's such a headache that part of it was given back to Virginia a century ago, and there's talk of giving much of the rest of it back to Maryland.

Grishnakh 10y ago
This isn't accurate at all. The Virginia side of DC was held back by stupid laws preventing any kind of development while it was part of DC; this led to it being ceded back to VA. The main problem with DC is that it is not a city-state at all; it's a federal district that isn't part of any state, and is administered by Congress (that branch of government that can't seem to get anything done). The people there have no representation in Congress, an inherently undemocratic situation, and are only allowed to elect their Mayor, which still has very limited power due to Congressional administration. The answer here is simple: it needs to be turned into a city-state. And not just the puny amount of land that is present-day DC; the entire northern Virginia area, Baltimore, and the area between DC and Baltimore needs to be part of the same state. Metro areas should not cross state borders; it's an administrative nightmare. This whole metro area should just be made into a single state. Maryland therefore should be eliminated: the eastern shore part should be given to Delaware, and the westernmost part should be given to WV. The eastern part up to the Chesapeake Bay (including Annapolis) is probably better off staying part of the new DC-state for simplicity, even though it's pretty rural in places, as there's no easy access from the Eastern Shore side, and there's a lot of military stuff in that area too which fits with the capital district. Finally, the whole thing needs a new name: "District of Columbia" doesn't fit a whole state, and "Columbia" is a horrible name anyway since it comes from Christopher Columbus, a brutal murderer who never even set foot on North America. I propose "Chesapeake" or "Potomac".