Lazarus411 on 12/9/2012 at 13:11
Oh go on...'because you're worth it'.
SubJeff on 12/9/2012 at 13:21
I want to be the Governor of one of these City States.
This will come as no surprise to any of you.
Pyrian on 12/9/2012 at 16:22
Really, you should be able to just use a decommissioned long-haul submarine, maybe replace the inevitable nuclear power plant with a land-line. Then you'll have an extremely expensive and rather uncomfortable place to live underwater. :p
There's no reason it can't be done, since for all intents and purposes it has been done. It's just a whole lot of mucking about for little to no gain.
june gloom on 12/9/2012 at 17:00
who is this lazarus411 person and why is he tripping the sockpuppet detectors
Lazarus411 on 12/9/2012 at 17:20
Cos niggas be actin crazy.
Lazarus411 on 12/9/2012 at 17:28
...an I'm like god daaayum!
scarykitties on 12/9/2012 at 18:09
Quote Posted by faetal
Capitalism works best when it is strongly regulated, since monopolies stifle innovation and dynamism.
But heavy regulation can stifle innovation and dynamism as well by making it difficult for new companies with better ideas to grow to the point of completing in the market.
I like this idea. It's like a very condensed form of what the State was supposed to be when designed by the Constitution. Hence the name City-State, I suppose.
Quote Posted by Lazarus411
Is there feasible reason why cities cannot be built underwater? I know Bioshock shows us what go wrong but think of how cool that would be.
No reason why they
can't, but they aren't because of the danger and expense. Living in a deep underwater city is potentially more dangerous than living in outer space. The city would need to be fairly deep in order to not be torn apart by hurricanes and other such things, but there would still be the issue of large undersea animals potentially running into the city and busting something off, the enormous pressure of water that would crush anything that didn't have a very sound structure, the risk of a little leak drowning everyone, the need to sit in a pressure chamber if you went to the surface because rising from high pressure to low pressure too quickly creates air bubbles in the blood that will kill you...
And that's not even discussing the complications of making such a city grow. In outer space, a modular station could fit together in pieces that are then pressurized and all is well. With zero gravity and no air, one can very precisely connect two craft together. Underwater, connecting pieces together would mean pumping out water and then pressurizing, which would be more difficult, plus the water's currents would shift things around, making it difficult to align modules perfectly. And then the sea would constantly be stressing the whole city, trying to tear it apart unless the modules were connected in strong shapes like a series of triangles. This, obviously, would make getting from one place to another very confusing and time-consuming.
In summary, it's just not very practical.
Nicker on 12/9/2012 at 18:38
Quote Posted by scarykitties
But heavy regulation can stifle innovation and dynamism as well by making it difficult for new companies with better ideas to grow to the point of completing in the market.
I like this idea. It's like a very condensed form of what the State was supposed to be when designed by the Constitution. Hence the name City-State, I suppose.
Most of historical city states already mentioned, largely existed before the nation states to which they now belong. Before the nation state, cities were often the only entities with the power and infrastructure, both physical and administrative, to extend their influence to any great degree.
This experiment seems to be an attempt to reverse that process, which is what makes it rather different from any traditional claimants.
As for regulation - that's a balance humans will always have to seek. Too much or too little can be disastrous.
The industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism saw a great leap forward in invention but the temptation to leverage a well deserved advantage into monopoly control, was more deadly than any amount of legislation. The Robber Barons would have killed the very environment which made their immense wealth possible, if their predatory behaviour had not been curtailed.
I think that the Honduran city states will live or die based on their regulatory choices, more so than their locations and resources.
SubJeff on 12/9/2012 at 20:35
Of course the regulations will make all the difference. Isn't this the whole point?
Phatose on 13/9/2012 at 04:33
There's a pretty good chance that they'll live and die from their neighbor's regulations too though. If Port City imposes a 15% tariff on any products imported but not sold in Port City, that factory in Inland City is fucked on their raw materials. And since the trains all run through Bordertown....
It occurs to me that to have commerce not be paralyzed, you end up with so many top down limitations that any benefit to commerce is lost - you can't make the kind of adjustments that would give you benefit.
