Unfortunately, the game of power is about ruling a territory, not improving it. It took me many years to internalize this idea. “Surely the elite would want to improve things?” No. Putin could improve Russia in many ways, but these ways would weaken his rule, so he didn’t. That’s why projects like Georgism or charter cities keep failing: they weaken the relative position of the elite, even if they plausibly make life better for everyone. Such projects can only succeed if implemented by a whole country, which requires a revolution or at least a popular movement. It’s possible—it’s how democracy was achieved—but let’s be clear on what it takes.
Yup, there are definitely a lot of places (like 99+% of places, 99+% of the time!) which aren’t interested in a given reform—especially one as uniqely big and experimental as charter cities. This is why in our video we tried to focus on political tractability as one of the biggest difficulties—hopefully we don’t come across as saying that the world will instantly be tiled over with charter cities tomorrow! But some charter cities are happening sometimes in some places—in addition to the examples in the video, Zambia is pretty friendly towards the idea, and is supportive of the new-city project Nkwashi. (I think Charter Cities Institute considers Nkwashi to be their biggest current partnership?) Democracy was achieved, after all, even if it still hasn’t won a total victory even after 250+ years.
Unfortunately, the game of power is about ruling a territory, not improving it. It took me many years to internalize this idea. “Surely the elite would want to improve things?” No. Putin could improve Russia in many ways, but these ways would weaken his rule, so he didn’t. That’s why projects like Georgism or charter cities keep failing: they weaken the relative position of the elite, even if they plausibly make life better for everyone. Such projects can only succeed if implemented by a whole country, which requires a revolution or at least a popular movement. It’s possible—it’s how democracy was achieved—but let’s be clear on what it takes.
Yup, there are definitely a lot of places (like 99+% of places, 99+% of the time!) which aren’t interested in a given reform—especially one as uniqely big and experimental as charter cities. This is why in our video we tried to focus on political tractability as one of the biggest difficulties—hopefully we don’t come across as saying that the world will instantly be tiled over with charter cities tomorrow! But some charter cities are happening sometimes in some places—in addition to the examples in the video, Zambia is pretty friendly towards the idea, and is supportive of the new-city project Nkwashi. (I think Charter Cities Institute considers Nkwashi to be their biggest current partnership?) Democracy was achieved, after all, even if it still hasn’t won a total victory even after 250+ years.