I first published this in April 2009. I'm republishing it because I still believe it could cure many of the ills that plague us as a free people.
The Capitol and the White House have been located in Washington DC since 1791 and I suppose in many peoples minds it might seem it has always been so. Congresses have met in at least eight different cities, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton and New York City.
Article I Section 8 of the Constitution (1789) gave congress legislative authority over "such districts as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States.” In 1788 Maryland and 1789 Virginia both ceded land (ten square miles). In 1790 Congress passed the Residence Act. In 1791 President Washington chose Maryland's property and under the provisions of the Act selected three Commissioners to oversee the design and construction of the Capitol City and Government buildings.
Another Congressional Act can solicit states, re-establish commissioners, and arrange to move the Capitol, the Presidents Residence, and other necessary government buildings to another place at a site chosen by another President. A previous President chose the current place; a current President can choose a new one, in concert with a legislative act.
In other nations the site of the capitol changes from time to time, often by conquest or overthrow. Our overthrows take place in an orderly election and our ruler is a leader with a certain term and limited powers, but none have attempted to relocate the Capitol.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not proposing moving everything, just congress’s meeting place and the president's residence. The current White House, the monuments, the museums and other governmental buildings can stay where they are.
Why, you might ask, should such a folly be undertaken?
The time has long past since there was any benefit to the rest of the nation from this location. When our nation was a small North East Coastal country, 10 square miles in Maryland was fairly centralized. The Nation is now a larger entity. Washington DC is not central to the nation geographically, socially or economically. It's only central to itself and those who feed off the delusion that it’s the focus of a whole nation. It’s time to change its view of itself, and the easy familiar access of those from the tired, old, myopic, Euro-centric, northeast.
Relocate the Capitol and the President to any other city with modern communication and transportation infrastructure, preferably west of the Mississippi River. While you are at it, drop the 200-year-old idea that Ohio is mid-west. Utah or Nevada is mid-west, not Illinois or Iowa. The Capitol has been in the same place, an inconvenience to most of the country for 210 years. That's long enough.
Some might say the effort is too expensive, some might say it's racially motivated, the east coast media might characterize it many ways to protect their long held easy access and unearned influence. Some might say just moving the capitol wouldn’t necessarily change that. They may be right, but it will provide a different prospective and different players, and some tired old ideas will be lost.
If nothing else, the old lobbyists and old media people would have to move to the new territories, assimilate a new culture, learn a new language, develop new insights, modify their values, restore their faith and judgment, I think these sound like worthwhile objectives. The nation would gain all this and the Easterners would lose nothing but a little time to take a slightly longer plane flight to the Capitol. The people of the west would have shorter flights and a renewed interest in remaining part of this great union.
Pick a city, any city west of Ohio. I don't care where; Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Omaha, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Reno, Helena, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Topeka, Denver, this isn't a campaign for a place, it's a campaign for a new view and new behavior. Recovering the energy, spirit, courage, innovation, and individual involvement that once made this nation willing to act upon its beliefs, instead of one hamstrung by legal precedents that ignore our values. One where academics ponder instead of inspire, officials procrastinate instead of permit, and some people try to hold everyone back instead of helping others to reach new heights, and some people willingly accept that which they have not earned.
The Capitol and the White House have been located in Washington DC since 1791 and I suppose in many peoples minds it might seem it has always been so. Congresses have met in at least eight different cities, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton and New York City.
Article I Section 8 of the Constitution (1789) gave congress legislative authority over "such districts as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States.” In 1788 Maryland and 1789 Virginia both ceded land (ten square miles). In 1790 Congress passed the Residence Act. In 1791 President Washington chose Maryland's property and under the provisions of the Act selected three Commissioners to oversee the design and construction of the Capitol City and Government buildings.
Another Congressional Act can solicit states, re-establish commissioners, and arrange to move the Capitol, the Presidents Residence, and other necessary government buildings to another place at a site chosen by another President. A previous President chose the current place; a current President can choose a new one, in concert with a legislative act.
In other nations the site of the capitol changes from time to time, often by conquest or overthrow. Our overthrows take place in an orderly election and our ruler is a leader with a certain term and limited powers, but none have attempted to relocate the Capitol.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not proposing moving everything, just congress’s meeting place and the president's residence. The current White House, the monuments, the museums and other governmental buildings can stay where they are.
Why, you might ask, should such a folly be undertaken?
The time has long past since there was any benefit to the rest of the nation from this location. When our nation was a small North East Coastal country, 10 square miles in Maryland was fairly centralized. The Nation is now a larger entity. Washington DC is not central to the nation geographically, socially or economically. It's only central to itself and those who feed off the delusion that it’s the focus of a whole nation. It’s time to change its view of itself, and the easy familiar access of those from the tired, old, myopic, Euro-centric, northeast.
Relocate the Capitol and the President to any other city with modern communication and transportation infrastructure, preferably west of the Mississippi River. While you are at it, drop the 200-year-old idea that Ohio is mid-west. Utah or Nevada is mid-west, not Illinois or Iowa. The Capitol has been in the same place, an inconvenience to most of the country for 210 years. That's long enough.
Some might say the effort is too expensive, some might say it's racially motivated, the east coast media might characterize it many ways to protect their long held easy access and unearned influence. Some might say just moving the capitol wouldn’t necessarily change that. They may be right, but it will provide a different prospective and different players, and some tired old ideas will be lost.
If nothing else, the old lobbyists and old media people would have to move to the new territories, assimilate a new culture, learn a new language, develop new insights, modify their values, restore their faith and judgment, I think these sound like worthwhile objectives. The nation would gain all this and the Easterners would lose nothing but a little time to take a slightly longer plane flight to the Capitol. The people of the west would have shorter flights and a renewed interest in remaining part of this great union.
Pick a city, any city west of Ohio. I don't care where; Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Omaha, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Reno, Helena, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Topeka, Denver, this isn't a campaign for a place, it's a campaign for a new view and new behavior. Recovering the energy, spirit, courage, innovation, and individual involvement that once made this nation willing to act upon its beliefs, instead of one hamstrung by legal precedents that ignore our values. One where academics ponder instead of inspire, officials procrastinate instead of permit, and some people try to hold everyone back instead of helping others to reach new heights, and some people willingly accept that which they have not earned.
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