Geography Nerds Debate Where Earth's Capitol City Should Be
If you took part in Model U.N., or some variation of a fictional United Nations, in school then you have some idea of how a worldwide, super government would work. While that thought may be "Parks & Recreation" character, and noted libertarian, Ron Swanson's worst idea, participants in the programs take those beliefs out into the world. We aren't just a gaggle of separate borders, but rather a unified world filled with similar human beings. It makes the mind rush with questions:
What could we accomplish as a worldwide unit?
What problems could we solve?
Reddit users responded to r/acidteddy, who asked for solutions to the following thought experiment:
If Earth had a capital city, where would it be and why?
Three Words: Floating Island Fortress
I'm personally in favor of building an artificial island or offshore station at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude.
Journey to the Center
It should be located at the earths core so every nation is equal distance.
This Is How Science Works, Right?
The Moon, because
a) it's cool and
b) free cheese at meetings
WE FORGOT THE CRACKERS
I'm so happy I'm not the only one who thinks of Wallace and Gromit with "moon" and "cheese" references.
Honesty Would Be The First World Policy
Lets be completely honest.
It would change from city to city throughout the years because we would constantly fight over where it should be.
Awful
Lets make it like the Olympics! Every 4 years, the most corrupt government gets to host world policy!
With great corruption comes great responsibility.
Get Them All In One Place...
Let's do the good old Canberra thing and find somewhere that is equidistant from all of the cities on earth.
Added bonus because now we can push all of our politicians into a big hole.
The Punny Government
The town of F-cking, Austria so we can call it 'the f-cking government'
We already call them that.
Yes, but now it's a pun!
The Unexpected
Reykjavik. Iceland would be about the right size to accommodate a world government, it's energy independent, outside of any one country's exclusive sphere of influence, a place that any major power could get to unhindered, and also GDI established major underground complexes and built the Mammoth tank there, so it must be good.
Let's Rethink The Moon
The Moon. The ultimate safe space.
_dr_w_
The moon shall join your coalition
You hear that, Peru? We got the fricken moon. What are you gonna do without tides?!
Let's Hear Their Thoughts On Trade And Holidays
North Pole so the Elves can take a role in politics
Share The Wealth
I think if the UN ever did become a world government they might do what South Africa or the European Union did (or the Federation from Star Trek did) and have different branches of government be in different cities. Like I could see New York, Beijing, and Paris housing the Montesquian branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) with Nairobi and Rio holding additional, major administrative offices like a central bank (like the ECB in Frankfurt) or the office for a global ombundsman.
Third Time's The Charm?
New New York
My fellow Earthicans...
Ahhroooooooooooooo
I Hear They Have A Great Councilwoman
Pawnee, Indiana
First in friendship, fourth in obesity.
Guys, Antarctica...
Antarctica. Yes it's neutral ground, that's all well and good, BUT that's not why I think it would be perfect.
First, I don't think government should be something people aspire to be a part of. It should be a dull, boring slag with no perks except that you get to be a bigger gear in the machine. The capital should be hard to get to, and inhospitable. This deters half -ssed coups as well as narcissists who only want power from wanting to be a part of it, as is dull hard work and they don't get the opportunity to schmooze.
It's also unfarmable, so the capital would be utterly dependent on supplies from its constituency, a good reminder of who you are working for as a leader.
Finally, make all government servants wear tuxedos as their uniform, and be required to keep a penguin as a pet. This is non negotiable.
If you can't take care of a penguin, you can't take care of a country. This would also serve to humble our leaders, as they would be constantly aware of how ridiculous and funny they look.
So yeah, Antarctica.
Circle Station Moon Alpha
A space station that acts like a ring around the planet.
Maybe if we got the math right, you could jump down to the surface really easy using space elevators, if it's rotating fast enough you could be all "eh, I'll descend into NYC, or wait 15 minutes until we are over London.
Start From Scratch
In Australia, there was a problem; Melbourne and Sydney were both really awesome, and totally viable candidates for a capital. Since nobody could decide, a new city was built.
I think that's the most likely outcome; Earth has too many great cities. No matter who you choose, you'll be passing over some Great candidates. Constructing a city specifically meant to be a capital is a way to bypass that.
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