Philosophy Cities

Ideas about new ways cities and states might be organized to give more power to local governments to allow testing of new philosophies.

The Balance of Power

Some of these sound silly, some sound exciting, but will they work? No one knows unless someone tries, then discloses the results to everyone.

Power to Choose Philosophies. Cities choose their own philosophies and methods of enforcement. The philosophies are guides that lead the formation of laws and rules.

"...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
--The Declaration of Independence of the United States

Freedom of Movement. Cities may not restrict the freedom of people to move away. The ultimate power the people have is the power to vote with their feet.

Disclosure. Cities must disclose information about their philosophies. Cities must disclose vital and economic statistics about themselves. Cities may not restrict the free exchange of information about other cities' philosophies. People should be allowed to judge for themselves whether or not their cities' philosophies are working.

Why? So that New and Unusual Philosophies May be Tested

There are many philosophies that have arguments both for and against. The best way to discover whether a particular philosophy actually works is to test it - to put it into practice and see what happens.

Standard codes of philosophies and exceptions

Many philosophies would be commonly accepted, like forbidding murder or robbery. A group of commonly agreed upon philosophies could form a standard code. A city would say something like "We have adopted the Republican code of Philosophy."

A city may adopt exceptions to the standard code. For example, a city might prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages, an item which might would not be in the standard code. It is important cities publicly notify people of the exceptions it has.

Examples of philosophies that cities might adopt: