I’ve remarked often that the social machinery of the United States, our very identity as Americans, is dependent on carving industrial empires out of the wilderness with a firehose of immigrants from Europe. As soon as the frontier closed and the flow of people from … Continue readingOne Billion Americans, 19th Century Style?
Well, I went to Los Angeles and it turns out I love it; I’d move there in a heartbeat if I could afford to, and that’s the only place I’ve been able to say that for. Anyway, my latest escapade to the Southwest stimulates and … Continue readingThe Sun Belt in my Alternate History
The part of Twitter I’m in is adjacent to some rather heated debates as to the fundamentals of Russia versus NATO in the Ukraine war, with some of the less-bright pro-Russian types coping about how the tremendous GDP of the Western bloc doesn’t matter for … Continue readingR&D and the Great Power Sweepstakes
Saudi Arabia has its vision for Neom, The Line, a futuristic linear city, but I think we can do far better right here in America: why not a Pacific Coast City, a contiguous urban corridor on the immediate coast of California? Coastal California is one … Continue readingLet’s Build Pacific Coast City!
In alternate history one cliche is for a polity, society, or culture to “pull a Meiji”, referring to a rapid modernization and industrialization, the archetypal case being Japan under Emperor Meiji in the late 19th century, when Japan ascended to become one of the great … Continue readingPulling a Meiji in the Arctic?
Leaving aside questions of interplanetary or interstellar demography, or demography in an alternate history, topics I’ve blogged about before, there are also interesting aspects to real-life demography. Demography may not be destiny but it does shape the future; what kind of demographic future is in … Continue readingStop Worrying and Love the Birth Dearth?