In a provocative post at Economix, Edward Glaeser, author of Triumph of the City, points to three issues on which city dwellers and Tea Partiers — strange bedfellows — might make common cause against the federal government’s biases.

Urbanites are not natural libertarians. New Yorkers should like government more than Montanans, because New Yorkers have more need for an effective local government.
Crowding thousands of people into a tiny spot of land creates a risk of crime and contagious disease and congestion, and those downsides of density need public management. America’s cities became healthy only when local government spent vast sums on clean water; they became safe only through massive local policing efforts.

While urbanites do need strong local governments, they can make common cause with libertarians opposed to a larger federal government, especially because national largess often goes to low-density states with more senators per capita.

The original Tea Party was a child of the city. Urban interactions in 1770s Boston helped create a revolution and a great nation.

The current Tea Party could return to its urban roots if it stands up against subsidies for home borrowing and highways and if it encourages competition in urban schools.

Drop me a line at rjk@dailyblague.com
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 at 7:51 pm.