D.C. a state of The United States?

[Bingissimo]

And why do rural areas need to "keep the cities" in check? The legacy of so many items in the Constitution that give power to rural areas are in no small part to continue the institution of slavery.

Concessions to the 'small' (by population) territories to join the federal union as the United States grew from 13 to 50 states, but more importantly concessions during the post civil war Reconstruction as a pledge to the defeated that they would still have their voice. That unfortunately has led to 100+ years of Jim Crow, The Lost Cause, and then all the other from which that flowed.

[Will Neide]

Concessions to the 'small' (by population) territories to join the federal union as the United States grew from 13 to 50 states, but more importantly concessions during the post civil war Reconstruction as a pledge to the defeated that they would still have their voice. That unfortunately has led to 100+ years of Jim Crow, The Lost Cause, and then all the other from which that flowed.

Best way forward is to acknowledge the atrocities of the past, learn from them, and mold policies to meet the needs of the American people as a whole present and future. The argument of rural vs urban started long before the civil war, and the realities that the needs of both populations, including all the blended areas in between, needs to be acknowledged. Times do change, states flip colors, policies change.

Cities do not survive without agriculture and agriculture doesn't survive without a market. Neither really has the upper hand regardless of population density, policies need to make sense to support the whole system. The whole idea of "we have more people, we get to make the rules" butts up against the American ethos of "we wont' be told what to do....don't tread on me." Both ideas have roots, but need to be reconciled and need to co-exist.

With everyone's guard up, I really don't think any group is humbly coming to the table with ideas.