If i see a thousand people once, it's very different than seeing one person a thousand times. New york city would seem to me to make a pretty good city state. But i you sank toda. Gt, s to beit is all protess to betit ye has lee brooklyn, manhattan queens. And even then, i mot gin to see somee offin case, not a village.
A language, a flag, a national anthem and shared history—like a heart that has to pump harder to support a heavier body, the bigger a nation gets, the harder to curate an identity. Nassim Nicholas Taleb talks about scale and governance with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Taleb sings the virtues of smaller relative to larger and decentralized as much as possible relative to centralized. Along the way, he provides a framework for Russia's war against Ukraine and explains why the United States has thrived despite its size and scope.