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{"id":9140,"date":"2011-05-16T04:00:59","date_gmt":"2011-05-16T09:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.occasionalplanet.org\/?p=9140"},"modified":"2013-02-07T15:14:37","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T21:14:37","slug":"legislative-session-shows-how-states-are-anachronisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2011\/05\/16\/legislative-session-shows-how-states-are-anachronisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislative session shows how states are anachronisms"},"content":{"rendered":"
How generous and gracious it was of the powers that be in the Missouri legislature to designate the final day of the session as \u201cSt. Louis Day.\u201d It was truly magnanimous to allocate one out of 127 days to the state\u2019s largest metropolitan area. If truth be told, the largest metropolitan area in the state was essentially an afterthought to the legislators.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s consider a few relevant facts:<\/p>\n
\u2022 The state of Missouri has a population of 5,987,580.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The St. Louis metropolitan area has a population of 2,779,939.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Missouri portion of the St. Louis metropolitan area has a population of 2,094,043, or 35% of the state\u2019s population.<\/p>\n
However you might want to define St. Louis, the fact remains that its influence in the state legislature is far less than its numbers would warrant.<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s world, Missouri, like virtually every other state, is an artificial construct. It exists only because states were the natural outgrowth of the colonies, which were created as the British and others crossed the Atlantic in search of freedom and opportunity. It\u2019s interesting how the colonies were similar in size to European countries. Rhode Island could have been the Netherlands; Pennsylvania could have been Germany.<\/p>\n
What is unique about America is that it saw the wisdom of unity, first in opposition to the British who had colonized it. After the successful revolution, the concept of \u201cstates\u2019 rights\u201d was given a try with the Articles of Confederation, but it had inherent weaknesses. Sounder minds prevailed, and the Constitution of the United States, bringing the former colonies together, was ratified in 1788.<\/p>\n
We are a nation of Americans, diverse at that, but united in the identity of a country with standards that we can try to practice and that others can emulate.<\/p>\n
Back to St. Louis. We define our identity and even allegiances by how we \u201cwalk the walk.\u201d Where do we go when we leave our metropolitan area? It\u2019s hard to find a St. Louisan who hasn\u2019t gone to Chicago. Many have gone to Memphis, to New Orleans, and to the megalopolis that defines the northeast area from Boston to Washington. California is still a highly desired destination with increased interest in the cities and natural beauty of America\u2019s southwest and northwest.<\/p>\n
Missouri is made up of 114 counties. How many people have been to more than a handful of them? How many people have lodged for an evening in more than five counties?<\/p>\n
Yet when it comes to making numerous rules regarding how we live, we are united with Adair County, Barton County, Cooper County, Daviess County, Hickory County, New Madrid County, Pulaski County, Saline County, Taney County, Worth County, and nearly one hundred more. What do we have in common with them? Mainly geographic proximity, but there are even holes in that argument. It takes over six hours to drive from St. Louis to Atchison County in the northwest corner of Missouri. It takes less than five minutes to drive from St. Louis to St. Clair County in Illinois. We can fly to virtually any metropolitan area in the United States in less time than we can drive to Atchison County.<\/p>\n
So, when the Missouri legislature tries to govern, St. Louis is linked with entities with which it has very little connection. St. Louis is connected to the rest of Missouri by boundaries that may have made sense two hundred years ago, but are essentially meaningless now.<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that the St. Louis metropolitan area is the largest concentration of people in the state, the views of many Missouri legislators from outside the area range from indifference to hostility. Consider what happened, or didn\u2019t happen, in the just-concluded Missouri legislative session.<\/p>\n