One of the benefits of our whole federal system, at least in theory, is that it provides some insulation from bad government. If your state is being run into the ground by incompetent politicians, then you can just move to another state. And if a local politician is doing a terrible job, then at least he’s not wrecking the rest of the country. The damage is contained.
That’s the idea, anyway. And there are about a million reasons why that’s not true anymore. Exhibit A is the series of ongoing and deeply embarrassing disasters that are unfolding at the moment in Atlanta, Georgia and its surrounding metro area. There’s no other way to say this: Because the principles of federalism are no longer really operative, Atlanta’s dysfunction poses a direct threat to the entire country. You can’t get away from it simply by fleeing the state of Georgia. It’s all encompassing.
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