[Reeses]

The internet lessens the economic advantages of cities. It's now very possible to work for a big company while sitting lakefront in the quiet mountains, or even in a mud hut on the other side of the planet. The internet may take down the 1800s invention of the big city. On the other hand the internet greatly lessens privacy, with the younger generation posting to the world forever what they ate last night, watched on TV, and their every half-baked thought. Is the net effect of the internet a bigger world or a smaller one?

Canada and Australia are leftist, but their overall population density is very low. That's because they mostly live in cities. If their governments want to create more happiness for their citizens, they should use the internet and other technologies to get their people to spread out. Humans were never meant to live like insects. From a national security perspective, cities are nuclear sitting ducks.

[Wonder Warthog]

"The internet lessens the economic advantages of cities. It's now very possible to work for a big company while sitting lakefront in the quiet mountains, or even in a mud hut on the other side of the planet. The internet may take down the 1800s invention of the big city.

Indeed! My company is located in a rural area about a half-hour drive to Tacoma. We garner business and do sales all over the globe, get raw materials, subcontract operations. Without the internet, our company could not exist. As it is, we are a going (and growing) concern.

"On the other hand the internet greatly lessens privacy, with the younger generation posting to the world forever what they ate last night, watched on TV, and their every half-baked thought. Is the net effect of the internet a bigger world or a smaller one?"

Yes, but the intrusiveness of the internet is something "you"/I have control over. The intrusiveness of urban governments is "not optional".