I tell you what, though. You design an effective, smart and transparent government and I'll never say a word about how big you would like it to be.
How do we define 'far away'? I can have a face to face conversation with someone at the opposite end of the country with near-zero effort.
> with so little in common with ourselves and our way of lives.
I strongly disagree with this. Partisan politics try to paint people from different regions of the US as being wildly different, and I flatly reject this notion. I've lived in urban, rural, and in areas separated by thousands of miles. Americans are far more alike than different. There are the same (minor) cultural differences within the average state as between states on opposite ends of the country.
> I tell you what, though. You design an effective, smart and transparent government and I'll never say a word about how big you would like it to be.
I don't have all the answers, but I would start by outlawing the bribery of public officials via campaign donations, and I'd put the legislative process in version control.
Personally I'm a 'taxation makes civilization possible' man myself, and I find that the 'taxation is theft' people rarely make meaningful contributions to society.
I would argue that most of our current problems are happening because our governments are small, ineffective, and corrupt. I would prefer big, effective, smart, and transparent governments that can take decisive action any day of the week. I'd go so far as to abolish state governments entirely and split their powers between counties and the federal government; they were made for a time when our communications were limited by the speeds of our fastest horses.