All of Canada started out as a charter and to this day that shows in how Canadians are effectively boxed in on all sides in a continent sized corporation. Canada is rife with 'company town' like constructs including a whole raft of artificially created monopolies.
Re:Honduras Is Not For Sale (2021)
by arcticbull on Wednesday March 23, 2022 @01:08PM
(#30780713)
... right, a colony. That's the whole point I'm making, that charter cities are colonialism redux. And if you'll recall it didn't go well for the people already there at the time - the other point I'm making.
I am also aware of several Vancouver businesses (some of which are technically in other cities like Delta) that would also strongly oppose Point Roberts being ceded. It makes it easy to offer non-international shipping to US customers, by way of driving into it, dealing with customs in person (which can be less headache then the customs broker services offered by post or parcel services), and then finally sending from the post office, or one of the couriers in the US itself.
The same system can also be used in reverse, for people who live nearby. This is especially useful for buying things from company that won't ship internationally at all, or who charge excessive fees for shipping internationally.
Re:Honduras Is Not For Sale (2021)
by arcticbull on Wednesday March 23, 2022 @01:12PM
(#30780775)
I'm not sure the UPS store is the one holding it back. There have been off and on bilateral negotiations for 100 years.
Minor quibble re: Singapore, it wasn't exactly a model until it was kicked out of Malaysia (gaining sovereignty against its own will for what I believe is the first and only time ever) and was catapulted into modernity by Lee Kwan Yew.
> I'd be perfectly OK with e.g. Norway or Switzerland sponsoring a charter city in Nevada.
I think you'll find that a very unpopular opinion. America's dead set on not ceding Point Roberts after all - a tiny chunk of nothing accessible only via Canada that happens to be American due to a penmanship artifact. They get water from Canada and use the Canadian fire department. [1] Let alone carving out a portion of the contiguous states for the Norwegians.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Roberts,_Washington