[sangnoir]

How would city-states work in the age of nukes? It will lead to nothing but predation (see Mortal Engines for a YA take, what I'd give to watch the City of New York pursuing Roanoke or Asheville across the plains from atop the Chrysler building)

I don't see how these "tech titans" who understand economies of scale think scaling governments down is an improvement, so I suspect there is (self?) deception at play, and what they are optimizing for is minimizing oversight over their activities, and I suppose they see themselves as taking control of the cities and picking off the neighboring later... In this magical-thinking-land, Canada, Mexico, Russia and China will leave weakened city-states unmolested out of respect of the billionaires? The reasoning is juvenile and/or dishonest.