Countdown to Christmas
1 - The City
- The Greatest Invention of All Time: Living in density and diversity is not just an invention itself; the city has been the catalyst for many of humanity’s greatest advancements. Cities are the global hubs of innovation and creativity, driving progress across the world.
- Density of Opportunity: Most people don’t choose where to live based on the nicest buildings or proximity to nature—they choose based on economic opportunities. Successful cities are unmatched engines of upward mobility, educational, cultural, and material opportunities, and, most importantly, freedom.
- A Shared Home: Cities unite people from all walks of life with a shared purpose—not just to create a place to live, but to build a sense of home. Our loyalty to specific cities isn’t only about economic advantages; it’s about the people, connections, and traditions that make them vibrant and meaningful.
Christmas Miracle
The city is such a wonderful invention precisely because it cannot be attributed to any single person. Cities emerged spontaneously across the globe, transforming human lifestyles like nothing else in history.
One of the earliest known human settlements, Göbekli Tepe (in modern-day Turkey), was, in fact, a ceremonial religious site. This shows once more that social needs have always been at the core of urban development
Göbekli Tepe
© Image by Teomancimit - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17377542
Imagine Christmas without the City. No pretty decorations and bright lights illuminating our streets, no festive markets (we Germans love our Weihnachtsmärkte) filling the air with the scents of mulled wine and roasted chestnuts, or no beautiful department storefronts making us pause and indulge in the wonders of capitalism and commerce.
The city is where the spirit of Christmas and the essence of freedom come alive—and vice versa. Just as the beauty of shared rituals often gets lost in the hectic nature of the holiday season, liberals have forgotten that the Open Society—which is at the heart of our project—is thriving in all those cities around the world. And so, Christmas seems like the perfect moment to remember and pay tribute to another great miracle, namely humanity’s greatest invention: the city.
