# Alternate history - what if the U.S. capital was in L.A. instead of Washington?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 19, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188 "2012-10-19T01:54:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/21 "2012-10-19T23:34:25Z")

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> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Like the earlier poster who called LA a hellhole, I think you have confused the delightful City of Angels with God-forsaken Sacramento.

Hey there…you take that back or you’re not getting any more of our water. :mad:

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**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/22 "2012-10-20T08:16:22Z")

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> [@PunditLisa](#):
>
> If the US capital was in LA instead of DC, it would stand to reason that the New World was conquered, and settled in, from the opposite direction. So our major influences would be Asian instead of European.
> 
> Let’s see, Buddhism would be the predominant religion, our math scores would be through the roof, and we’d all be singing about paddy fields instead of waves of amber grain.
> 
> (Did I manage to hit every stereotype?)

The Most Serene Realm of the Eastern Lands would be increasingly concerned about the economic competition by the People’s Republic of Rome which as everybody claims will restore dominance to the Western nations.

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**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternate-history-what-if-the-u-s-capital-was-in-l-a-instead-of-washington/638188/23 "2012-10-20T08:44:26Z")

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I always figured the appeal of voting for movie stars is that they’re political outsiders. If movies and politics came from the same place that might be a little harder to pull off.

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