# One of the U.S.'s fifty largest cities is to be destroyed. Argue the case that City X not be it. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 1, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073 "2012-01-01T19:41:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/1 "2012-01-01T19:41:30Z")
So it turns out that the pulp science fiction writers were right: Mars is inhabited by a sentient species with technology so far in advance of ours it might as well be magic; they have, incidentally, used said tech to conceal themselves from our astronomers and space agencies. Now the good news is that the Martians are not interested in conquering Earth. The bad news is that they’re xenophobic assholes with planet-shattering missiles. The worse news is that one of the Mars Rovers has trespassed on their holiest spot. It was NASA’s fault, of course, but that doesn’t matter; Mars wants blood. Their ire is concentrated on the United States, and they’ve informed us that they will be destroying one of our [fifty largest cities](http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763098.html) in 72 hours. Escape is impossible; they’ve thrown up force shields around each of those cities, and our weapons tech can’t do a damn thing to penetrate them. Three days from now, they will expect the president to name the city to be sacrificed; if he refuses, they’ll shrug & vaporize all 50. Make your case to spare the city you live in. If you don’t live in one of the top fifty, pick one to defend. Please do NOT argue that any given city should be obliterated; just defend one. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/2 "2012-01-01T19:53:19Z")
Dear Martians - Keep your tentacles away from Milwaukee. Reason: beer. You do not want a large group of sober Cheeseheads mad at you. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/3 "2012-01-01T20:29:32Z")
[del]Fresno is too tough for you scummy Martian greenbacks to mess with! Your puny weapons wouldn’t make a scratch. Go on, I dare you! Buncha wimps! The Venusians laugh at you.[/del] Spare San Diego. It’s pretty. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/4 "2012-01-01T20:37:32Z")
Can we try to make a case _against_ a city? I mean, Wichita should be destroyed. 1: it’s only the lower end of population, so less people would suffer 2: would anyone even miss Wichita? ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/5 "2012-01-01T21:00:13Z")
Well, since I live out in the middle of nowhere, I say just take 'em all out. Actually, just set up construction on all the freeways, they’ll self-destruct on their own. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/6 "2012-01-01T21:01:22Z")
spare Detroit. it’s not like anyone would notice the difference anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/7 "2012-01-01T21:03:38Z")
Boston should definitely be spared. It’s got lots of wicked smaht people. And me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/8 "2012-01-01T21:09:40Z")
Boston is home to shit ton of colleges and universities including Harvard and MIT. You may not like all the professors and students but it wouldn’t be good just to wip out so much brainpower all at once. It is also very important to the biotech and IT sectors. A lot of America’s future potential is in those sectors. Let’s not forget the stereotypical Boston accent as well. Sure it sounds ridiculous but it gives people from other places something easy to mock. There is a lot of American history around as well. The American Revolution started just outside Boston so it seems like a waste to let it get taken by some aliens as a sacrificial lamb. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/9 "2012-01-01T21:11:32Z")
Spare Minneapolis because it’s the gayest city in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/10 "2012-01-01T21:13:31Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Can we try to make a case _against_ a city? > > I mean, Wichita should be destroyed. > > 1: it’s only the lower end of population, so less people would suffer > > 2: would anyone even miss Wichita? Wichita is very important to the aviation industry. There is a whole lot of aviation engineering talent and infrastructure in Wichita that make everything from small planes to Cessna business jets to instruments. That type of thing is actually fairly rare in the U.S. and the world as a whole. Wichita should be spared so that we don’t take a huge hit in aviation technology. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/11 "2012-01-01T21:16:06Z")
Omaha, then? We’ve got Animal Planet now, we don’t need Wild Kingdom. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/12 "2012-01-01T21:16:12Z")
Colorado Springs, CO should certainly be spared as well. The #1 reason is I go there on vacation every summer and it is beautiful. #2 is that NORAD is based there within Cheyenne Mountain. They also have the Air Force Academy. Somehow, I don’t think Colorado Springs is an easy target unless you want to bring the whole U.S. military into it. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/13 "2012-01-01T21:19:44Z")
Austin is the coolest city in Texas, it has more personality than any of our really big cities. The traffic is awful but it’s full of some really cool people and a state as conservative as ours needs a city like Austin as a counter example to give us liberal folk hope for change. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/14 "2012-01-01T21:40:12Z")
Spare St. Paul please. Without St. Paul next to it, Minneapolis just wouldn’t be so hipster. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/15 "2012-01-01T21:46:09Z")
I don’t think I have to plead too hard to get Chicago spared. After all, the President is picking the city to sacrifice, and Chicago is the town he claims to be from. ---
**Author:** ![UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/46a35a/32.png) [@UFC\_Is\_Sux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UFC_Is_Sux)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/16 "2012-01-01T21:53:09Z")
Don’t nuke Philadelphia. Us jerks like the idea of somebody having the huevos to take Santa Claus down a peg or two. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/17 "2012-01-01T21:53:15Z")
I’m going to say spare Houston because I have family that live there. I don’t know if this argument will sway the Martians however. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/18 "2012-01-01T22:06:49Z")
You don’t say specifically, but I assume the people will be destroyed as well and can’t escape. Since we supposedly espouse equality of man as a nation, the choice has to be the city with the least population. Case closed. There is little to argue about except the actual population count. Your stipulations really have us cornered. I can see the opportunity of a choice or two that would provide a net improvement if we could lobby successfully for their demise. That would obviate the goal of the Martians in punishing us. Those beings are pretty dam smart to hide the cheese this long. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/19 "2012-01-01T22:14:47Z")
Spare Nashville. Not only is it the Athens of the South, it’s home to some good music (not just country but all genres), has some awesome meat and threes, but it is one of the only two cities in Tennessee to dependably vote D at election time. Of course, most all of this could apply to Memphis as well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073/20 "2012-01-01T22:49:54Z")
Spare Arlington, TX! It’s the home of America’s Team! Don’t you like football? Fuck it, I’m doomed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-u-s-s-fifty-largest-cities-is-to-be-destroyed-argue-the-case-that-city-x-not-be-it/608073.md?page=2)