From: Barclay, Tom <tomb@b...>
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 22:16:23 -0400
Subject: Brian's comments on naming - my (sort of) rebuttal
Some of your comments I'm totally in line with, only you with your Colonial Sympathies (heh) are accusing me of Terra centric thinking. Assume for a moment the UN current hopeful mode population models for earth are right. Assume that we use the little canon data on population to model the growth of the colonies. Even assume I throw in all the wee non canon-affecting powers in. The sum total of the population in space will still be SIGNIFICANTLY less than the population on Earth. The Colonies are important for political reasons, for future development, for strategic reasons, and for resources. But EARTH is hugely important (obviously, its typed in capitals!). It is the cradle of humanity, it has a huge (even if the hopeful figures are used - if pop reduction did not happen, it has a really really huge population), contains most of the established institutions (with hundreds of years of history) in politics, economics, academics, engineering, etc. and it is HQ to most of the largest corporate interests in the Human Sphere. This is just based off of simple population and history realities. Now, do the Colonies matter? Yes. Was establishing a symbolic UK presence and a Palace at Albion politically savvy and expedient? Yes. Does it mean the Government doesn't still rule from England? Think again. Not saying I believe the NAC a likely beast in the first place, but assuming we live with that distortion of probability, we can postulate some things. 1) Nobles can exist anywhere. They aren't like Feudal Nobles - they don't hold absolute power. They probably do exist in the US. Postulate a US hard up enough to get the UK to help put them back together - so shaken to the core that they can't get their act together themselves and they'd submit to the King. In that kind of setting, people (esp maybe those from the South?) might well welcome the return of the symbolic (and thats mostly what it is) monarch and his peerage. Return of civilization, constancy of the crown through the millenia, etc. Sure some folk wouldn't like it - but that would be like current day UK! I think it quite possible that a peerage could be established in the States and Canada. Heck, Conrad Black is fighting for it! <in joke for Canadians> 2) The Colonies would be a brilliant place for the peerage - especially people who gain knighthoods and small estates and title from work civilizing the new worlds. Great idea. Increased gene pool for the nobles of the RH and NAC to marry too - fewer inbreedings. Though they'll still end up hearing German in the court every so often... 3) Between the Royal Colonial Mounted Police (brilliant!) and a peerage, the flavour of the Colonies would be very much "new world with old world backing". This would probably lead to the Colonies being mostly quite nice spots - especially the developed worlds like Albion. 4) As for Latin America, figure it as somewhat similar to Ireland. Sure there would be some places NAC troops would need riot gear, but if the elected government included Latinos, and some were given minor peerages, then you would find the government would probably not have a huge issue with being foreign controlled - not because of a lack of national pride, but because the NAC could very much help bring peace and prosperity to some troubled areas. Stability and prosperity sell very well in places that do not have it. If you can provide it (deliver on your promises - in this case backed up by a huge military, economy, and structure of law and institutions of same), then you'll win over the people. Sure there will be terrorists and independence minded rebels. Welcome to 2183... seems like 1883... Off earth, the LLAR may well adopt a new name except we think they keep the old one for nostalgia and to allow them to continue their official policy of recapturing their lands. If they actually changed names, it would mean admitting they'd finally lost. I really really like Karl-Heinz suggestions about NSL being so named due to the city where the League founding negotiations were conducted. Brilliant. Makes the regional name less problematic... Plus, when we talk about the New Yorkshire Confederation, did I miss something? Isn't East Anglia (or some such) what NAC draws its A from? Isn't it already a regionally named entity? And isn't Needham somewhere near there? As for the PAU and IF, RH and IC, I think they are well named. The OU is... well, the OU. It probably does try to claim any water bearing (ergo life supporting) rock no one else has... (seems to be OU doctrine). They must have recruited explorers/claimstakers from the US Patent Office. The FSE? Well, as the Etats Federal Europa, that's not bad. Don't tell me that the French and Italians (and anyone else - Portugese?) in that association don't consider themselves quintessential Europeans. Probably the name, like many such things in our world, hangs on as a vestige of the past where the French weren't separating from Europe when the Germans formed their own league - the Germans were separating from Europe. The French were preserving it. Hence the retention of European. Or at least that is one sort of passable reasoning. Unrelated: <HUMOR MODE> Oh, and if you read this Jer, don't bring your katana to GZGECC. 1) Canadian customs would hassle you coming home. We don't like people with weapons that can hurt people in Canada. That's why we cork all of our forks. 2) I know how good your eyes are... and unless you swing just by sound you're likely to take down some innocents. I'd have to get Carlos to sneak up behind you and bop you on the noggin so we could take it away from you. Although, he did tell me about a neat strobing laser he'd played with that induced nasea - that would probably do the trick. </HUMOR MODE>