[ExI] "new communities out of the reach of governments"

[Jeff Davis]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 3:16 PM, painlord2k at libero.it
<painlord2k at libero.it> wrote:
> Il 09/02/2009 20.04, John Grigg ha scritto:
>
>> If a hostile foreign power invaded Tonga
>
> I would not advice to invade Tonga. Only biting it so hard they will
> remember and have not desire to repeat the experience.
>
>> And so my contribution to this post thread is that a tiny nation,
>> whether centuries old or a very recent construct, needs large and
>> powerful friends to help ward off trouble from even getting started. And
>> so a micro-power would need very capable diplomats to maintain their
>> alliances.
>
> I totally agree.

I totally disagree.  Well, okay...not totally, maybe.  But I have a
problem with the  default assumption that if you start a new and
independent community somebody is gonna come after you.  The current
tone of American involvement in the world is colored by paranoia on
the one hand and an unrestrained enthusiasm for "applied" militarism
(driven first and foremost by the profit motive) on the other.  This
alone would explain the instant uncritical credibility of the "They're
gonna get ya!" reflex.

On the other side of the question of course is the long history of
human violence: greed, murder, and justifications borne of tribal
exceptionalism.

So what I'm asking for here is for you to make your case.  We have a
modern world: enlightenment values(Dorian Grey?) in a media fishbowl.
The world sees all, and may choose to get involved (on which side?).
Modern techno-states whose people enjoy (and insist upon) high levels
of wealth and FREEDOM have immensely complex, interconnected, and
interdependent infrastructures profoundly vulnerable to asymmetric
attack (ie "terrorism" without the hysteria and prejudice).

These are only some of the factors which, to my way of thinking, make
up the context for the question.  Others are motivation, and
capability:  what factors would provoke and attack or make it
profitable, and what factors might make an attack difficult to carry
out?

A little note here:  I always have in mind a floating ocean community,
which largely eliminates issues of territorial encroachment.  Largely.

Anyway, there it is.

Make your case.

Best, Jeff Davis

   "Everything's hard till you know how to do it."
                           Ray Charles