Re: Geopolitics in Jon's Universe

I have been following this thread for a while and would like to inject a
few
general background observations---->

I think there are plenty of strange politics and people in the GZG
universe,
and they don't neccessarily have to be a reflection of what is happening
on
Earth! If you are aware of the emigration history in the USA you might
see
parallels.

Most immigrants looked for areas where they had a similar climate and
tended
to cluster there. The Russians and Balts clustered in the great plains,
the
Scandanavians in the Great Lakes Region, and the early Highland Scots
went to
the Appalachians; all these went to regions similar to their homelands.
The
Pennslyvania  Deutch were a group who's original country (Pre-unified
Germany) didn't even have overseas colonies at that time!!! As a matter
of
fact many groups who came to this country (starting with the Puritans)
were a
pain in the fanny to their home countries, so much so they were
encouraged to
go. All you really needed was some level of trouble at home, Irish
potato
famine, pogroms in Russia, the draft in pre-unified ( and the
post-unified
for the loosers) Germany and Italy!   Sooooooo my point being you might
have
anybody out there and more than likely several groups on the same planet
ie:
the Japanese and Italians on different continents or major island
chains! You
might have one cold cold planet where the colonist are Eskimos!

I would also like to make the case for the fact that history has taught
us
that many colonies are more expensive than they are worth, both
politically
and economically. Look at Russia!!!  I suspect that in the GZG Universe,
most
colonies will have to apply, and prove they are neccessary to a power
block
before they are accepted. Most colonies will be settled by "Real Estate
Companies" not nationalists wanting to spend billions to put Uncle
Hermans
unpleasant son where he won't embarass the family! Shipping companies
would
have a major reason to start as many colonies as possible (as the
railroads
did in settling the West!!!) I believe people will have read enough
history
to know that the theory, that power depends on the extent of ones
colonial
empire, died with the twentieth century.  Now on the otherhand, if a
colony (
independent or subject) controled a valuable resource, a thriving
economy, or
an advantageous location. This has to only be a perceived value (the
original
colonies {USA} and Australia were valuable - to dump Britain's
convicts!) not
neccessarily a real value.  Conflicts might arrise if there were to be
conflicts between different colonist of different origins on the same
planet.

Sooooooo my point being that you should find room for any political,
ethnic,
or religious groups, without being limited to the main power blocks from
Old
Earth. So use your imagination. The only accurate thing you can say
about the
future is that it is going to be different!!!!!

Tom Hughes