Re: Madison Nightmare (Geopolitics in Jon's Universe)

Brian Burger writes:

@:) Have to agree with the above -- industrialization matters more,
@:) really, than population base - and no-one can seriously argue that
@:) the Scandanavian countries are technologically backward

  I Agree.

@:) The colonial effort would be slowed by lack of excess population,
@:) but for many applications, what is needed isn't lots of warm
@:) bodies but few, highly educated people to run machinery. I could
@:) see the Scandanavians being a major supplier of specialized
@:) machinery, and electronics, in the future. And the Scandanavian
@:) mercs mentioned elsewhere could be one of the high-tech
@:) 'Dorsai'-type units, not just a 'warm-body' unit...

  Maybe.  It definitely is hard to imagine them doing a lot of
colonization since they just don't need it.  What I can imagine is
Scandinavian natural resource companies going into space.  If we
assume plant life on other worlds, do you know how much oil there must
be in space?  Not to mention various metals and other fairly valuable
material.  Of course if you're out in the middle of nowhere harvesting
in highly expensive rocks, you're going to get jumped eventually.  So
you'll need a small but highly effective defense force.

-joachim