Nobility.... or not....
From: "Thomas Barclay" <kaladorn@f...>
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2001 23:13:49 -0500
Subject: Nobility.... or not....
While I suspect that in the re-assembled NAC,
the Americans would still reject the idea of the
inequality of some citizens by virtue of birthright
(at least insofar as their right to govern goes),
this would probably only be an attitude that the
NAC powers-that-be would work around.
Remember, the UK is a democracy. There is a
Queen, but when was the last time she went out
and declared a war on someone? (It has been
some time). Canada, while retaining the Queen
as titular head of state, actually leaves little or
no place for her in public policy (yes, the
Governor General basically counts as "little or
no").
I'm betting when the territories of North and
South America are included, the format will be:
- Parliamentary (some reformed system that is
not first-past-the-post or let-the-lawyers-sort-it-
out) and Democratic.
- Recognizing "Honour Nobles" (Peerages
granted for service) for what they are - simply
some people given a minor reward (a modifier
to their name, a bit of land maybe) for public
service (always a good thing to encourage and
no different than granting land for military
service, a time honoured tradition).
Yes, some former Americans may dislike this.
Gee, I wonder if the NAC might have insurgent
movements? Seems likely. American Militias who
can't abide the idea of a foreign King (even if
the country really is run by a Prime Minister....)
but who are fine with families of huge hereditary
wealth and power (Rockafellers, Fords, etc) or
who live in a priveledged status due to there
presence on the TriD (entertainers) or who are
effectively more powerful than royalty due to
consolidation of huge amounts of economic
power in various sectors (Wm. Gates "call me
Bill", Larry Elison, the head of GE, etc).
And some would stay and fight about it. The
SAS has, I note, had plenty of practice dealing
with internal insurgencies. And the British have a
certain talent (fails at times, but far better than
their peers in this regard) at maintaining a light
hand in the Colonial power game (contrast with
France or the Dutch....). And some of the
former United States citizens who really could
not abide life in the NAC could either 1) Go join
the UNSC, 2) Go live in FCT, or 3) Go live on
some outrim world where they can revive the
US Constitution, the Republic, and all that stuff.
Gee, another NAC splinter group.....
People can play this however they like, but
canon shows us: The NAC is still a
Kingdom/Monarchy. The NAC has absorbed a
destroyed and torn-down former-American
republic and has captured and integrated all of
Central and South America. The only seemingly
willing (and still whole and structurally sound)
volunteer was Canada (AFAIK), and that may
have been as much an acknowledgement of the
way the winds were blowing and who protects
who and trades with them as it was any
idealistic fascination for Monarchy. But I think
the canon is pretty clear that the NAC is still a
Monarchy and the US, Canada, and the rest of
the Americas are now part of that Monarchy.
You are, of course, free to toss this out. But if
you are operating within the strictures of canon,
you need to look for reasons for why this _will_
work, rather than will not, because in the canon
universe, even if it is as likely as a pink flying
elephant, this IS the situation that exists.
Deal with it. We all know it is an unlikely fiction
developed by a kindly man with a twisted sense
of humor who spent too long in his cups (St.
Jon^3). So what? Now all we have to do if we
want to rationalize it is find a sufficient
"justification" (read: thin tissue which papers
over the obvious and patent unlikelihood of the
whole thing). I'm sure Russians and Chinese
would find the ESU about as unlikely. Welcome
to Silly Games 101. Live with it, or live without it,
but (to help out Mr. Beast), let us stop railing
about how unlikely it is. There is no dispute
there. That was _never_ the question, really....
Tomb.
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Thomas Barclay
Instructor, CST 6304 (TCP/IP programming for the Internet)
kaladorn@fox.nstn.ca
http://fox.nstn.ca/~kaladorn/CST6304
http://stargrunt.ca/tb/CST6304
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