Subject: 71:17/7231 Various
TML::>> survive without the "backwaters" of western Wisconsin, or upstate
::>> New York, where there are a lot of dairy farms, or the
::>> "backwaters" of central Nebraska and South Dakota, where a lot of
::>> wheat is grown?
TML::>Hmmm, an interesting image: `rural ghetto' that doesn't sound all that
::>bad now. I guess I'm confused. What exactly, then, is the problem with
::>being `ghettoized'?
Actually, ghettoization is probably the wrong word. What I'm
thinking of is the planet that becomes a "banana republic" - its
only source of foreign (interstellar) exchange becomes raw
materials that high-tech cultures need but will not pay high
prices for. Consider the state of things in countries like
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, Malaysia, and so on. I'd say
that there are probably better words than ghettoization, but I
can't think of them.
TML::>> No, I'm not saying that worlds without a tech affinity are the
::>> ones that are going to be ghettoized. I'm saying that the ones
::>> that are "forced" to focus their production to service the needs
::>> of the planets that (re)acquire tech early are the ones that are
::>> going to be ghettoized.
TML::>Okay, so `ghettoized' means something akin to `exploited'?
More than just exploited. Japan was exploited after WWII, but
it was able to pull itself together. But South Asia and the
Indo-Pacific island nations, and to a lesser extent, the
Carribean and Central and South America are both exploited and
ghettoized. Some countries are making an effort to pull
themselves out of it - Argentina is a notable example. But most
of those countries have no present hope of escaping or solving
their problems, many of which are connected with high population
density, low wages, and single-product economies.
TML::>Steven Gott [email removed] writes:
TML::>> Subject: The Jumpstart Caches
::>> Now Norris was told all of
::>> their location
TML::>How do `we' know this? Someone mentioned *Arrival Vengeance* but I looke
::>and I can't find it there. Does it appear in *AV* errata?
OK, I finally have it straight, once and for all. It's NOT in
AV. It's NOT in TNE itself. It _IS_ in Survival Margin.
On P30, Strephon effectively makes his decision to abdicate by
choosing not to cooperate with IRIS. That this is his attitude,
rather than it being beneath his dignity, is confirmed by the
statement that IRIS will "get me out of this" and by (P31) his
apparent happiness at his claim being disallowed. So we know
that Strephon has abdicated. He effectively turns the job over
to Norris on P51, where he sends Avery "with them" [the AV],
and P52, where we see the text of the message that was in the
holocrystal given to the diplomatic team from the AV. In that
message, Strephon confirms Norris's assumption of the title of
Archduke, gives him Jumpstart, and warns him about Longbow. He
also makes it clear that Norris is the only one left to carry on
the traditions of the Imperium. Recall also the Domain's last
words to the interstellar communications network: "We keep the
flame". Though veiled, this can be taken as a reference that
they _know_ that they have the only rightful claim to the mantle
of the 3I. That they take on the name "Regency" after that
indicates that Norris is taking his position as "emperor" not as
his own position, but as a trust, for when a true Emperor shall
resume the Iridium Throne. Recall, however, that after a much
shorter period, a previous regent (during the Civil War (in the
600s)) took the thrown as Regent, rather than Emperor, until she
was asked, by the Moot, to take the title as well as the
authority. It is not unreasonable to assume that the same will
happen with Norris or his successor, or possibly Avery or one of
his descendants. The question is _when_ this will happen - in
other words, at what point does it become appropriate for the
Regency to "admit" that it is in fact the Imperium? See my
comments later in this article...
Sorry about all the confusion...
TML::>[email removed] (Jeff Zeitlin) writes:
TML::>> T::>My sense is that public opinion in the Regency will be whatever the
::>> ::>leadership wishes it to be. Norris is (was?) nothing if not an
::>excellent
::>> ::>`molder' of public opinion.
::>>
::>> True, but there are limits to that kind of ability. If you've
::>> seen a planet get sacked by a homicidal Virus-infected starship,
::>> you're _not_ going to be easily convinced that Virus isn't a
::>> threat any more...
TML::>Absolutely true (not the `limits' part though). The fact that the `Rape
::>Trin' became wide-spread pubic knowledge [FACT ALERT: I don't have TNE] m
::>mean that it served Norris's purposes somehow.
Not necessarily. News that is not in the Government's best
interests _will_ get out somehow. And it will spread by the
fastest available route. Remember a break-in at a major
Washington, DC, hotel, around about 1974?
TML::>> The threat that I was thinking of in my previous posts, that
::>> required guarding the Vargr border was in fact the threat of
::>> Virus.
TML::>This is a good point, as I mentioned in an earlier posting, but . . .
TML::>> This would also have the effect of slowing down the evolution
::>> and/or extinction of Virus in the Extents, making infection from
::>> the Extents a very real threat, even at this late date.
TML::>I'm not sure I understand this point. Are you saying that by taking
::>`longer' to reach the Regency through the Extents the Virus would somehow
::>be more powerful? How so? Wouldn't Regency agents have a *better*
::>opportunity to observe the Virus which would permit the Regency to better
::>develop counter measures?
No, not really more powerful. The primary evolution of Virus
was toward a non-suicidal, and non-homicidal form - because it
is more conducive to spreading Virus, i.e., survival. This
evolution was facilitated by the ability of many substrains and
strains to interact with each other. But this kind of
interaction is slowed down when you have a situation in which
the spread of Virus is slowed down. Thus, strains of Virus
approaching the protected states through the Vargr Extents will
tend to be earlier strains, and therefore more dangerous ones.
The total quarantine imposed by the Regency and the Zhodani (and
the other surviving Spinward States) would tend to cut down on
opportunity to observe. And a Virus that can bridge the
gap between Software and Hardware (as Virus can) is _not_
something that you will easily be able to develop
countermeasures to. Nor is it something that you want to bring
into a well-equipped research lab in the heart of your territory
(such facilities need support that is unlikely to be available
at the frontier), when the amount of damage that can occur in a
release accident is so high. The Rape of Trin (I still somehow
think it was Gram, but...)is graphic evidence of what can go
wrong. You don't mess with that kind of thing. Consider:
Union Carbide has just announced plans to build a chemical plant
in your home town. It will be the same kind of thing that the
plant in Bhopal, India, was doing. Are you really going to feel
comfortable about having that plant there?
TML::>> We who have Arrival Vengeance know that
::>> (b) he effectively abdicated in Norris's favor by
::>> entrusting Norris with the complete Jumpstart and Longbow files,
TML::>There it is again! *Please* tell me where in *AV* Jumpstart and Longbow
::>are mentioned. Just the page numbers will suffice.
See above. It's SM, not AV, and not TNE. Sorry for the
confusion.
TML::>> Given that Norris _does_ have a great
::>> deal of ability in molding opinion, and that he (and his
::>> successors) have enjoyed the support of an overwhelming majority
::>> of the people of the Regency, even a documented successor to Lucan
::>> or Margaret is unlikely to gain sympathy in the Regency
TML::>Wait. Roll back the clock 85 years. Substitute Strephon for Norris and
::>Imperium for Regency. What do you get? Rebellion. Hard Times. The
::>Viral Collapse. And yes, da**it, The New Era. :-)
It's certainly possible...
TML::>> as they
::>> represent the part of the old order that "abandoned" the area
::>> "behind the claw." I would say that the "legitimacy" of the
::>> Regency is secure
TML::>Doesn't the very name `Regency' suggest a deep felt respect for that `old
::>order'? All the legitimacy of a `regency' is derived from that for which
::>the `regent' is stewarding authority. To me it is absurd that the *peopl
::>of the Regency would forget what they've been `waiting' for all these yea
I refer you to the outcome of the Civil War of the 600s.
History _does_ tend to repeat itself. Also, Norris never threw
his support to any faction - he was loyal to the concept and
ideal of the Imperium itself. Can _anyone_ descended from
_any_ factional leader, no matter how "good" his/her lineage,
and how pure his/her motives, establish a _morally_ justifiable
claim to the Iridium Throne? I suspect that when/if this
situation arises, and push comes to shove, that the people of
the Regency will stand behind the Regent, rather than the
Pretender. At that time, when the _people_ realize that the
Regent is in fact the Emperor, the Regent will "reluctantly
accept the summons to the Iridium Throne."
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin [email removed]
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