(ii) With the capacity of space fleets to destroy planets, it is necessary to prepare for the worst contingencies.
(iii) It is unwise to let spheres interpenetrate when both species want the same planets.
(iv) The conflict is not only commercial but also political and military.
(v) The Ythrians have already gained Dathyna and either the Empire or the Domain must absorb the Antoranite-Kraokan complex at Beta Centauri.
(vi) Rectifying this frontier will armor the Empire against a Merseian attack - the Roidhunate is aggressively acquisitive and growing fast.
(vii) Avalon, a unique case, does not prove that Terrans and Ythrians can be trusted to coexist.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Commenting on your Point 1. While I, a conservative, favors limited gov't and decentralization, I can see how that might become dangerous. That is, it is not wise to allow member states, entities, or even "choths" of your polity to attack another power which is far stronger and larger. Again, Proverbs 20.2 comes to mind!
While I would not expect all the border planets of the Domain colonized by Ythrians to have xenologists, I would expect the High Wyvan on Ythri to have experts who specialized in studying the human race and its history. And they should have told the High Wyvan and the Khruath certain basic facts of human nature and history. Or did they? And they were ignored? Maybe!
We do see mention of human xenologists who did study the Ythrians and helped to advise Admiral Cajal, who framed or shaped his negotiations with the Ythrians at Ythri accordingly.
Sean
More about point i
I read a book "Never at War : Why Democracies Won't Fight Each Other" by Spencer Weart.
In the lead up to justifying the thesis of the title, the author categorizes societies by form of government, autocracies, oligarchic & democratic republics, & anocracies.
Anocracies are societies with no government that is powerful enough to keep subgroups from attacking foreigners. This of course makes it difficult to impossible to keep an anocracy at peace with its neighbors. It sounds like Ythri is an anocracy.
Kaor, Jim!
What were called "anocracies" reminded me of failed states like Somalia, on the Horn of Africa. Among other things, the lack of any effective gov't, even a bad one, has enabled piracy, attacks on passing ships, to revive there.
Ad astra! Sean
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