isaac_newton wrote:Well maybe they might if the UN ran the Navy, raised taxes [some], conducted piracy supression and other stuff that the SL and it's various branches do?
Right, the analogy isn't perfect. None are. But when it comes to patriotism and national identity, who runs a (tiny for the size of the "state") navy and who taxes you (oh so indirectly) only matters a little. And even then, your planet/system/multi-system-polity inside the League will often have a navy too, and will certainly tax you (directly) - and it will have existed longer in many cases, the people in it will breathe the same air you do, speak the same dialect, have the same place in interstellar affairs, elect (or wish to) the same leaders, and so on. So as a competing locus of national identity, the sub-League unit has a lot going for it relative to what really is a treaty organization rather than a proper nation-state.
[Edit] particularly as here practically everyone is in the UN. In the Hverse, there is a clear group in the SL and clear groups out of the SL, which always makes scope for self identification. After all, even the most ardent Texan [
name your state] will shout for the USA during the Olympics
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[/Edit]
Meh, there's maybe 20% of the species outside the League. And they are way out there, and either in the League's shadow or so far out and so poor and backward they can be ignored... OMG! What's happening to Battle Fleet?! What's happening to trade?! WTF?!!!
The current situation is a bit like Ethiopia up and sinking most USN carrier groups and seizing all the major sea lanes globally and all ports and airports in the U.S., Canada, European Union, Russia, India, and China. Whaaaa? Do not blame the League too harshly for being shocked stupid at that - just blame them for thinking of the Grand Alliance as comparable to Ethiopia.
And yes, Texans will cheer for the U.S. in the Olympics. If there were a single North American team, they'd cheer for them too. But if there were a Texan team and a rest-of-U.S. team, that would not be cheering for the latter and they are probably hankering after that situation often.
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)