From: "The All-Seeing Eye"
To: soc.fen.military
Subj: Re: Worst case scenario
Well isn't this a cheerful topic!
So I'm a little confused: are we talking about the Americans going to war against the Convention, or are we talking about *Earth* going to war against the Convention? Because these are two very very different things. The United States is not the world, nor does it exist in a vacuum.
If the United States in a fit of madness decides to lock us out of their clubhouse, this isn't the end of the world. Because, you know, the *rest of the planet* is still there and reasonably accomodating. If anything, I'd expect an American freeze to be accompanied by a Chinese thaw: they may not like us especially, but the opportunity to sphere Fenspace isn't something the PRC would pass up. If we lose American investment well, that's sad but we still have strong trade links to Europe, North Africa, Japan, Korea, SE Asia, and South America. We might lose some of that to American bullying, but after the last two decades or so of ham-handed US "diplomacy" I'd expect that number to be smaller than you might think. All in all, even if the US were to say "we don't like you!" we're in a secure enough position to say "sure thing, on you go then."
Now, if everybody on Earth declared vendetta that would be a different kettle of fish entirely. We're not fully self-sufficient yet--we're close, another half-decade or so and we might we solid--and we need the industrial capacity for a lot of finished goods. If needs be we could abandon the system and just fade, there's plenty of places to hide that the Danelaw wouldn't think of looking in. It wouldn't be fun by any stretch of the imagination, but we could do it.
> I guarantee they have, in some dusty office somewhere, a 'what if' scenario for just such an occasion. That's how they work.
For fuck's sake of *course* they do! They're a *government,* planning for the unlikely and outrageous is part of what they're supposed to do. Google War Plan Red if you want some entertaining reading on the subject.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
To: soc.fen.military
Subj: Re: Worst case scenario
Well isn't this a cheerful topic!
So I'm a little confused: are we talking about the Americans going to war against the Convention, or are we talking about *Earth* going to war against the Convention? Because these are two very very different things. The United States is not the world, nor does it exist in a vacuum.
If the United States in a fit of madness decides to lock us out of their clubhouse, this isn't the end of the world. Because, you know, the *rest of the planet* is still there and reasonably accomodating. If anything, I'd expect an American freeze to be accompanied by a Chinese thaw: they may not like us especially, but the opportunity to sphere Fenspace isn't something the PRC would pass up. If we lose American investment well, that's sad but we still have strong trade links to Europe, North Africa, Japan, Korea, SE Asia, and South America. We might lose some of that to American bullying, but after the last two decades or so of ham-handed US "diplomacy" I'd expect that number to be smaller than you might think. All in all, even if the US were to say "we don't like you!" we're in a secure enough position to say "sure thing, on you go then."
Now, if everybody on Earth declared vendetta that would be a different kettle of fish entirely. We're not fully self-sufficient yet--we're close, another half-decade or so and we might we solid--and we need the industrial capacity for a lot of finished goods. If needs be we could abandon the system and just fade, there's plenty of places to hide that the Danelaw wouldn't think of looking in. It wouldn't be fun by any stretch of the imagination, but we could do it.
> I guarantee they have, in some dusty office somewhere, a 'what if' scenario for just such an occasion. That's how they work.
For fuck's sake of *course* they do! They're a *government,* planning for the unlikely and outrageous is part of what they're supposed to do. Google War Plan Red if you want some entertaining reading on the subject.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"