I friend of mine, DogPound, has a belief that is paraphrased as "government is a monopoly on armed force". I discussed this with Darius over lunch - because I view the two of them polar opposites - to see what his take on that was. His response was somewhat intriguing, if not altogether ... unrealistic.
His idea is that in the future, the idea of nation-states will dissolve along with geographical boundaries creating a system where individuals will identify with governing bodies on a "subscription-based" system. As further explanation, he used religion as a metaphor for this system. In essence - individuals "subscribe" to a religion they believe in. As such, they then become subject to the rules and regulations of that religion and, should they choose, can un-subscribe from that religion and join a new one.
He sees future governments working the same way. A global governing system, a la the U.N., would set some defaults that people who don't subscribe to a government would be regulated by. Then, people would subscribe to the government(s) they want to be "citizens" of. When they do, they then must abide by the laws and bodies of that governing entity.
Overall, it's a neat idea for a global government system - however I realize it did absolutely nothing to answer the question I originally posed to him. Darius is good at doing that. Go figure.
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Dinner tonight: Chicken breast with some-as-yet-undetermined sauce, sweet potato fries, and a vegetable that goes good with the aforementioned sauce. I wonder if I can get chicken to make a non-crappy pan sauce? Hmm.
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