tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post4791142555959710310..comments2024-03-28T00:11:33.489-04:00Comments on bensozia: CanaanJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-33600852159347932992017-04-23T23:25:18.906-04:002017-04-23T23:25:18.906-04:00Why do we keep acting like we've never before ...Why do we keep acting like we've never before seen minimally governed settlements? There are already a number of well documented examples, and they typically all end up being places you probably wouldn't want to live if given the chance.<br /><br />There are only so many possible outcomes. When you get lack governance, you open yourself up to exploitation. In most cases where exploitation doesn't occur, it's because a settlement is too poor or undesireable to bother with. When there's actual money to be made, organized crime steps in to fill their pockets off human misery. And if you combat the criminal element by strengthening the local government, you're no longer minimally governed.<br /><br />Nature abhors a vacuum. You can't maintain a minimally governed settlement unless it is isolated from other systems of rule.<br /><br />Venice started as a collective or commune of poor people living in swamps that fell between the cracks of feudal lordship, of too little value or importance to put effort into ruling over. But as they grew and became profitable, all their neighbors took note and started trying to take control for themselves, and thus the Venetians had to strengthen their government, make it official, legitimize and regulate it, and before you know it they went from practically ungoverned to one of the most efficient and draconian administrative bureaucracies in Europe at the time.<br /><br />In northern Germany, the peasant's republic of Dithmarschen followed much the same course, just on a lesser scale and with a darker end. A swampy region neglected by the lords who ostensibly owned it, at the end of the day it remained de facto independent and self governed primarily due to a combination of little incentive to reconquer it, and a surprisingly effective local militia. It also helped that they sought protection and aid from the Hanseatic League at time.<br /><br />But eventually they were overwhelmed and subjugated by Denmark, and that was the end of things. They started paying taxes, were subject to the laws and religion of the crown, and lost most of their autonomy. And yet, life on the ground didn't really change all that much - the region remained poor, rural, undeveloped, and left to their own devices basically for centuries, until the construction of the Kiel Canal in the 19th century.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com