So Boerd

The Dawn of Tomorrow's World(A Dieselpunk Nation Roleplay)

Sent new territory map.

Control VS Freedom

But lets be real though, the UN, let alone the US and our allies would never abide by this. Russia wouldn't even try it because Putin is smart enough to know they'd never get away with it in the global stage.

There is no US. It is broken up into thousands of micro democracies in this hypothetical.

Control VS Freedom

The political climate isn't the same though. These micro-democracies would have access to modern technology and education, and relations with each other in a way similar to the UN. Conquest doesn't happen today because conquest is expensive and generally looked down upon by people, especially toward democracies.

1. Say conquest is dead to Putin in Ukraine and China in the Senkaku and Spratlys.
2. Conquest is expensive only when the others resist. How much would the little cities of Alaska be able to resist a Russian invasion, when all of Ukraine can not? And in light of Russia and China, the country would reform into the US rather than be conquered

Control VS Freedom

Darcs said
Peisistratos wasn't even a tyrant, though. His reign was seen as moderate and similar to a constitutional government. Also, in fearing tyrants, you aren't fearing a style of government, you're fearing human nature.People aren't inherently one thing or another, and where tyrants crop up, others will crop up to oppose them----AND THAT'S A ROCK FACT.

In re Peisistratus, he was anti-democratic. He got stuff done. And when he died, his sons ruled dictatorially.

Dionysus I of Syracuse was a popularly chosen bad tyrant.

Absolutely tyrants are part of human nature, but what convinces people to accept a tyrant?

1. Security concerns. Your micro democracies are essentially unable to defend themselves, so very rapidly if not actually reform the United States they will make alliances and engage in offensive-neorealistic conquests. The United States today is without peer, consequently, we don't engage in "War of the Spanish Succesion" style wars of containment, nor do we constantly subjugate like Napoleonic France. When we had ONE peer in the USSR, the world was worse as a result.

2. Identity politics. The more identities there are, the harder it is to appease enough of them to ride them into power.

Control VS Freedom

Again, Peisistratus and Syracusan tyrants.

Control VS Freedom

Darcs is in the process of discovering what James Madison did in Federalist 10.

Here's the problem with your system, Darcs. 1. You can take over really tiny countries very eaily.
2. It is easier for demagogues to convince 10,000 people all in the same area than 150,000,000 all over the country. The bigger the country, the more cultures it has and the more varied its citizen's concerns. This makes a 51% perpetual majority for one ideology impossible.

The solution therefore is to have a weak federal government whose only business is regulating that which crosses state lines, having uniform international trade laws, protecting your rights from violence, and national defense.

Control VS Freedom

Respond to tyrants and democracy plox.

The Dawn of Tomorrow's World(A Dieselpunk Nation Roleplay)

Full size image showing other claimed islands.

Control VS Freedom

Also, we don't allow someone to try and seize full control and strike needless fear and corruption in his wake and quest for more land and power.

How will you stop them? Caesar had the will of the people. Peisistratus of your lauded Athenian democracy was chosen by the people to be a tyrant and established a three generation dynasty.

In Syracuse, tyrants like Dionysus I were established by democracy and then cast democracy aside.

Control VS Freedom

Sure, if you can manipulate LITERALLY EVERY MEMBER OF A CITY-STATE.

You only need more than half, a la Julius Caesar. Or less, if people are apathetic.