Mark Simmons (scorpio@best.com)
Wed, 3 Mar 1999 00:47:25 -0800
Chien Ting Chin writes,
>I've always wonder what this really means. EF sounds like a stronger
>(i.e. more centralized) union than UN.
Yes, absolutely; Sunrise specifically says that the Earth Federation is
_not_ like the UN. Given that some descriptions of its governing
structure echo that of the UN, it could perhaps be a development of the
relatively feeble modern organization. At any rate, in UC Gundam the
unification of Earth's nations takes place _before_ colonization begins,
whereas in AC Gundam it takes place long after...
>Would EU be comparable? I would guess not.
The EU is certainly a stronger alliance than the UN, NAFTA, or even
NATO; it even has a common trans-national currency. But it's not quite at
Federation level yet...
>So the comparison could be similar to the bigger
>countries of today: USA, Canada or China, with a centralized government
>(that also happens to recuit and run the armed forces) overseeing
>provinces/states that are self-governing in local politics.
Could very well be. Remember, the United States is technically a
federation. :-)
>Of course I am really posing a question: is the above somewhat sensible?
Not necessarily plausible, given the degree to which nationalism
controls real-world politics, but as a leap of faith it's one that many,
many sci-fi stories ask us to make.
Probe writes,
> So not only are the Space-Cylinders colonies of the Fed, but effectively
>all of _Earth_ is a Federation "colony" as well! I.e., all the territories
>are more like 'protectorates' than nation/states anymore.
Very astute, Probe. Maybe that's why ZZ's African Liberation Front are
aligned with the Zeons; they feel their nation is just as much a colony
as Side 3 was. And, for that matter, a colony nation that was forced to
deport 80-90% of its population.
-- Mark
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