Terrence Fugate wrote:

> Re:"Everything you've described requires a technically literate labor
> force
> to operate and maintain. Once the Federation military leaves, who on
> Poictesme has the training? The mall fails. Farming gets hit by local
> import substitution schemes. Tramptown self-organizes. Blackie
> organizes
> his raiders. Luxury goods producers are comparatively powerless in the
> face of a buyers cartel"
>
>  The  military 'always' has manual on how to maintain all their
> equipment.
>  The people on Poictesme were literate, could learn.

Yes. Literate, could learn. But it doesn't show up in the book.

>  They'd have the advantage of a decent knowledge base, they'd avoid
> the last 20,000 years of trial and error.
>
>  Half the battle is learning enough to know what you need to
> accomplish a task.
>
>  They'd understand crop rotation, fertilizers, pest control,
> irrigation.  Once you have a stable food supply, everything else
> becomes doable.

The tools to build the tools to build the tools to build the tools.

How far has the population of Poictesme drifted from the 1940s US
standard you've described at length?