On Wed, Apr 20, 2016 at 1:35 PM, Michael McKinney <archangel620@gmail.com> wrote:

Don't tell me you wouldn't expect vicious exploitation in the gap of communication there.

That sort of depends on the local (political and economic) power structure.

Unless and until there is a level of power disparity, exploitation is pretty minimal. Of everybody had 40 acres and mule, it's hard to exploit people.

That was the Wild West and the Frontier for a long time.

Mostly when someone ended up with a lot more wealth than the neighbors, leading to political and economic power.

If the railroad bypasses your town, your town dies.

If the local magnate decides to charge you double what they charge everyone else, or pay you half, and you have no other options, you're in trouble.

That's why the Mormons got so messed up

The Mormons got messed with because they contravened the local morality, generating a lot of moral outrage that got translated into a political demand to "Do something!".

Moving west got them away from the outrage, and once they became the local majority, shifted the balance of power in their favor.

However, trying to set up their own country in the Utah territory did not endear them to anyone, either.

and why slaves could maneuver out of the South before the Civil War.

That in part also due to (somewhat less widespread) moral outrage translating into a desire to do something. Not to take away anything from the people who escaped through upwards of 600 miles of hostile territory, but that territory was seeded with sympathizers.

Now we have near instant communication and while crimes may occur in "patrolled-light" districts, most areas have minimal crime.

Eh. Most areas have minimal violent crime. More drug use and trafficking. But we tend to police the traffickers while largely ignoring the users, ensuring that there will continue to be a demand.

Communication is rarely the root problem, although lack of communication (and the inability to appeal to an outside neutral party) may exaggerate the problem.

This is the continuing problem with states, I mean, planetary rights vs Imperial authority. Generally, the states, I mean, planetary governments, are looking for ways to screw people when they start talking about 'planetary rights'.

"Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine kook." -Alan Morgan