And almost needless to say (we are saying after all), I quite agree.
>>Each entity is likely still a "state" in the sense of holding a
>>monopoly on local "force", i.e., fighting professionals who patrol and
>>are ready to respond to calls for help.
>
>Careful here. Recall that enforcement in one geographic area can come from
>different legal systems at different levels. Again, the
>far-from-perfect-but-not-entirely-rotten US legal system provides good
>examples: fed and state cops patrolling the same highways; bounty hunters
>crossing the country; the SPA busting software pirates everywhere--even
>online.
You can usually still view this diversity as mostly under the control
of some dominant level, either a small entity which has joined a
federation but can leave at will, or a large entity which delegates
some tasks to a provincial administration.
Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/