[BruceEel]

> Also, bad communities fail. They should be allowed to fail.

Are there circumstances under which nation states could/should be seen as 'communities', I wonder. And, what would be some sensible ways of detecting and handling failure at such scale.

[tycho-newman]

Sure. That said, the nation state is often little more than regional elites legalizing their control over workers and capital.

If your local elites are generally better than the alternative people tend to stick around

[BruceEel]

Broadly agree. I'm probably too upset to write about the local elites with anything bearing even a passing resemblance to objectivity, but an outbreak of incompetence is the overall impression.

[sameasiteverwas]

> sensible ways of detecting and handling failure at such scale

War and revolution. 'Burn it down and start from scratch' is an extreme path to fix a failing country. Historically, the people that rebuild are rarely the same people that burned it down.

[BruceEel]

Grim and plausible.

[barry-cotter]

> Are there circumstances under which nation states could/should be seen as 'communities', I wonder.

No. Imagined communities are fake communities with none of the feedback mechanisms that make real communities resilient to elements that have extremely different priorities to the median member. See how the Swedish Social Democrats imported over 1% of the Swedish population in one year from Syria.

[BruceEel]

Interesting take. And yeah, indeed, Sweden. It breaks my heart.

[carlosjobim]

Yes, when the nation is ethnically homogenous you can have that. But it's not a guarantee.

"I against my brother. I and my brother against my cousin. I, my brother, and my cousin against the world" -Arab Proverb

[barry-cotter]

It’s a Bedouin proverb, not an Arab one, and it’s me, not I.

[BruceEel]

well put.

[tycho-newman]

I did nazi this coming …