[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.