ss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > The choice is between a weak state (India) and an ungovernable state.
Over the last few years the world has been wringing its hands over how horrible it is that Somalia has no central government. The New York Times regularly publishes stories about how awful the lawlessness there is. In the meanwhile, however, there are several mobile phone carriers in the country. Life expectancy has shot up. Most people have enough to eat for the first time in decades. By nearly every objective measure, the country is better off, and it is substantially better off than neighboring territories. However, it lacks the yoke of a central authority, and thus people all over wring their hands about how badly off it is. If, tomorrow morning, people gave me the choice between Texas seceding from the United States and me having a fine happy life, and keeping Texas while having bloodshed, terrorism and high taxation to pay to keep the Texans in the US, I know which way I'd prefer. -- Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED]
