Nationality and the Solarian League

isaac_newton wrote:I'd also point out that many do seem to self identify as SL - for example in the most recent books, esp in the trade/wormhole related incidents - the functionary's & traders all seem to see themselves that way when push comes to shove.

Of course all these are space going people out on the frontiers, but still it's there as at least a background position.

True, but in each of those incidents the Solly(ies) in the incident was interacting with either a RMMS captain or the RMN directly.

Vince wrote:

isaac_newton wrote:I'd also point out that many do seem to self identify as SL - for example in the most recent books, esp in the trade/wormhole related incidents - the functionary's & traders all seem to see themselves that way when push comes to shove.

Of course all these are space going people out on the frontiers, but still it's there as at least a background position.

True, but in each of those incidents the Solly(ies) in the incident was interacting with either a RMMS captain or the RMN directly.

Context matters.

To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.

— (E.B. White?)

isaac_newton wrote:I'd also point out that many do seem to self identify as SL - for example in the most recent books, esp in the trade/wormhole related incidents - the functionary's & traders all seem to see themselves that way when push comes to shove.

Of course all these are space going people out on the frontiers, but still it's there as at least a background position.

It's worth noting too that in those encounters, the substance of the Solarian League - interstellar trade regulation - is exactly what these people are depending on for their livelihoods and is exactly at issue. (In this case, the way it fails when Manticore seizes control of termini and removes the bulk of shipping in the League from the League.)

Their probably stronger planetary identities aren't called upon in these circumstances; their probably mild Solarian identities are the only ones in play.

In other words, they're all Solarians when they want to use the might of the League to put some passing neobarb in his place.

Dafmeister wrote:In other words, they're all Solarians when they want to use the might of the League to put some passing neobarb in his place.

By the by, where did "neobarb[arian]" as a generic slur come from anyway? All the worlds were colonized by people capable of interstellar travel, and generally have populations of a billion plus. After colonization, a lot of worlds fell on hard times of one sort or another, but is that universally true? And mostly that was hundreds of years ago!

(Out of universe, I figured that Weber got it from Piper's Space Viking.)

Bill Woods wrote:

Dafmeister wrote:In other words, they're all Solarians when they want to use the might of the League to put some passing neobarb in his place.

By the by, where did "neobarb[arian]" as a generic slur come from anyway? All the worlds were colonized by people capable of interstellar travel, and generally have populations of a billion plus. After colonization, a lot of worlds fell on hard times of one sort or another, but is that universally true? And mostly that was hundreds of years ago!

It was mostly hundreds of years ago, and not universal. But slurs last as long as they convey the insult you care to express. Historical accuracy isn't a priority.

Here's a thought, what if someone in the SLN's BuPer's from Beowulf has been playing with personal rosters and transferring personal in quietly from only one system or nearby systems like Beowulf or Kinichi and Cyclops and those ships just disappear and reappear heading for Beowulf or Smoking Frog.