<Delete if you don't find this spine-tingly, effervescently thrilling>
From Jason W Solinsky:
. . .You can form a fairly potent government using economic coercion. . . . . . the power of a cybergovernment to banish citizens gives it the abilility to enforce its regulations. ......................................................... (assuming I have nowhere to go besides the astral plane) I wasn't going to add to this discussion anymore, but I couldn't believe it. I didn't use to think that it was so difficult to distinguish between "real" government and any other kind of controlling influence. Reflecting upon the difference between kinds of control and the difference it makes, I made a list of important elements which help me identify what kind of a yoke is over my neck: . governance by force = control . the direction of the intended influence: a withholding of services & benefits, or an imposition over the individual . the duration of that controlling influence: related to a specific event, or maintained ever-presently as a matter of course . the scope of the influence: specific to a particular function, or encompassing a geographic area; limited to family, friends, or inclusive of all mankind, or perhaps encompassing every living thing on the planet as well all the mineral rights and all the forests and the seas . the kind of control being exerted: dependent upon an individual's self-committment, or having overriding precedence . expected complicity from the recipients: their apparent willingness to knowingly subject themselves to another's ministrations, or their protests against obligatory participation . recognition of Authority: passive recipience, or active participation; acknowledging the other party's sovereignty; or not considering themselves subjects of it . how those in control "achieve" or ascend to their position of authority over all others within that system, and . how the relationship to that authority is managed: by the individual's own attraction/desires for the possession or reception of things which s/he does not have; by threats against the capacity for self-determination & self-command . what it is that "they" are aiming for: what do they want from those upon whom they exert influence or control: - their business - attention - their material property - their soul - support for their delusions of grandeur Otherwise, I can usually tell because they give themselves names like "United", "National", "World", or because all of the individuals within that jurisdiction presumably belong to it and assume the identity of the organized entity; they are known outside of it by its name (Americans, Greeks). Blanc