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Stephenson:Neal:The Diamond Age:377:balkanized...(Alan Sinder)

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Some wags — even still — expect mature Nation-states to be balkanized.

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Reformed Distributed Republic

The Reformed Distributed Republic is a fictional phyle (or faction) appears in Neal Stephenson's novel Diamond Age. It operates on the simplest possible principle: members must do as the faction leadership says, not knowing how it affects other members' lives, and regardless of the degree of risk involved, in occasional drills. The First Distributed Republic first appeared in the Simoleon e-cash short story. In the Diamond Age — it seems less fun.

A typical drill was: one member is instructed to enter a room, fill a revolver with bullets, and leave the room for an exact ten minute period. He is to return, without checking the gun, and put it to his head and fire. Another member, unbeknownst to the first, is instructed to enter the room in that ten minute period, remove one bullet from the firing chamber, and leave quickly before the period is up. Failure by either of them presumably leads to the death or exclusion of both.

Presumably, what one gains from RDR membership is the protection of other members in a crisis, when non-drill actions are required. But this is not discussed in the novel.

The RDR was a reformed version of the First Distributed Republic which apparently didn't have any way to check if people would really come to each other's aid.

Balkanization (From page 377)

*“… "Have you heard of these people? The Reformed Distributed Republic," Hackworth said to Fiona, still keeping his voice low.

"I am only familiar with the First."

"The First Distributed Republic doesn't hang together very well- in a way, it was never designed to. It was started by a bunch of people who were very nearly anarchists. As you've probably learned in school, it's become awfully factionalized."

"I have some friends in the F.D.R.," Fiona said.

"Your neighbors?"

"Yes."

"Software khans," Hackworth said. "The F.D.R. works for them, because they have something in common-old software money. They're almost like Victorians- a lot of them cross over and take the Oath as they get older. But for the broad middle class, the F.D.R. offers no central religion or ethnic identity."

"So it becomes balkanized."

"Precisely. These people," Hackworth said, pointing to the man and the woman at the base of the cliff, "are R.D.R., Reformed Distributed Republic. Very similar to F.D.R., with one key difference."

"The ritual we just witnessed?"

"Ritual is a good description," Hackworth said. "Earlier today, that man and that woman were both visited by messengers who gave them a place and time-nothing else. In this case, the woman's job was to jump off that cliff at the given time. The man's job was to tie the end of the rope before she jumped. A very simple job-"

"But if he had failed to do it, she'd be dead," Fiona said. …”*