The Macabees wrote:I think it's (2). Edit: I'm also assuming that the technology has been developed to allow for transports of comparable size to large commercial airliners. Since it's for trade, I think we can be more willing to allow dubious PMT technologies -- especially since it really presents no technological advantage, as far as anything military is concerned.
I have a population of ~23.5 billion people. The country right next to me has a similarly sized population. Economies are usually characterized by economies of scale. The larger the market -- the more people there are in the market --, the cheaper the average cost of production. So, for a country like my own, this technology will not be prohibitively expensive. Granted, the cost of a civilian aircraft is already bound to be relatively low in large nations. But, aircraft can't cover the kind of distances that characterize NS -- a huge planet.
You're right that there's nothing inherit in the technology that makes it safer. You're right, if anything it's more dangerous. What makes it safe, though, is that if he enters the association, an attack on those routes are interpreted as an attack on the entire association. So, what makes those routes safe is the implicit support of an entire association. True, right now, that association is only me. But, I'm a pretty big country.
Seems completely reasonable
my main problem is PMT and MT is that it makes it allot easier for "OMG I HAZ BIGER GUNS THATS KILL ALL UR DUDES IN 1 HIT " kind of stuff to happen
