Every sovereign title can be traced back to a conquest, wherein the leader of the conquerors divided the land amongst his subordinates, in accord with the contribution each made to the conquest and will make in preserving its fruits. Insisting on the legitimacy derived from conquest (and then inheritance) is far more peaceful than insisting upon other forms of legitimacy, like popular will. Popular will, consent, and so on, change all the time and can’t be measured in any reliable way; who controls a territory is always clear enough—it’s always easy to design tests to check for sure. Troublemakers can always agitate to produce some new simulacrum of the popular will, but if only conquest legitimates rule you’d better make sure you’ve got substantial numbers and resources ready to go, if you’d like to make a bid.
Global Dominion
Global Dominion
Global Dominion
Every sovereign title can be traced back to a conquest, wherein the leader of the conquerors divided the land amongst his subordinates, in accord with the contribution each made to the conquest and will make in preserving its fruits. Insisting on the legitimacy derived from conquest (and then inheritance) is far more peaceful than insisting upon other forms of legitimacy, like popular will. Popular will, consent, and so on, change all the time and can’t be measured in any reliable way; who controls a territory is always clear enough—it’s always easy to design tests to check for sure. Troublemakers can always agitate to produce some new simulacrum of the popular will, but if only conquest legitimates rule you’d better make sure you’ve got substantial numbers and resources ready to go, if you’d like to make a bid.