Some good points so far...
Again, assuming you disregard the racial and cultural bigotry, I think in a world where most people cant find enough food to eat. Where marauders roam the country side killing other people to take their stuff or even just for fun. Where the civilian population masses in packs of a few thousand and the "government" is lucky to field a few hundred in some places.
How is a government supposed to handle that? Even if CIVGOV/MILGOV didnt have their heads straight up their own butts most of the time, how could they possibly control that sort of population now? How do they feed them, protect them, support them?
Lets take an area like Pittsburgh from "Allegheny Uprising", with a reported population of roaming refugees numbering something like 3 million, assuming you buy that number which I have a problem with honestly. How would ANY military unit move in, setup camp, start food production or housing and such? We all know the 'mob' would over run the camp as soon as the first shipment of food arrived and that would be that.
At some point in a soceity like T2k, you have to ask yourself where does self preservation come into play.Most towns/city populations arent going to care how hungry the roaming refugees are. Most arent going to care that you have travelled from NYC all the way to Pittsburgh on foot. Unless you have something they need, as skill more so as anything material will just be taken after they beat you to death.
When do you put personal freedoms and rights aside for the betterment of the people as a whole?
NA puts garrisons in every town they take over, they remove local discontents to prevent them from causing trouble and then they let them go about their every day lives, taking a tithe of food and production for support. Would a MILGOV cantonment be that much different?
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