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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3201 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 15, 2023

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Extremely ignorant of both countries but;

Why doesn't India or Brazil just Balkanize?

Brazil:

  • Heavily stratified across the North and South. In just about all aspects. Let that be race, wealth, or crime. Is there some kind of system where the south is exploiting the north?

India:

  • Massive language, racial and religious divide. Not sure about wealth.

What's the virtue in balkanization, and how do you balance that against becoming a smaller power compared to your neighboring countries?

Question is whether economies of scale beat out diseconomies of scale.

Some systems (eg EU, US) try to solve this but there is a natural tendency for central governments to accrue more power even if it isn’t clear whether that’s a good thing or a natural outcome of federations.

Local elites can become ruling elites in their own state, thus gaining more power and possibilities to earn money.

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