[TML] [Merchant Shipping] Some ideas I came up with tomake merchant shipping more interesing

[Joseph Paul]

Jerry wrote:
" And if ports are going to insist that ships, with professional engineers,
must shut down their plants in port, what city is going to allow every yahoo
individual to run a plant in their home?  :)"

The polity decides that sort of thing. There are also liability concerns as
well as a 'tween-a-rock-and-a-hard-place scenario.

I believe Leonard pointed out that where population density favors it,
central power will dominate. Once things spread out local generation is
better. The liability if something should go wrong, both personal and
property, should go down where there are fewer assets to be destroyed. A
starport has a lot of liability even if nothing gets blown up. An accident
may very well cause a severe crimp in the flow of commerce in a ground port.
In a high port an accident can increase the chance of damage and fatalities
just becuase space is so inhospitable.

Cities have faced analogous problems in the past. Fire was much desired by
people and yet the yahoos amongst the population were careless with it and
neighborhoods, if not whole cities burned. The answer for along time was the
'curfew', a watch that made sure that fires were extinguished or contained
and covered for the night.

Joseph Paul