On Sun, Jan 06, 2019 at 06:52:51PM +0000, Bruce  Johnson wrote:
> If you're restricted to small ships, and interstellar trade is
> essentially a rounding error as a fraction of total trade, they why
> is there a need for an Imperium?

Concentration and organization of military force.  Sharing of
technological innovations.  Top-down political will.  Inertia.

Just because the one of the public stated purposes of the Imperium is
to protect trade and rule the space between the stars doesn't mean
that's the main thing it actually does.  By the published rules, it's
actually pretty much rubbish at both of those.

> Where does the money come from to support the gargantuan naval
> fleet, (plus scout service, marines, and other ancillary branches)
> the OTU requires? And why?

CT naval fleets aren't anywhere near gargantuan.  Even the capital and
operating costs of a thousand trillion credit squadrons are
practically a rounding error in the sum of gross planetary products of
worlds in the Imperium.

> What is the point of such a huge expense? The imperium faces no
> serious threat to it's existence (the Zhoodani have never penetrated
> farther than a subsector or so, and the Solomani likewise, never a
> threat to more than a subsector.

The question isn't what the Zhodani and Solomani have done, but what
they might do if the Imperium scrapped most of its military.

- Tim