And Then There Were None

I finished re-reading Eric Frank Russell's And Then There Were None. It's an excellent read and the society Russell created here is attractive as hell but as with must Utopian visions there is a problem. In the story it only works because the Terrans have rules that control how they interact with a new world. They can't meet violence unless faced with it and they follow their rules. That's a kind idealism governments never follow. The rules are for the little people. Maybe add a bit of the libertarian's armed pacifism and you might get a different result. Then again, it would probably still be like herding cats.

You can read the novelette here.