Regionalism as a world
view
Many areas have little contact with the rest of
their own nation. They do not feel any attachment to the king and see the
capital as some distant, almost mythical place. They pay taxes to their local
lord, with out much thought about what he does with it, so long as they have
enough to survive in relative comfort. They really do not care who is overlord,
until their lives are disrupted.
This tendency is not surprising, given the fact
that most commoners never travel more than a day’s journey from their home.
Even those who are educated about the world at large, often tend to think of
their own region as the only “real” place that exists. The educational effort needed to overcome
this point of view is not usually attempted, except among the elite class who
are often sent to university or to take a grand tour of the realm.
Interestingly enough port cities can develop a
sort of international tunnel vision. As they trade with other ports, the people
may become more familiar with distant docks than with the inland communities up
in the rocks. This is a result of transportation technology. Ships are better
at moving goods than wagons, especially if roads are poor.
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