On 7/28/2015 2:52 AM, Greg Chalik wrote:
> It seems to me that financial dealings are not gender-specific in Aslan society.
> These need to be seen in the historical context of the culture. Fighting was
> done by males, and if Aslans follow feline species populations, females will
> significantly outnumber males also.
>
> It would be males that take decisions on procurement of all things military, and
> this requires not a small measure of being able to evaluate investment vs
> capability formula.
>
> That is, this is not a black & white issue.
>
> I would also suggest that what counts for land for Aslans in terms of value is
> utility for meat animal herding in the first place. Hotels can be built
> anywhere. Aslan population pressures is what drove their expansion. An Aslan
> female can potentially birth 12 kittens per year, and an Aslan male is likely to
> maintain two-four breeding age females while capable of reproduction. That is a
> lot of mouths to feed, who it seems are not as omnivorous as Humanity.
>

	I'm going to suggest an alternative. There are several species of animals were
the reproductive cycle in females requires the presence (or absence) of correct
environmental conditions.

	In the Aslan all females produce a low level of pheromone. Beyond some level
indicates the presence of too many competing females and the reproductive system
hibernates for a while. Meaning most of the females in a pride do not breed.
During the evolution of the Aslan it served to restrict population growth and
encourages them to spread.

	During an industrial revolution stage you end up with an interesting split.
Lord Farway-With-Land and his herders can produce children. But
Lord-City-Manager and his pride do not. So Lord Farway-With-Land is continually
sending his "extra" population into Lord-City-Manager's city.

	In the modern era, it's possible to produce fake the isolation level required
with either sealed environments, or hormone treatments (or both). But the Aslan
desire for land is driven by the need for enough space to allow the breeding
cycle to restart. The fact the land can also be used to graze food stock is a
bonus.

	The tradition of the Ihatei derives from Lord Farway-With-Land sending the
extra population into a city to make a living (and an impression on his lord).
And continues to this day because of simple biology. This isn't a stable
situation, and the Aslan history has at least three known world wars, one of
them nuclear before they achieved space flight.

	In thinking about it, it isn't the female reproduction that is affected, but
the male side. Lord-Wants-Children in order to be fertile, must live isolated
enough for his biology to think he's alone, but in the presence of enough
females to ensure he's active. It may not be enough to just summer in the
Hamptons to make this happen, but a year or more of being away from the court
and the city.

	This biological imperative for land (or at least space) would produce some
interesting incentives for expansion.

--
         Thomas Jones-Low
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