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From: jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: YASID: "Alien Ruler" possibly
Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2024 12:55:50 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: Public Access Networks Corp.
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References: <vdb8p0$1n6o1$1@dont-email.me>
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In article <vdb8p0$1n6o1$1@dont-email.me>,
Robert Carnegie  <rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:
>If I sisn't raise this already, does anyone recognise
>a short story described here?
>
><https://qr.ae/p2uyZB>
>
>This is a link to a long and, from experience,
>variably accurate memory on  "Quora".
>Basically:  An alien lands his spaceship on Earth.
>The good news: He represents the galactic empire of
>benevolent non-interferers, and Earth is within the
>empire.  The bad news: The empire has decided to swap
>the space containing Earth for some nicer space owned
>by the other galactic empire of exploiting planets
>and their inhabitants.  So the message from the
>non-interferers is hello, goodbye, and submit.
>
>The asker says "I might have read it in a
>SF anthology back in the 80’s or possibly in
>Analog or Isaac Asimov’s SF magazine back in
>the 80’s."
>
>Which Earth "political" situation is represented
>is one of the points of debate: I proposed
>Hong Kong, in 1997.  So the alien may look like this. 
><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Patten>

I think it's a Mack Reynolds. Down the River (1950), which
appeared in The Best of Mack Reynolds and Galactic Empires
Volume Two. My bet would be that they read it in the 
latter.
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