I saw some superficial anti-globalisation ad recently which whined that globalisation was bad because it’ll mean that we all end up liking (a.k.a. "buying) the same movies, soft drinks, burgers, etc. which got me thinking … is there any sci-fi vision of our space-travelling future where the people of Earth are not united and/or ruled by the same government? A necessary precondition for space travel seems to be the elimination of all conflict, and the establishment of a monoculture on Earth.