Selection from "A Refutation of Felix Costel's Manifesto", 2518

The following is an excerpt from Michael Clarkson's seminal essay, "A Refutation of Felix Costel's Manifesto", published on September 23rd 2518, in the Monash Financial Review.
... Costel's selection of evidence to formulate his arguments, eloquently written in prose to assume the literary high ground in this battle of political wit, is quite ignorant of successes of the UEG and her military organisations in crushing rebel sentiment. The Hydra System is an excellent observation, as the trauma from the System massacres of the mid-25th Century were bound to repeat themselves as the Insurrection began in earnest. Yet, not two weeks into the aggressive politicking from both Samarkand and Bomogin, a CMA task force successfully arrived to dispel any rebellious intent, and displace the planetary governments with more peaceful and domestically-minded administrations.
Let us not forget of our own planet's attempted coup d'état. In Monash itself, the Eureka Rebellion was met with widespread resistance from the ordinary civilian population, with no mind paid to the rebels' goal of independence. To that end, what is the purpose of Costel's proposed withdrawal from the Outer Colonies? Are all those planets that wish to remain within the UEG to just cast off the mutually-beneficial partnership that has benefitted them for quite some time to do so, and be left isolated in a now-lawless sector of space? Vulnerable to pirates, mercenary groups and those very groups that once fought against the UEG on their planets, begin to realise their struggle was not for freedom, but rather their own ability to subjugate others without the interference of a mediating power?
Planets have already left the UEG, and are seeking their own ways to survive on their own. The "United Rebel Front", an organisation rife with infighting and ideological bipolarism, cannot hope to remain intact once the UNSC and CMA turn their full attention to combating this disparate coalition. And those members have tried to combat the UEG, to showcase their martial superiority, on worlds such as Eridanus II, Mamore, Reach and others. And they have fallen flat time and time again, with photos of Gao's 'elite' battle-jumpers being marched off into captivity, or the horrid video-footage of Theban mercenaries blowing up a city block in Elysium City that contained not only themselves but civilians, in order to avoid giving the UNSC Marines any advantage the building would have provided.
No matter how much Costel may claim that the Insurrectionists have the UEG on the backfoot, it is simply not the case. For every frigate the rebels can garner, the UNSC can provide a battlegroup. For every mercenary the URF's blood money can buy, a company of UNSC Marines awaits their arrival with anticipated excitement. Costel exhibits Alpha Corvi II as an example of the UEG's limits, that they cannot possibly reach them and liberate the planet from the clutches of the Secessionist Union: I propose that the planet, home to a measly five million citizens, is simply not worth the time to prosecute a campaign at the current point in time, when other targets such as Gao and Olduvai present themselves as larger threats to continued human unity.
How so, then, as we have now dispelled the myths of UEG military incompetence, can Costel claim the solution is independence for the Outer Colonies?
New South Wales is a bastion of the UNSC in the Outer Colonies, and there are dozens more like it. From Chi Rho, Gateway, Darwin, Camperdown II and Nuevo Cartagena, all the citizens of these unified worlds are staunch supporters of the UEG and her continued dominance in the Orion Arm. For if the UNSC withdraws, how long will it be until those rebels, the very same ones that fought for their complete autonomy (completely ignorant of the already loose-restrictions and vast amounts of self-governance already given to them), come crawling back to the UEG and back for intervention? 
What will the cause be?
Economic collapse, for they cannot support their citizens with the revenue they generate? The UEG subsidises many of the services utilised throughout the Outer Colonies that many rebels begrudgingly admit is a social success, such as the Children's Literacy Campaign and the Organisation for Educational Development in Sport. Without the governmental additions, how long will it be until the people rebel against the Insurrectionist autocracies, or they fall under their own volition?
Outside threats they cannot hope to defend from? What if a neighbouring planet, bent on regional subjugation, arrives in-system and begins a war of conquest? The UNSC provides security, as does the CMA, to dozens of frontier worlds from pirates, mercenaries, and indeed, Insurrectionist warbands. Forgive the hypothetical, but if humanity were to meet an alien hegemony vastly larger than ours (unlikely considering the extent of our expansion into the Orion Arm), who will protect these colonies from conquest and destruction? I doubt it will be the tens of frigates these independent worlds will be able to gather to their name.
Or will it be social upheaval, as the citizens of these planets realise the folly of leaving such an expansive, protective and competent organisation? The UEG has proven itself time and time again to be beneficial to the growth and development of humanity and her expansion throughout the stars, as the UNSC increasingly provides defence against outside threats for the benefit of the eight hundred planets that make up the UEG polity. The CMA, although now a corrupt organisation rife with rebel infiltration, used to do the same, and still attempts to continue to do so, as they continue to root out traitors and infiltrators. 
As it stands, no Insurrectionist independent system-state can hope to stand strong independently, and continue its existence without the protective banner of the UNSC, the exponentially beneficial subsidies of the UEG, and the sacrifice of thousands of brave young men and women every day to keep humanity strong, united and safe. ...