Perhaps any collusion or nobility at all constitutes the act of collusion or the state of nobility, but the idea that the actons of the principles in Tom's anecdote illustrates either on a grand scale is laughable. Three guys who know each other can choose to grease the wheel of civiliation or put a monkey wrench in it, but either way it's not much more than a matter of what this post was about--civility and manners. I would think nobility would demand more than the occasional act of deference to another's interests. As for collusion, it's also a matter of scale. Presumably no one lost a business, a home, or their life savings as a result.
jack
