I agree. How come as software engineers, we like to talk about larger emergent behavior from large groups of simple pieces, but when we talk about governments and nations (large groups of complex pieces) we use analogies to simple systems? For example, the national debt does not operate like a household debt. The cacophony of systems at work in a nation makes it exponentially more nuanced. Some rules are emergent only at the larger scale. Or, international relations. Nation to nation relations don't consist of just the heads of state, but whole organizations of people interacting. Again, a large group of complex things (people) interacting probably creates some emergent behavior not visible in small groups. It's frustrating to see these systems reduced without any thought.