299. Planetary Convention

Immortality and compound interest are a powerful combination. Wealth and power begets wealth and power, and immortality allowed a select few to take advantage of this process as never before. This was the birth of the hyperelite, those whose wealth represented a significant fraction of the global economy, and seemed to own a part of every business and political body.

The Fall shattered this system just as it did to everything else, yet the hyperelite were not destroyed. Many of the hyperelite were already on Luna or Mars, where they could live as they liked, removed from Earth's laws, traditions, and taxes. Those on Earth were able to evacuate as they pleased, buying spaceports and farcasting facilities if necessary. The only hyperelite who died on Earth were those who were simply too stubborn to consider leaving.

Earth and all its institutions were dead. The hyperelite lost less than most, but their position was threatened. They had, however, funded or owned much of the colonization projects of Luna and Mars, giving them easy access to power in those places. In the traumatized post-Fall atmosphere gaining influence was not difficult, although many hyperelite still shied away from positions of formal power. As the situation stabilized, a number of conversations occurred that would lead to the creation of the Convention.

The Convention is not a government, but a treaty, establishing an economic zone of free trade, expansive property rights, and strict intellectual property laws, as well as a system of courts to adjudicate on matters falling under the treaty. The Convention courts have the authority to overrule local governments that contradict the treaty, although that has never actually happened.

Hyperelite control over Convention members is strong, but obscured. Power is exercised mostly through ownership of great conglomerate companies, who in total own or have some part in every substantial piece of economic activity. Make no mistake, however, although political power is secondary but it is still substantial.

Notes: The Planetary Convention is an alternative to the Planetary Consortium, replacing the hypercorps with ancient hyperelite gerentocrats.

202. Kessler Syndrome

Kessler syndrome was a specter for the space industries throughout the pre-Fall era. The amount of debris in orbit increased in step with the human presence in space, with orbital waste management taking larger and larger priority. Graveyard orbits became saturated, laser-brooms de-orbited loose, small objects, and specialized waste management vessels handled larger objects, but Earth's orbits were only barely being kept under the potential tipping points of a runaway cascade.

This careful management was thrown into chaos during the Fall, as inter-orbital war, first between the great powers, and then between transhumanity and the TITANs engulfed the skies. Broken and exploded ships, stations and space elevator pieces, and left behind orbital denial weapons systems and satellites surround Earth. Earth orbit is a storm of colliding debris (each collision spreading yet more debris), ranging from fragments massing less than a gram to derelict ships, most in orbits fast enough that even small specks can cause damage.

No agent, TITAN or transhuman, has established a deliberate deliberate blockade of Earth, but it remains thoroughly out of reach; the odds of landing on Earth are essentially zero, and even if you land, making it back to space is just as dangerous. Fear of TITAN attack and exsurgent infection remains high, and most habitats have rules forbidding the entrance of anyone or anything that has come directly from Earth.

Notes

Kessler syndrome can replace the deliberate interdiction through killsats in the setting.

120. Jovian Union

In the fields of medicine and biology, the following must be respected in particular:
- the prohibition of eugenic practices, in particular those aiming at the selection of persons,
- the prohibition on making the human body and its parts as such a source of financial gain,
- the prohibition of the reproductive cloning of human beings.

CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

As soon it became clear that the old governments of Earth were falling, Earth began to be abandoned, powerful leaders of Earth nations evacuating to Jovian facilities. It was the remnants of the European Union who dominated, and when it became clear that Earth would not recover ,and that an authority was needed to restore order among the refugees, they recreated the EU among the habitats in Jovian orbit.

The Jovian Union is technically a federal government. Each habitat has its own local governing body, most of which are small republics or democracies. Each local government can send representatives to the assembly, which, in theory, forms the primary governing body of the JU. In practice, however, most power is exercised by a series of emergency committees, composed of original founders, and a court system of judges appointed by those committees.

Culturally, the JU is highly traditional. Handmade artistry is highly prized, as are traditional forms of art: ballet troupes and orchestras are commonly patronized by the wealthy. In habitats with enough wealth and space, designer farms and forests are popular, mimicking European pastoral landscapes.

All media from outside the JU is sanitized to prevent memetic attack. Media from outside is not particularly popular in any case, as most citizens are of the opinion that the trans-, post-, and ex-human societies of the rest of the system will collapse or be destroyed by new TITANs. JU elites like to view their polity as a time capsule, preserving human civilization until conditions have improved.

JU economic policies are focused on stability, equality, and heading off possible red queen scenarios that would lead to runaway technological development and the side-lining of the merely human. The Jovian Union bases its technology policies on the precautionary principle with a cultural attitudes favoring appropriate technology. Augmentations are typically heavily restricted, requiring a demonstration of an accepted need and an expensive permit. Revenues from such permits, as well as additional taxes on certain augmentations and high-tech industries fund JU welfare projects.

The JU's official position of uplifts is that it is unethical to create them, but takes pride in treating those that already exist humanely. Uplifts are not treated any differently than humans: they are expected to socialize with humans (mixing too much with their own kind is discouraged and seen as suspicious), and have the same rights as humans (issues pertaining only to uplifts invariably go unaddressed). Suicide rates among uplifts are high.

Popular opinion is that infomorphs and cyberbrains cannot have a soul, and that a "real" human mind must in some way be in a human brain and body. AGIs, pod morphs, synthmorphs and infomorphs are not accepted as immigrants. Of those that remained in the Jovian system after the formation of the JU, useful AIs were edited down to sub-sentience, and those humans that would resleeve were exiled. The Jovian Union does not accept infugees.

Although citizens of most habitats are economically and politically equal with each other, inequality between habitats can be high. Rejecting nanotechnology ties them to a traditional industrial base. Popular sentiment among industrial habs is that the boutique open-source and traditional artistry movements of the wealthy habs are subsidized by the pollution of the poor habs.

Notes

The Jovian Union is an alternative to the Jovian Republic; based upon a continuation of the European Union and still strongly bioconservative, but less overtly oppressive.

Inspired by Alkahest's idea in this post.