Social Stuctures in The Black Desert IV

          I've mentioned several times in these pages that Mars is where the majority of the AI that deserted Terra's various militaries ended up.  I have also mentioned that the Martian government is called The Consensus.  In this article, we will be going into the Consensus in more depth and seeing how humans and AI are trying to build the perfect world.

          As Robert Zubrin mentioned in his Mars Direct plan several times, a colonized Mars offers people (of all sorts) an opportunity to make their own rules and carve their own path through life on a virgin planet.  The Consensus is a system of government that takes advantage of this freedom; the freedom of both the Martian setting and the freedom from preconceived traditions that AI are able to bring to the table.  Because of these unique circumstances, The Consensus is the most radically tolerant and least political (in Terran terms) of any government ever before attempted.

        And that's pretty much all I know about it.

        In truth, I've not given much thought to the details of the Consensus and its practical functioning.  The main idea is implied in the name; the entire government of Mars is run by consensus.  This means that no laws are passed unless every independently intelligent being on Mars agrees to it.  There are no politicians or legislators as any citizen may propose policies or laws, and these proposals do not pass until they meet the approval of all citizens.

         Needless to say, there are not a lot of laws on Mars.  Those few that do exist are incredibly long and full of exceptions, addenda, clauses and other complex knots of verbiage.  AI can, thanks to their perfect memories, keep track of all of these laws and their labyrinthine wording with little trouble.  Humans, however, are hopelessly lost and use special advocate programs in their Augmented Reality systems that advise them when a course of action is illegal.  The program cannot snitch on anyone that breaks the law, as that is an infringement of their libertes (there are a lot of former Americans  on Mars; you can tell, can't you?)

         Make no mistake, RocketFans: I don't want to live on Mars under this system (I would be chillin' on a Vardo, myself).   What are your impressions?  Is this the benign utopia of total concord that the Martians say it is, or is Big Brother watching you?  Remember, the libertarian school of thought will probably never make it off of Earth, so the people will not be influenced by that way of thinking.  I look forward to your thoughts.

         Tomorrow I should have a sneak peak of this months offering, the Phoenix, ready to show off.  See you then!

Social Stuctures in The Black Desert III

         Apologies for not posting before now...I have spent this week either in the doctor's office, on the road to the doctor's, or just plain sick and wishing that the fantastic meds in my setting were available now.  I just want a new pancreas, is that too much to ask?

           Anyway, as I mentioned in the last post on this subject, there are other unconventional models for society available besides tribalism.  While the general assumption among SF authors is that in order to keep a habitat or spacecraft running in space one must adopt the military model of organization, I am forced to wonder if another naval model would also work. 

            I am referring, of course, to the piracy model.

            Not the crime of piracy itself, to be sure; I agree with Rick Robinson that the lack of stealth in space will make barratry much more lucrative and that all hijackings will be brazen and in the open.  What I want to look at today is piracy as a system of organization, as codified in the many Articles of Piracy used in the golden age of high-seas mayhem in the Caribbean.

             While I am well known for my pro-Air Force stance on space military debate, it is a fact that spacecraft are similar to navel vessels in that both are not only weapons platforms, but homes for their crews.   Given the necessity of having every major system on a spacecraft in working order (or you all die), it would seem that a suitably disciplined system of organization would have to be adopted.  That being said, a look at some actual Articles of Piracy and historical context yield some rather surprising information.

              First of all, the famous Captains of the golden age of piracy were only in command of their ships during raids; the rest of the time, the ship's chief navigator was boss.  Also, the crews of pirate ships voted on who was to be Captain in between raids.  Pirates also created the first - as far as I know - retirement system for wounded seamen.  The details of Articles of Piracy varied from ship to ship; a couple of extant copies of the Articles can be found here.  Since for our purposes these Articles are only useful if they can be used in space, let's see if they can be adapted for use on a spacecraft, and go from there.

Ship's Articles (stolen adapted from Bartholomew Robert's Articles of Piracy): 

I.  Everyone gets a vote on current events, and an equal share of any fresh provisions until such provisions run out.


 II.  Anyone who tries to take more than their fair share of profits and provisions will be expelled from the ship's company as soon as possible.


III. No person to gamble for money or resources among the ship's company.  Fleece the passengers all you want.

IV. All of the ship's company will keep their personal gear, weapons and equipment in working order.


V. Relationships among the ship's company are not permitted.
 
VI. Desertion or dereliction of duty during combat or other disaster will be punished by expulsion.  If the desertion results in the death of another of the ship's company, the offender will be executed.

VII. Interpersonal conflicts will not be tolerated; two who are quarreling will submit their grievances to the Captain, or other superior.  If a resolution cannot be reached, both will be expelled from the ship's company.

VIII. Contracts will be made among the ship's company for a specified period (usually two years).  Any member of the ship's company who choses to break their contract will forfeit all back pay and be expelled.  Any who must retire early due to illness or injury may leave the ship's company with back pay and a special bonus based on donation from the rest of the company.

IX. The two Flight Commanders receive two shares each out of all resources above what is needed to maintain the ship.  The Flight Engineers receive one and a half shares and all other crew receive one share apiece.  These shares are over and above the 75 LSU/day minimum expenditure.

           Keep in mind that the above is an extremely rough draft; any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

 

Social Stuctures in The Black Desert II

         Yesterday, we discussed why the traditional social models seen in science fiction - Libertarian, Corporate, and Military - are ill-suited to the development of permanent space colonies.  I hope I didn't crush your dreams too terribly much, RocketFans, with that bit of cold water.  If it makes you feel better, I didn't much like the news when I first heard it either.  But let's remember our Hard SF motto: when confronted with an ugly fact, change your plot to account for it not the other way around.

         Fortunately, I had the idea for New Romani already.  My intention with the NuRom was to make a space-faring culture in a different model from what was normally seen, which is good, since the normal social structures don't seem to cut it.  The NuRom in The Black Desert are a loose collection of IPV "Vardos" That are made up of those craft's original crews and their descendants and any new people accepted into the clan.  These Vardos are loosely affiliated with Asteroid Colonies that were abandoned or damaged in the War and have now been made into homes for NuRom families and a place to maintain their ships.  The NuRom rarely if ever trade, but the Vardos gain resources for the colonies by transporting cargo and people around the Black Desert at lower costs than most corporate or military IPVs can match.  All that's just fluff, however.  The point of the NuRom in this post is to offer us a different social model, one that combines the traits of a vibrant, sustainable culture with the amount of hierarchical authority necessary to keep a group of individuals organized and focused on the task of keeping the society as a whole alive.

          In a word, Tribalism.

         A tribe is a rather ambiguous organism; the definition has changed over the years as the cultural biases of 19th century colonialism are slowly phased out.  For our purposes it is important to note that tribal societies are no longer considered to be less evolved socially than state-based societies, anymore than a Panda is less highly evolved than a human.  For purposes of their environment, Pandas are actually more highly evolved than we are, because they are perfectly adapted to their ecosystems, where as we must constantly modify ours.  The fact that Pandas will go extinct because they cannot adapt to human activities fast enough is immaterial.

         Trust me, I'm a Biologist.

         Objectively, a tribe can be characterized as emphasizing strong social ties, being ethnically homogeneous, parochial, and stable.  Stability and strong social ties are the key factors that would make a tribal society in space logical.  The integration of individual ideals and goals with what will benefit the whole tribe is  needed to indoctrinate and raise children in an environment where one's life so obviously depends on others.  The stability issue is also paramount, as the resources in space are limited.  Capitalism, as practiced today in the US, will never be viable in space, so it is pointless as a Hard SF author to consider it.  Think about it - 1% of the American population "earns" 95% of the Gross Domestic Product annually.  There is now way that a space colony can support 99% of the population with only 5% of its resources.  So forget free enterprise; egalitarian economics will be the only way to survive.

         As for ethnic homogeneity,  this would with the NuRom be more along the lines of the "us vs. them" mentality - you either are NuRom or you aren't, and if you're not, they don't care who you are.  There will be rivalries between different Vardos, to be sure, but in a pinch, any NuRom will support another against an "outsider" without hesitation.  Parochialism, a narrow and provincial mindset, will also be likely among the Gypsies of space as a consequence of this homogeneity.  Ecological devastation on Terra, Dysonite scheming on Venus, Martian high-handedness - it's all their problems.  As long is someone wants passage and has something useful to trade for it, the NuRom don't care. 

         Due to the nature of space, there will have to be a form of hierarchy at the head of a space-tribe.  The NuRom in their Vardos will be organized in much the same as the IPVs always have; there is, after all, really only one way to run a rocket.  Being a tribal society, however, means that those in command, the Boros(as), are elected for their talents and experience, not appointed by command back on Terra.  The Boro may be still be a jerk, but he or she will be their jerk, not HQ's.

         This model offers a reasonable explanation for whole families living in space as well.  The officers of the IPVs that chose to desert after the nuclear strikes on Terra would make every attempt to get their surviving families out as well.  With so many dependents, the IPVs would simply have to secure an abandoned asteroid colony or two in order to house them and see to their safety.  The Romani parallels may have started as an affection, but would, over the decades evolve into a distinct culture with a romantic reputation.  This reputation would, of course, come from the literati of the Expatriate movement, who would use the Vardos as cheap travel to Mars.  The governments of Terra would not really be able to to stop the Vardos and their crews of deserters; they have their hands full with the collapse of the home world's ecosystem and the Vardos are essentially the only thing keeping trade in essential raw materials open in the interim.  The Treaty of Mars, of course, recognizes the NuRom's independence and grants amnesty for their crimes of mutiny and desertion.

And yes, this leaves Mars with the bulk of military IPVs in the solar system, with the nations of Terra holding on to maybe two or three apiece. This military disparity is what keeps both Terra and the Dysonites from trying to acquire Mars.  Mars, for her part, has enough AI integrated into society that any aggressive military action against any of the system's other powers is considered both impractical and unnecessary.  That's the beauty of AI - ego, paranoia and greed are not motivations for policy.
         
          This tribal model isn't the only viable one, of course, but it is viable.  Next week, we'll discuss other social models, or the economics of a NuRom Vardo, which ever strikes my fancy.  Tomorrow there will be no post; it's my wife's and my eleventh wedding anniversary, and I've got other things to do...

            BTW, for those of you keeping track, this is our 99th blog post.  I plan on spending the weekend cooking up something special for the 100th.

Social Stuctures in The Black Desert

         In the comments for our post on the crew requirements of the Missile Craft, I mentioned a group called the NuRom; the New Romani.  The NuRom are an example of a different kind of social stucture that could develop in space, one that takes into account the environment and the absolute necessity of cooperation between people in order to stay alive.

          The NuRom are one of the older ideas in development of The Black Desert.  They came originally from a desire to explore different societies that could grow out a human presence in space.  In a lot of early science fiction, especially the works of Robert A. Heinlein, you see a definate libertarian influence; the idea that the wide open spaces of the American frontier will be replaced with wide open space.  These older stories use space as a backdrop for the triumphs and sorrows of the pioneer, a place where rugged individualism has the freedom to grow.

          The problem with this is that it's wrong, by at least ten thousand to one.

          Space, as we've seen repeatedly in the last 60 years, is the last place for "rugged individuals".  The "rugged" is certainly a positive quality, but the "individual" is completely out.  Crews in space are picked for their ability to cooperate, work together as a team, and resist the urge to beat senseless their crew mates whose personal quirks have gone from cute to annoying to grounds for justifiable homicide.  The crotchety old codgers you see in Heinlein's fictions, who will lase trespassers and  simply want to be left alone, will not make it into space; and those that do will not survive in that most hostile of environments.  For more depressing information on why libertarianism is maladapted for space travel, you can visit Rick Robinson's Rocketpunk Manifesto here, here, and here.

         With the pioneer pretty much discredited in the circles of Hard SF (and my own circular logic - why send a man to do a robot's job?), we are left with the corporate and military models.  These two social structures seem on the surface to be adequate for space travel; they are cooperative (in the sense that workers and soldiers follow orders), stable, and rely offer a certain level of motivation to the populace, whether it be the illusory job security of a business or the inherent discipline of the military. 

          I have a couple of problems with both of these models.  The main problem with the business model, from a practical viewpoint, is that it simply isn't cost effective to develop space, and it may very well never be.  For companies to make the multi-trillion dollar investment in space infrastructure, there would have to be something out there that is valuable enough to make the capital costs worth it to conservative thinkers.  And company towns will not evolve into true civilizations in vacuum either, as most corporate employees will be on contract; they'll work a specified period, then go back home to spend their paychecks in places were there is actually something to buy.  Even the McGuffin of Helium-3 will not make permanent space colonies viable, anymore than oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico lead to permanent underwater habitats.

          Now, I have introduced space colonization that is not motivated by economics, with the Destiny Foundation and their Conestoga colonies, but the original colonists of these outposts mostly lost their shirts when the asteroid economic bubble burst.  Most of these original colonies were either destroyed in the Great War, abandoned when they could no longer support themselves, or converted into military bases.

          Speaking of the Great War, the military social structure suffers from some problems as well.  The Great War itself, from a military standpoint, was stupid.  Much, much more money was spent trying to defend or take over Asteroid Cyclers than they were worth.  But this happens in War; the Pacific is full of worthless, god-forsaken islands that were bitterly contested because of their strategic value as forward bases.  In The Black Desert, the asteroid's potential as shipyards that would swing back to Terra's orbit in a couple of years with a brand new fleet made their capture and destruction a priority.

           Now, unlike corporate outposts,  military bases do have a history of spawning towns in their wake.  In space, however, this will not be case.  Military bases in places like the American frontier meant security for areas of prime agricultural land and trade routes, which is why settlers developed towns in their shadows.  We didn't see a bunch of pioneers flock to the Solomons, or even to the Philippines and Okinawa, after WWII, so we shouldn't expect the Asteroids to suddenly gain a big influx of fresh colonists after the Great War. 

          Another reason that the military model will not support civilian colonies is just that - support.   In this case, life support.  Militaries in The Black Desert use robots extensively.  As I mentioned in the post on Crew Requirements, you can get away with a crew of 80 or so for an IPV that has landing craft and a detachment of Espatiers.  In modern Navies, it would take over 800 people to fulfill the same mission, which is a 90% reduction in crew.  Add to this that these IPVs are themselves space stations, albeit mobile ones, and the justification for colonial supports is further reduced.  A small crew supervising a hoard of robots that mine raw materials and then fabricate war matériel is the logical choice for an asteroid base controlled by the military.

           It would seem that I've logic-ed myself into a corner.  I've managed to explain how it doesn't make sense to have asteroid colonies, yet the whole setting of The Black Desert is built on the idea that there are indeed permanent colonies in asteroids that cycle between Mars and Terra.  But why are they there?  How do they live?  And most important:  How do they govern themselves?

           I hate to be a tease, but we'll discuss the alternatives tomorrow ;)