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Wanderer IIIcThe World of WandererEarthCountries do not have that much importance anymore, people can roam around pretty freely, and the meaning of nationality is small. The world is governed by a sinlge government, that wields about as much real power as the UN. Power lays pretty much in the hands of those who have enough money to put through their demands and make their dreams reality. The big corporations have their private armies, and they own cities around the globe. With their tax funds they then boost the poor wealth of governments, thereby ruling everything by the power of wealth. Those places that don't have a big corp governing them tend to be fairly violent. The inequalities among people are huge, on no-man's land many gangers have to live on practically nothing, while the employees of corps live in their own cities, in the corp's hotels, and live the life of kings - they're practically owned by their corp, however. The corporation pays for foos and cars, for marriage fairs and funerals. After the critical shortage on oil, moving around has become really expensive. Cars have principally become homes for the poor. Train is the only possibility available for a working-class member. Cars run on electricity or alcohol, the corps may have even hovercars. At times you may see a gang chieftain riding his internal combustion engine motorbike thru town, but only the really rich can afford this. Ballistic airplanes have made intercontinental travel really fast, but they cost money that many don't have. To escape Earth into space is even more expensive. Huge ships roam the seas, but even the tourist class is usually only used by people who can charge their traveling expenses. AmericaUSA sold Alaska to the Russians in 2032, after the oil ran out. Canada split in two 2005, in the West big corporations rule while East was populated by rich French, escaping the Moslims. They were able to create one of the cleanest states on Earth. It is a major producer of fish products. USA lives by the rules of media. The only really good business is holovision. There are more channels than an average citizen can count. Many of the citizens are illiterate, so they mostly know only about the recent most renowed public enemies. Power is wielded by enormous gangs or someplace by big international corporations. Middle and South-America is mostly war-barred wasteland ruled over by corporations. EuropeEurope has been filled by Moslims, even if there are resistance groups formed by die-hard Chatolics. In addition to Moslims Europe is habited by rats, seagulls, and other animals that thrive in an urban environment while wasting it. Women are not working, but confined to their citchens. Men go out to pubs in the evenings to drink sythetic substances and to throw darts. The area of Greater Finland is speckled by headquarters of large corporations, but there is very little production there. High-tech, natural products, and in-the-wild tourism is still being boosted, even though Finland is the worlds number one. Central Europe has joined together as Holy Roman Empire, under the rule of Catholic priests. The area is pretty badly polluted. Southern Europe has formed the United Europe's Islamic Brotherhood, where labor is very cheap, and laws very strict. The freetown of Amsterdam is one of the most important mercantile cities of Earth. AustraliaThere isn't much information on Australia after the revolution of 2015, when Aboriginals severed all connections to the rest of the world. Satelite pictures show no signs of life or habitation in Australia (no lights, exhausts, etc.). The fear of weird deseases has forced the countries of the world to leave Australia to its own devices. Pacific IslandsHoliday resorts for corporates, where some filthy rich even live. Unpolluted nature and expensive hotels. People's Republic ChinaChina's really in the swing. Their territory has spread and their power increased. China is the dominating power on Earth, however corruption has destroyed many of it's possibilities for development. China could well be compared to USSR of the Cold-war era - many similarities exist. AsiaAsia has become very capitalized. On the other hand China's influence is great. OrbitIn 2007 the building of a space station was begun with the support of ESA, NASA, and several corporations, mainly for the interest of laboratories. In the year 2011 the first orbital station Omega-1 was lifted to orbit, and it was suitable for living in in 2017. The corps have sent up either very talented or inconvenient white-collar personnel. Miners and other low-class workers have been gathered by forced relocations or mass firings or from the prisons of Earth or the Moon. Orbit does not have it´s own government, but belongs to the sphere of influence of both Earth and Moon. In practice the asteroids are governed by the corporations that own them. In orbit the value of a human being is directly in proportion to his usefulness in the working force. Therefore there are half-criminal gangs, made up from the poorest of poor, that live in the abandoned mine-shafts. Living space is at premium. MoonThe Moon is an autonomic part governed by Earth and decisions concerning the Moon are made by the Government of the Moon. Many things can be decided without consulting the World Government on Earth, but every new government has to be approved by it. Every four years the Moon's government is elected in open elections by a parliamentarian procedure. Politics are very popular and all inhabitants of the Moon are expected to be aware of the newest developments in politics. The competition is tough and though they hardly ever are discussed; bribes, deceit and political murders are more of a rule than an exception. Only when the whole government is changed, the Earth has to be contacted. This saves some time, as the senators seldom keep their positions for very long. During the last years the World Government has become reluctant to accept the new governments of the Moon and the acceptance has become less asked for. This is why one has been careful not to change/liquidate all of the government at one time. At the moment there are seven parties:
The Nationalists and the Liberals are clearly the largest parties at the moment, with the Conservatives and the Communists trailing behind. There are no real "gangs" on the Moon, but the youth clubs of the political parties replace them. The political stand of the children is formed at an early stage, as they are very early taken into these youth activity groups. The Moon has now for some time tried to become independent, but so far this trend hasn't been supported on Earth. The struggle for power is intense, and though war has yet not been declared, active and especially passive resistance is very common. People on the Moon invest a lot of time and money in education as everyone wishes to achieve fame and become successful. The coming of age has been set at 25 as the average length of life on the Moon is 120 years. This way most of the children should have completed their education under the guardiance of their parents. The competition is hard and especially intelligent children are moved to special schools, that produce new geniuses for all fields. About two million people live on the Moon, and out of these 200.000 live in the capital, Luna City. Other large cities are Mare Nostrum City, Mare Eguilirium City and Tychopoint, all on different sides of the Moon. The semiglobes around the cities keep the atmosphere stable and the air pressure normal. Their is no countryside on the Moon and most of the area is waste, because the earth is not fertile and the necessary cultivation takes place is huge greenhouses. Outside the cities the atmosphere is non-existent and the temperature varies greatly. On the side facing the Sun the temperature rises close to 100°C and on the opposite side it can be around -160°C. There is almost no physical contact between the cities, because travelling by mooncoaches is extremely expensive. The weather in the cities is controlled by the Weather Institution. If someone happens to wish for sunshine on his/her birthday and has some extra funds, it's quite possible to make a "birthday wish"… The Government of the Moon and MoonPol both have their headquarters in Luna City. MoonPol is an old-fashioned police force, it guards the laws of the Moon to the point and is not open for bribing. The methods for encouraging obedience to law might be a little rough, but generally MoonPol is considered a just institution. There are many companies, that have their headquarters on the Moon, the biggest of which is Biotech, that specialises in genetics. The company tries to develop fertility towards the standards of Earth by artificial insemination (conception). It also experiments in creating a normal atmosphere on the Moon. Biotech owes about a third of all the land-area. Ingram Inc. is the second largest company and it trades is spaceships, guns and all kinds of industrial electronics. A somewhat smaller firm than Ingram Inc. is Zorgon Pettersson Group, the main business affairs of which are spaceships, cargo- and passenger traffic and mining. Ingram Inc. and ZPG both own a couple percent of the Moon. Nutrilabs is also rather a large company and it mainly concentrates on making food and developing alternative and artificial nutrition. It tries to speed up the growing process of vegetables, so that productivity would increase. The cream of the crop, i.e. the important people, live in Luna City and their social live is especially lively. Many of the traditions and rules of etiquette long ago forgotten on Earth have been treasured on the Moon. The high society still follow these rules, as to give a picture of sophisticated and well-behaving people. Following the etiquette and the law is a matter of honour and disgrace is very serious. Culture and glorious events are popular and people compete in arranging stunning gala-dinners etc. Drugs in general are despised, although alcohol is frequently used at these occasions, within reason of course. Drugs, with the exception of alcohol, are prohibited and death penalty is authorised for possessing/using certain drugs. Socialising usually consists of discussing liberation from Earth, all the bad things Earth has done lately and the new political turns on the Moon. Physical contact is however not a custom, as it would result to an enormous spreading of bacteria. Sex, for instance, is in all forms totally OUT and those who practise it anyhow, are despised for it. In reality, sex is much more common than one would think, but no sane person would publicly admit to practising it or even liking it. Satisfaction is received though stimulators or different kinds and conception is arranged artificially. People date and get married as they have always done, but only heterosexual relationships are approved on. Homosexuals, when caught, are considered ill and are usually treated in institutions. What do people on the Moon do in their spare time? The difficulty in travelling has made netsurfing an every-day way of communicating. Through their computer people in their isolation on the Moon keep up with the important happenings in the galaxy. Virtual golf in holostudios has become a very popular hobby, as there is no space for real golf. Chess and other games give brainstimulation when needed. Every day hygiene on the Moon is greatly affected by the small sources of water. This product is reserved exclusively for drinking and dry-cleaning for humans has been developed. The households are usually cleaned by vacuum-cleaning, sometimes dry-cleaning. Normal dust, as we know it, doesn't exist on the Moon, but the gravest danger is in the moondust, that originates from sand. This microscopical dust can penetrate to places you never knew existed. All machines should be cleaned min. once a month, to assure that they function. The moondust affects many things, for instance fashion and choice of clothing. Tight latex-clothes on the Moon will surely relieve you of your skin and will make you SUFFER. Loose-fitting clothes of exclusive materials and discrete colors are always appropriate. Lately all kinds of designed hats have been in fashion, but people have had some problems in combining them with discrete clothes… Elegance is always a guideline especially in conservative circles. Traditional money has become history. One of the reasons was the way it spread bacteria. One has totally moved over to plastic cards, the Visage-card for instance is your ID, your money, your insurance certificate, it does your accounttransfers and so on. When travelling on the orbital, one is of course obliged to using "normal money". Other PlanetsThe first inhabited orbiters in the solar system were sent in the 2020´s.
All in all from both Earth and the Moon more than a dozen space-stations
have been sent to orbit several planets of our solar system, either for
research labs or to help build them. Major proportions of them are still on
their way.
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