Index History Sol System Archipelago Technology Notes

Nations and Autonomous

Despite the existence of extensive disgoverned regions, there are still nations and autonomous regions scattered across Cis-Luna. Although public opinion is generally opposed to governments nobody would think of stopping somebody from freely giving up 'rights' to such a body.

A nation is essentially a contiguous area of land that is owned by a single organization, although it may be held by citizens of that nation. Services, laws, security, cultural identity are all provided by the state, or organisations acting with its authorisation. Within the borders of the nation there are strict controls on the activities of external organisations.

States with modern economies are denied the use of elaborate taxation systems to shape their societies, but not the age-old implements of power: ideology, propaganda, representative 'democracy', patriotism and fear.

Most of the several dozen existing nations are relatively small and many are dominated by socially radical, ethnic or religious groups. For example, there are several Amerindian nations and both the Vatican and Mecca are independent states.

The old-fashioned nature of the nation state has led to them being considered as somewhat quaint. Many make a substantial income from tourists, who visit for the novelty of paying token taxes and engaging in other generally archaic behaviour.

Autonomous Regions

The Autonomous Regions are similar in many ways to nations, but are regions dominated by corporate bodies. The corporation owns all the land and most of the public buildings within the Region but, unlike a nation, does not claim to own its citizens. One lives in an AR, but belongs to a nation. Despite this philosophical difference, life in an AR is very much like life in a nation. All the infrastructure needed for modern life is provided by the corporation, giving great power over the citizens; however, there is a large overlap between the best interests of the company and its citizens.

Most of the ARs date back to the late 21st century. The term was originally applied to both corporate-administered nations and the larger Eurasian Protectorates. The largest and oldest AR is the Indonesian Autonomous Region, an area dominated by Soyuz-Mikoyan.

The future of Ad Astra

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