Background: The Commonwealth
by Pappy October 30th, 2007, Posted in: Writing
As human expansion reached deep into the galaxy, an eventual republic of sorts was formed. The Commonwealth has a Judicial Council with 21 members, whose job it is to review and interpret laws. The Assembly, containing a 3-person delegation from each member planet, enacts laws. A 3-person panel called simply The Voice acts as the executive decision making body, although in all but the most extreme circumstances their power is limited.
In the early days of the Commonwealth, almost all colonization was done by Corporations and was driven by the natural resources available on a newly discovered world. The end result was that companies would rush into a new region of space, grab up the planets with the most resources to squander, and then they’d begin the mass production-style process of stripping those resources for use by the industries of the Commonwealth.
Eventually, the Commonwealth became a circle of inner planets surrounded by dead or dying ones. Growth seemed to stop. So the Assembly enacted the Pioneer Act, a set of sweeping laws which barred corporations from engaging in planetary exploration at all and instead offered incentives to small groups and individual explorers, settlers, and colonists to continue the work of growing the commonwealth. When a new planet was discovered, these pioneers could apply to the Colonial Commission for protective status, giving them the first 100 years to establish settlements, create smaller-scaled industries, and grow the population without outside interference. After 100 years, if the colonial planet had a high enough population it would enter the Commonwealth with full member benefits and corporations were then allowed to begin expanding there as well, but within the boundaries of local law and with careful oversight by the Colonial Commission. Planets that weren’t suitable for or couldn’t support a healthy population were deemed “resource mines” and could be essentially stripped by the corporate machinery.
This process worked for a time, but over many centuries the protectiveness of the Pioneer Act was watered down by numerous changes, deletions, and additions. At the time the story takes place, corporations such as the Sadat Corporation make it a practice to immediately swoop in after the 100-year colonial status expires, strong-arm the local governments into submission, and in some cases actually turn the local populations into slaves. The Commonwealth has grown so large and covers such vast regions of space that often nobody notices or much seems to care about the plight of these far distant planets.
Many pioneers no longer apply to the Colonial Commission for protective status when settling a new world, choosing a shaky independence over Commonwealth membership. Quite a few worlds whose protective status have recently expired have joined forces to seek better representation in the Assembly and threatened cessation ( see Pearl ). The Assembly’s response was a strengthening of the Commonwealth Militia and a vow that no member planet would be allowed to depart. The source of the problems which have led to the threat of cessation seem to have been misunderstood or simply ignored.
