Subject: 71:4/9109 TRAVELLER BACKGROUND 3 - FUTURES?
::>Subject: Traveller Background 3
T::>Gentlesophonts:
T::>[email removed] (Roger Sanger) asks:
T::>> Who wants a discussion area on the Regency?
T::>I do, for one - but why not just do it on TML?
T::>[email removed] (Jeff Zeitlin) writes:
T::>> the psychology that drives the Reformation
::>> Coalition, and a glimpse of the kind of interstellar state that
::>> they (and presumably the Hivers) want.
T::>What's the deal with the Hivers? Where do they fit in with the RC?
The Hivers made initial contact with what eventually became the
Dawn League and the RC. It's pretty well documented that the
Hivers have ulterior motives, primarily that of not having
xenophobic high tech autocracies in a position to hassle the Hive
Federation. Thus, the Hivers work with the RC to create stable
governments, and in the process, influence the "direction" that
the RC develops to suit their (the Hivers) needs. Remember, the
Hivers are already established as psychologists extraordinaire.
T::>> The information that we
::>> have on the Regency, though scantier, implies that the Regency
::>> will be fundamentally based on the old Third Imperium model, with
::>> some modifications.
T::>Probably. Hasn't it already been suggested that the Regency is somewhat mo
::>`democratic' (whatever that means) than the Imperium? But I would expect t
::>impression to be `altered' by a Regency sourcebook in a fashion similar to
::>way the `star viking' impressions of the RC were altered by *Path of Tears*
Yes, it's more "democratic" (which I interpret to mean simply that
there is more open communication and opportunity for feedback on
issues that are politically sensitive and not time-critical, such
as border control and expansion), but it's also smaller than the
3I was. If/As it expands, there will be _either_ less of this
"democracy" _or_ a general trend toward decentralization (more
powerful archdukes and/or sector dukes, or generally a philosophy
of the higher you are in the hierarchy, the more you are concerned
with overall policy direction rather than policy itself or
operations). In either case, you will tend to have a situation
that follows old, comfortable patterns, which in the case of the
Regency means the old 3I model. But that doesn't stop you from
modifying it to meet the needs of the governed...
T::>> This will lead to a situation much like we see on
::>> Terra today
T::>I'm not so sure. Remember that high technology is basically a
::>Western cultural tradition - other areas of Earth have
::>different traditions that have not led to the development of
::>high technology. Now, admittedly, some of this is due to the
::>advantage in ability to access and exploit resources that early
::>industrialization has given the West but nevertheless the West
::>enjoys certain cultural traditions that facilitate high
::>technology. Look at the efforts to develop legal structures in
::>the former Soviet states that reduce the risks to investment
::>necessary for high-tech endeavors.
But that's exactly why I use present day Terra as a comparison
point. The 3I was in no way homogeneous - either technologically
or culturally. And at low tech levels, the differences will be
magnified, simply because technology is something of a
bootstrapping process - each little bit you get is a foundation
for a somewhat larger bit. That's why pundits always characterize
technological growth as an exponential curve. Certainly, it is
expected to level off at some point, but we don't know where
that point will be. But the Collapse threw the 3I worlds back to
pretty low tech levels, and some of them will have been fortunate
enough to (a) have a cache of low-tech reference materials (a.k.a.
paper books), (b) be in an area that is relatively free of vampire
ships (as opposed to the Promise Main in Diaspora), and (c) have
avoided developing rabid xenophobia and/or technophobia. These
worlds will form the nuclei of pocket empires or Reformation
Coalitia. But you'll still have the dominant high-tech nucleus
with other worlds acting strictly as feeders for one or another
necessary foundation material.
T::>(I'm not trying to suggest that Western culture is somehow
::>`better' than other cultures, merely that is is better suited
::>to the practice of technology - that `technology' is part of
::>the Western cultural tradition. Whether that is a `good thing'
::>or not remains to be seen.)
And it is quite clear, and natural, that the GDW-designed
interstellar states should share that bias - all of the GDW
designers are, after all, North American Terrans from the
twentieth century, with all of the cultural baggage that comes
with that.
T::>Such will not be the case in the worlds that are `integrated'
::>into the RC. All former Imperial worlds, to a certain extent,
::>will enjoy a `technological' cultural tradition. They will not
::>face many of the obstacles to technological development faced
::>by non-Western cultures on Earth.
Except that there is a lot of xenophobia that has developed, and
the technological tradition and cultural background wasn't all
that firmly entrenched on all of the worlds. Remember, the static
Vilani culture was in control of most of Imperial space for a lot
of years; that's one culture that does not encourage innovation.
The Solomani made an impact on that culture far out or proportion
to its numbers, due to the encouragement of technological
development. But the Solomani veneer can be expected to be quite
thin, as it was really only around for a couple of thousand years
(part of which was the Long Night - which saw many of the same
problems that the Wilds see now.)
T::>> we're looking at the ghettoization of space, with all of
::>> its attendant problems (again, look at present-day Terra for
::>> examples of what can happen).
T::>Not necessarily. Had TNE occurred several hundred years after
::>the Rebellion maybe the technological traditions of the
::>Imperium would have been lost but in just seventy years, or
::>even 150 if it takes the RC that long to expand a great deal,
::>those traditions will still exist. Look at the Renaissance of
::>Western Culture after the Dark Ages - much of what had been
::>done in the Classical Era was quickly reincorporated into the
::>culture.
But classical cultures were the foundation for the Dark Ages
culture in the first place, and was more homogeneous than the 3I
was. This is the point that you're overlooking. While there were
definitely failures of policy, it's pretty clear that
_culturally_, the policy of the 3I was to step back and let them
go their own way. They simply must follow a minimum set of rules
(i.e., no nukes, no slaves, and no violating extrality...), but
within those very broad constraints, freedom. How else could
you have had TL4 charismatic dictatorships in the same Imperium as
TL 10 religious oligarchies and TL15 participating democracies? -
and think just how different the cultures that support these
different governments must be.
T::>> However, the Regency will have access to the Jumpstart
::>> caches
T::>Jumpstart caches?
Mentioned in Arrival Vengeance. Caches of resources that the
Emperor (or an archduke, perhaps; never really established) could
release to start massive public works projects in an economically
troubled area. When Strephon essentially abdicated in Norris's
favor, he handed over the information and "passwords" as well.
Also mentioned was Longbow, which was hinted at as being possibly
a communications project of some sort, and one that may very well
be involved with psionics. One of Strephon's comments to Norris
in connection with this was to watch the Zhodani, as they may
know. Or some such comment as that; I'd have to look it up, and
AV isn't handy at the moment.
T::>> we're going to see the (N+1)th Interstellar Wars/Pacification
::>> Wars/Wars of Integration/Coalition Wars/Regency Wars/Guild Wars.
T::>Of course we are. :-)
Yeah... that _was_ kind of stating the obvious, wasn't it... :)
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin [email removed]
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