Centrum Light, Homeline Dark.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by PTTG

I occasionally find myself wondering how the IU setting would look if Centrum was the player's sponsor, perhaps even ethically reformed. It's also not unusual for posters to be of the opinion that ISWAT or Homeline as a whole is ruthless -- by necessity, you understand.

If one were to make a Good Centrum, Evil Homeline campaign, what changes would you make? My own suggestions:

Centrum becomes less arrogant. There is a general understanding that good as their system may be, it's not perfect.
Centrum gains some level of freedom of expression. People are not replaceable, and the long emergency is over. In general, expand the civil rights of Centrumites... although this doesn't need to imply democracy.
One or two crosstime colonies have been integrated, demonstrating that the society can and will allow others to achieve their level of comfort and success.

Homeline is more exploitative. They mine worlds with dirty tech, exploit natives, and steal advanced stuff where they can.
It's more decadent and more divided, with an impossibly wealthy upper class and a poor that can only hope to become a cross-time soldier or technician if they want to get access to the "infinite wealth."
Homeline becomes expansionist. Maybe the demand for bread and circuses for the poor and extravagant aircraft-carrier-sized yachts for the megawealthy class is driving Homeline farther out.

And, depending on one's interpretation, maybe Centrum has a single, closely-regulated intelligence agency that has a universal code of sentient's rights, mandating that whatever they do, they will not harm third-party civilians in pursuit of political goals. Homeline, in contrast, has an anarchic intelligence apparatus that doesn't have any notable compunctions at all.

Hmmmmm...

Define Centrum as holding "peace, order, and good government" as important. Define the terms the way you consider positive.

Then define Homeline as holding of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - for Homeliners only" above everything else.

This ends up with Centrum being positive-stereotype Canadians and Homeline being negative-stereotype Ugly Americans - both of which one can find dozens of examples for in 20th-century literature. (Just don't look at works that accurately describe either country.)

Riff from there...