[Space/Spaceships] TL9 nomad fleet - playable?

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Because I like thread drifts?

I have nothing against drifts (in fact I like some of them), but this one doesn't seem to be a very promising one. Now, choosing a society type for the fleet drifting into a generic discussion of society types (if lucky) or into a generic political flamewar (if unlucky) - that would be more promising. Of course, now that I mentioned it, it is no longer fair game. :)

[teviet]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I have nothing against drifts (in fact I like some of them), but this one doesn't seem to be a very promising one. Now, choosing a society type for the fleet drifting into a generic discussion of society types (if lucky) or into a generic political flamewar (if unlucky) - that would be more promising. Of course, now that I mentioned it, it is no longer fair game. :)

Cathedrals are a good example: you had a long-lived institution that had the motive and ability to push its agenda. As people's lifespans increase they might take such a long view themselves, or you might have a soft dictatorship of AIs looking out for everyone's long-term interests.

TeV

[sir_pudding]

I really have trouble seeing, "Lets color these plants in such a way that these snowballs tend to move toward each other, so that we'll have something to live on in a few hundred years" as especially radical long term thinking.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Are you certain about that? What about components of solar wind radiation?

He3, frex, is vanishingly rare on earth. It's not exactly common anywhere else, but it does occur with greater frequency elsewhere.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

He3, frex, is vanishingly rare on earth.

That is precisely what I was thinking of when I wrote that.

[cccwebs]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I have nothing against drifts (in fact I like some of them), but this one doesn't seem to be a very promising one. Now, choosing a society type for the fleet drifting into a generic discussion of society types (if lucky) or into a generic political flamewar (if unlucky) - that would be more promising. Of course, now that I mentioned it, it is no longer fair game. :)

Actually a space-nomad society would probably be very draconian. Resource controls alone would dictate much of everyday life, including population control (the one child policy of a certain Earth government comes to mind), education (a caste society with rigid training in expected job roles would probably be the result), even death (think "Logan's Run"). At the very least, I wouldn't expect any form of Democracy to survive for long in such a setting. Of course, once you remove the concept of limited resources (like Star Trek), then societal controls would be able to ease up considerably.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by cccwebs

Of course, once you remove the concept of limited resources (like Star Trek), then societal controls would be able to ease up considerably.

The Culture doesn't generally live on planets, FREX.

[teviet]

Access to resources does not equate to living on planets. Even if there are some resources that can only (or more readily) be found on the surface of a planet (probably an inhospitable one at that), that means you set up a mining outpost; it doesn't mean you live there.

TeV

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by cccwebs

Actually a space-nomad society would probably be very draconian. Resource controls alone would dictate much of everyday life, including population control (the one child policy of a certain Earth government comes to mind), education (a caste society with rigid training in expected job roles would probably be the result), even death (think "Logan's Run"). At the very least, I wouldn't expect any form of Democracy to survive for long in such a setting. Of course, once you remove the concept of limited resources (like Star Trek), then societal controls would be able to ease up considerably.

I could imagine democracy operating, but it would be a very different sort than what Western liberal democracies are used to using. One might end up with a sort of elective dictatorship, but other possibilities exist.

One SFnal source that has some relevance to this thread is James Blish's famous Cities In Flight series. In it, Blish hints at the sort of political and economic system that operates on the flying cities (literal flying cities, New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo, etc, travelling from star to star). The hints are sometimes contradictory, but interesting.

It's implied that the 'Okie' nomad cities are socialist in their internal operation, or corporatist, depending on how you look at it. They don't really have free market economies as such, though there are hints that some such things go on as a side matter. Each citizen has a job, like the crew of a ship, food and other personal needs are provided by the City and hoarding is punishable.

The story focuses on New York City. When the City is flush, after doing a job for a planetary state, or fresh from some other source of money and resources, life is pretty good aboard. Things can get tighter as the supplies get thinner.

NYC elects its captain/mayor, but there are heavy restrictions on who can be chosen.

[Dangerious P. Cats]

The thing that bothers me about a lot of Sci Fi with poeple being in space for long periods is that atmosphear is happily vented here and there. If you think about atmosphear is a valueble resource to a space based society and losing it would be very troublesome if it's not easy to replace.