The Hope Contract
Once upon a time, the world ended. Or at least the world on Earth. Actually . . . the world could have moved on and thrived. Once upon a time, humankind thought the world was ending, so they sent one hundred ships to one hundred worlds, each with one hundred thousand people on it.
Every person on every ship was required to sign The Hope Contract.
Now what that contract contained was long and involved. As many are apt to do. Councils with worldwide representation created the one hundred page contract. Each member bickering over every subsection.
It took longer to create that contract than it did to build the generation ships. The trip was almost delayed because one country's representative (we won't rat them out here) refused to sign it. But for all those words with all those pages and all those sub sections, The Hope Contract boiled down to two simple statements:
1. Our planet is our home. Treat it with respect and remember that no technological advancement will supersede the protection of our home.
2. Humanity is our family. Treat them with love and remember that no conflict excuses widespread destruction or subjection of our family.
Over 800 years have passed since humankind landed on Phasmatum. Stories of their distant home world, Earth, felt to most as myths. But the document was never lost or forgotten. Students in human schools would repeat those two statements every moment. It wasn't uncommon to find that statements framed in every home. And every leader who wished to be recognized by Phasmatum Council was required to sign The Hope Contract, placing their initials on every subsection on every page of that one hundred page document.
Now how well leaders followed the requirements of The Hope Contract varied by country, city, and settlement. Sometimes convenience superseded the law. But when a country was shown to press the limits too far, many a leader found themselves deposed at best; the worst outright disappeared.
The Hope Contract
by Cassandra Ernst
Type
Contract, Civil
Medium
Paper
Authoring Date
2250 AD
Ratification Date
2250 AD
Location
Signatories (Organizations)
Comments