There are few beliefs common to all humans under
Union’s purview – even among the Metropolitans of
the Galactic Core – but there are three truths that
Union’s agents and the Metropolitans share: the
Utopian Pillars. Formally re-adopted after the overthrow
of SecComm, the Pillars are fundamental, owed
to all, and guaranteed to the best of Union’s ability:
I. ALL SHALL HAVE THEIR MATERIAL NEEDS
FULFILLED.
Under Union, it is paramount that all humans be
afforded the decency of a life in which their
basic needs are met. The state must make food,
water, shelter, and just labor available to all, and
may never deny those rights. To do so is to
violate the most basic of social contracts.
II. NO WALLS SHALL STAND BETWEEN
WORLDS.
The void of
Interstellar space is deep, cold, and
utterly hostile to life. Any civilian world, station,
or moon not granted restrictions by Union edict
must allow access to any who petition, allowing
all to feel firm ground beneath their feet, breathe
clean air, and enjoy the light of a life-giving sun
(or equivalent, in the case of space
Stations or
worlds that necessitate artificial light).
III. NO HUMAN SHALL BE HELD IN BONDAGE
THROUGH FORCE, LABOR, OR DEBT.
The scarcity of natural resources is a false
premise – a myth and a tool used to enrich the
few while oppressing the many. The dignity of
human life is paramount on all worlds, whether
Core or
Diasporan. To exploit people and their
labor while denying them just compensation is
abhorrent.
Not Quite There
Still, human society exists on a spectrum of development.
Although the peoples of the Galactic Core
might hold these statements to be sacred, selfevident
truths, the task of guaranteeing them to all is
not yet a finished project. Most of the galaxy is far
from all. The
Diasporan worlds that developed in the
wake of SecComm have developed for thousands of
years with differing relations to the Utopian Pillars;
some have implemented them in ways that make the
project of integration into Union's Core a relatively
easy task. Others reject them and raise forces against
Union's representatives.
Acceptance of the Utopian Pillars does not negate the
need for violence or war – Union maintains an active
military and its planners expect to encounter a not-insignificant
degree of resistance when interacting with
post-SecComm cultures. Power never gives up
power:
ThirdComm, while it gives primacy to slow,
diplomatic solutions (that are often unsatisfying to the
petitioner), ultimately acknowledges that power, in
some cases, must be taken from the powerful and
redistributed to the people.
This dream has been fulfilled in some places, on
some worlds; everywhere else, the realization of this
project is Union’s central goal. Union is an incomplete
project and human to its core. Despite every miracle
of technology at its disposal, the fulfillment of this
dream still requires people to make the right
decisions, to be brave, to greet with compassion the
myriad peoples so hurt by
ThirdComm’s predecessors,
and to build this grand project together.
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