Work in progress, SINS revision.
So I have been going through and revising the SINS timeline, hopeful i will be able to post weekly installments on the culture, history, and economic systems of the SINS universe, as a note I should say that SINS universe is viewed through the lens of the GSA. My first installment will be of the GSA and its government, economic and social systems.
The Cultural and Economic Impacts of the Government systems of the Galactic Systems Alliance
Government:
Do to the nature of this document I find it best to give you a summary of the government system of the Galactic System Alliance. (Henceforth GSA)
The government system of the GSA is a radical change from what the conventional concept of government. In the GSA the government is a legal extension of the corporate hierarchy among the worlds of the GSA. This means that the corporations have direct and undisputed control over the government. Furthermore this means that the government is merely a puppet organization to the corporate and economic worlds serving as merely a middle man for public works projects and other endeavors that thought to be necessary but are not profitable ventures.
In essence the government is one of a rare few corporations in the GSA that are actually nonprofit. The Government handles things such as trade treaties, interplanetary trade, public works projects, and law enforcement. Though because of their control over the government the corporations themselves have the power to enforce laws with the same power as the government and the corporations can overrule government laws and regulation with proper investor support.
All these factors combine to form a defacto system of checks and balances with the corporate hierarchy acting as surrogate legislature for the puppet government. Because of this unofficial system the government is hesitant to do anything without the permission of the Board. The Board is the governing body formed from the representatives of the top thousand corporations, holding firms, and coalitions. In order to be represented on this board the corporations, holding firms or coalitions must have profit margins that put them within the top one thousand earners for the fiscal year. As a result smaller corporations, firms, and LLC’s will create holding firms or coalitions to pool their resources to allow them to have a larger foot print in the economic sector to allow them to have a voice on the board.
Because of this the vast majority of the seats on the board are heavily contested. Only about fifty or so seats on the board are considered solid seats all held by individual corporations compared to the other seats that are up for grabs every year.
Economic impact:
The economic impact of the government is a bit varied and will be split into two parts: Corporate and labor.
Corporate:
On the Corporate side of the equation the government’s impacts are harder to find, because of its limited role in economic regulation. The amount of regulation that company abides by is up to itself. The reason for this is because while they have control over there the government and by extensions the laws that are made they still need labor in some form, not only this but customers as well. This means that corporations are responsible not only for their own protection and well being but also the protection and well being of there customers. This has caused for the market in labor to become highly competitive. This competitive atmosphere between the corporations and their need for labor has driven up wages because of their need to attract labor. Thanks to the regulation against any form of monopolies over many of the products that sold across the GSA it gives their workers a wide variety of choices when looking for possible careers.
This need, fueled by the fact that every corporation needs to have its labor has caused not only the demands for proper education to go up but also the quality and the speed at which it is done. This has caused the corporate sector to fund the educational system beyond what is normally seen through the limited government interaction that found throughout the GSA. This has two repercussions, first it pushes people to look for work and careers that they want to pursue at a young age. Secondly it allows for corporations to secure their labor resources that they need for the future with the proper investment in people’s future.
Because of the scholarships are that given out to the younger generations are not actual scholarships but loans and contracts. When a corporation gives a scholarship they are issuing a contract to a young and future laborer of the company. Those that accept these contracts are legally obligated to work for these corporations for predetermined amounts of time. Failure to meet the terms of the agree result in legal actions and the scholarship status is changed to a loan that must be repaid with interest. Legal actions can involve jail time, and seizure of assets.
Labor:
On the other side of the equation we have the labor variable. In the GSA manual labor has been for the most part abolished in the corporation and manufacturing world due to automation and other cost reduction measures. Because of this manual labor occupations are far harder to come by, only area’s left for manual workers are mining and construction industries which also have heavy mechanization and automation further reducing the need for unskilled labor. Even then it can be argued that the level of automation and machinery use requires a degree of skill as well. Because of this it will be assumed for the sake of this document that all labor is skilled labor.
Because of the overwhelming demand for skilled labor among the corporations, knowledge, creativity, leadership among other things is a premium among the labor markets. Laborers need to have a solid educational foundation under them if they wish to get hired in any industry of importantance or that has a promise of a steady income.
Education is not free though. Anything above the secondary school level requires some form of investment to attend. Because of this it allows the corporations some control over the labor markets and allows them to secure future laborers. This has caused a massive amount of cash to follow into the labor market in the form of educational contracts, otherwise known as scholarships. (For more information please refer to the corporate section of this document)
All these forces combined to have forced the formation of the labor guilds.
The labor guilds are large organizations every area of the labor market, they have large influences over the market as well. It is through the guild that educational contracts are arranged, and that labor is sorted and organized. The guilds themselves have as much say over the government as the corporations themselves but their views are expressed through the corporations that there labor feeds. For example the Engineering Labor guild secures educational contracts for prospective engineers, the guild not only to push them along their educational path but also allows them to find work at the same time.
The corporations are not completely fond of the labor guilds but find them a necessary evil among their society. No one is obligated to be part of a guild but it is seen as a large boon as the guild can push for better wages and protect older workers whom cost more due to higher degrees of skill.
Culture:
I feel the most interesting impact that one can see from this form of government is its impact on the people in their daily lives.
Throughout the GSA corporate jargon and other aspects of the corporate world have been incorporated into everyday life for people. Words like contract, deal, integration, profit, investment Is a part of everyday speech. Not only that, when compared to say something like an earth norm the people of the GSA not only take education much more seriously but also investing, profit, and other factors. One of the driving reasons behind this is because outside of guild there is little to almost no support for the unemployed. People are expected to actively trade on the stock and securities markets as an additional source of income aside from your occupation. A healthy balance is considered in the area of fifty to sixty percent of a person income is expected to come from their investments. This stigma of necessary investments is promoted by the corporations as they need the investments.
In the end what it boils down to is that, credit, debt, profit, and investments are things rule their lives. It’s one of the reason the escapist entertainment industry is one of the most profitable in the GSA. All of which will be explored later in this document.
Tentative to do list:
Overview/introduction:
History of the GSA:
Development of currency system:
In depth look at GSA economic and labor systems:
Review the impacts of education, labor, and misc pressures has on the cultural of the GSA:
Technology of the GSA:
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Thread: Work in progress, SINS revision.
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