Although the dates I use for the stories are listed as the mid 1700's, they're actually about 500-600 years AHEAD of our time period. The science on their world is far more advanced than ours. As such, it's possible to repair many of the damages caused by accidents (though certainly not all of them).
The society structure is set up in such a way that each and every person is expected to contribute to the benefit of everyone. Schooling starts at the age of 4, high school finishes up by 16, 4 years of college are guaranteed by the state (if the student decides to continue his/her education), although a 2-year pause is permitted between high school and college. If a person is not enrolled in college after high school, they'd better be working.
The more money a person makes, the more they are responsible for. As an example, Valencia owns and operates the Skunkworks studio, and also owns 2 other pieces of property. She would be considered "wealthy", but she's far, far behind what someone like Crystal Vaughn earns. And yet, after all the texes and dues are paid, they aren't set up like the rich in our world are. In their world, if you make boffo bucks, you can bet your ass it had better be invested in things that will benefit society, whether that be science, education, preservation or city programs.
In their world, each person is expected to carry their own weight yet also be able to offer assistance to others if needed (put the needs of the many before the one). Obviously, it doesn't always work out like that, but that was how their society was set up. And, just like ours, it has its share of problems, slackers and combatants.
I think the harshest thing about their nature (which is actually very similar to the nature observed here) is that offspring who have a likelihood of being born in a manner that would require life-long medical care just to survive, or those with severe physical deformities (missing limbs, or sprouting 2 heads or something), are nearly always killed before birth. Survival of the fittest and all that; it's how it works in the animal kingdom here, and it's really no different there.
Their world was never meant to appear as some sort of rainbow-sprouting, butterfly-flapping-in-the-breeze kinda world. It was meant to be futuristic and advanced, but still holding very close to the more bestial natures of the inhabitants.
--JMH
Received on Tue Apr 08 2014 - 20:26:50 CDT