Economy

Economics are slightly whacked compared to modern times, just as current economics would seem insane compared to medieval times. On one scale, it is an economy of plenty - most basic needs can be fulfilled a thousandfold, even for a very loose definition of needs. On the other hand, certain substances - food being the most common - are in very high demand outside of Earth, though even this 'scarcity' is more inconvenience than actual problem.

Any device which can be synthesized with two-dimensional layers, or have parts entirely composed of such, can be replicated, and some three-dimensional objects can as well. Only a few rare elements and isotopes hold significant value, with deuterium, due to the energy economy, being worth one credit per gram by definition, or about 3.5 sols.

Organics are still in high demand, because they are difficult to grow en masse off of Earth, though the terraforming of Mars has closed down the Terran monopoly on food. Even Ouranos Prime possesses its own gardens, forests, and lakes with sea life, however - the outer stations are not without their own food supply.

The overall wealth of the Solar Consortium is staggering by modern standards, so, when looking at numbers, it is important to think of what our society would look like to someone from two centuries ago, or, more appropriately, four centuries ago, just after the invention of the printing press.

Most work in the Solar System is done by non-sentient drones, or biological equivelants in some cases. Humans and Artificial sapiences are usually used to manage these drones, rather than perform menial work themselves, except as a hobby. People are generally quite independant, and corporations are largely relics of an ancient past, long since replaced by the more informal and flexible gerens.

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For all this industrial might, there is a very real problem with using it. In theory, any single human could make their weight among the stars, start producing like mad, come back and overwhelm the rest of the species. Obviously, for several reasons, this situation is not desirable.

In response to this potential threat, and to head-off another situation like Ouranos Prime and the Contact War, the new Solar Consortium Council passed the Anti-Homogenization Act, to actively promote the diversification of the human species and to consider the development of a hegemonizing protocol to be an act of war.