The moon in 2050

History as the people of Moon see it

The Moon is an autonomic part governed by Earth and decisions concerning the Moon are made by the Government of the Moon. Many things can be decided without consulting the World Government on Earth, but every new government has to be approved by it. Every four years the Moon's government is elected in open elections by a parliamentarian procedure. Politics are very popular and all inhabitants of the Moon are expected to be aware of the newest developments in politics. The competition is tough and though they hardly ever are discussed; bribes, deceit and political murders are more of a rule than an exception. Only when the whole government is changed, the Earth has to be contacted. This saves some time, as the senators seldom keep their positions for very long. During the last years the World Government has become reluctant to accept the new governments of the Moon and the acceptance has become less asked for. This is why one has been careful not to change/liquidate all of the government at one time.

At the moment there are seven parties:

• The Conservatives, are really extremely conservative and want to have the laws of the moon followed to the letter. Their hate towards Earth and earthlings is beyond sanity. Hygiene is their God (if they have one) and they'd rather not shake hands with anyone if both parties don't ware rubber gloves.
• The Separatists vote for independence at any cost. If they knew of a way to blow up the Earth, they'd just say: BOOM!
• The Nationalists also wish for independence, but by more peaceful means. The Nationalists of the Moon believe in negotiating and can gladly involve themselves in discussions/arguments about complex political topics for days.
• The Centerparty is somewhat of a diffuse party, that tries to bow to all directions. "Why can't we all just be pals?" It would like to keep up the trade with the Earth and loosen up the strained circumstances. In general no one really takes notice of The Centerparty and it has some problems in getting its opinions heard.
• The Communists wish that everyone living on the Moon would have equally much advantage of it. The ideal would be dividing it so that everyone could have their own part. Unfortunately the Communists have no real solution how this great plan should be carried out, but they rely on the scientists to think of something.
• The Liberals would like to neutralise the negative opinions towards sex and lessen artificial insemination. They have scientists, who try to increase the fertility on the Moon. Somehow the Liberals seem to have a lot of funds for their research and this has aroused some questions. The Liberals would also like to remove the existing death penalty for using and/or possessing certain drugs.
• The Minorityparty This party has never had a real success in Moon.

The Nationalists and the Liberals are clearly the largest parties at the moment, with the Conservatives and the Communists trailing behind. There are no real "gangs" on the Moon, but the youth clubs of the political parties replace them. The political stand of the children is formed at an early stage, as they are very early taken into these youth activity groups.

The Moon has now for some time tried to become independent, but so far this trend hasn't been supported on Earth. The struggle for power is intense, and though war has yet not been declared, active and especially passive resistance is very common. People from the Earth are commonly considered "an inferior race" by mooners.

People on the Moon invest a lot of time and money in education as everyone wishes to achieve fame and become successful. The coming of age has been set at 25 as the average length of life on the Moon is 120 years. This way most of the children should have completed their education under the guardiance of their parents. Children are permitted to manifest in the political life before the coming-of-age. This way some extremely intelligent children have been acknowledged politicians in their teens. The competition is very hard on all fronts and especially intelligent children are transferred to special schools, that produce new geniuses for all fields.

About six million people live on the Moon, and out of these 3.500.000 live in the capital, Luna City. Other large cities are Mare Nostrum City, Mare Eguilirium City and Tychopoint, all on different sides of the Moon. The semiglobes around the cities keep the atmosphere stable and the air pressure normal. Their is no countryside on the Moon and most of the area is waste, because the earth is not fertile and the necessary cultivation takes place is huge greenhouses.

Outside the cities the atmosphere is non-existent and the temperature varies greatly. On the side facing the Sun the temperature rises close to 100°C and on the opposite side it can be around -160°C. There is almost no physical contact between the cities, because travelling by mooncoaches is extremely expensive. The weather in the cities is controlled by the Weather Institution. If someone happens to wish for sunshine on his/her birthday and has some extra funds, it's quite possible to make a "birthday wish".

The Government of the Moon and MoonPol both have their headquarters in Luna City. MoonPol is an old-fashioned police force, it guards the laws of the Moon to the letter and is not open for bribing. The methods for encouraging obedience to law might be a little rough, but generally MoonPol is considered a just institution. There are many companies, that have their headquarters on the Moon, the biggest of which is Biotech, which specialises in genetics. The company tries to develop fertility towards the standards of Earth by artificial insemination (conception). It also experiments in creating a normal atmosphere on the Moon. Biotech owns about a third of all the land-area. Ingram Inc. is the second largest company and it trades is spaceships, guns and all kinds of industrial electronics. A somewhat smaller firm than Ingram Inc. is Zorgon Pettersson Group, the main business affairs of which are spaceships, cargo- and passenger traffic and mining. Ingram Inc. and ZPG both own a couple percent of the Moon. Nutrilabs is also rather a large company and it mainly concentrates on making food and developing alternative and artificial nutrition. It tries to speed up the growing process of vegetables, so that productivity would increase.

The cream of the crop, i.e. the important people, live in Luna City and their social live is especially lively. Many of the traditions and rules of etiquette long ago forgotten on Earth have been treasured on the Moon. The high society still follow these rules, as to give a picture of sophisticated and well-behaving people. Following the etiquette and the law is a matter of honour and disgrace is very serious. Culture and glorious events are popular and people compete in arranging stunning gala-dinners etc. Drugs in general are despised, although alcohol is frequently used at these occasions, within reason of course. Drugs, with the exception of alcohol, are prohibited and death penalty is authorised for possessing/using certain drugs.

Socialising usually consists of discussing liberation from Earth, all the bad things Earth has done lately and the new political turns on the Moon. Physical contact is however not a custom, it's not a part of socializing, as it would result to an enormous spreading of bacteria. Sex, for instance, is in all forms totally OUT and those who practise it anyhow, are despised for it. In reality, sex is much more common than one would think, but no sane person would publicly admit to practising it or even liking it. Satisfaction is received though stimulators of different kinds and conception is arranged artificially. People date and get married as they have always done, but only heterosexual relationships are approved on. Homosexuals, when caught, are considered ill and are usually treated in institutions.

What do people on the Moon do in their spare time? The difficulty in travelling has made netsurfing an every-day way of communicating. Through their computer people in their isolation on the Moon keep up with the important happenings in the galaxy. Virtual golf in holostudios has become a very popular hobby, as there is no space for real golf. Chess and other games give brainstimulation when needed.

Every day hygiene on the Moon is greatly affected by the small sources of water. This product is reserved exclusively for drinking and dry-cleaning for humans has been developed. The households are usually cleaned by vacuum-cleaning, sometimes dry-cleaning. Normal dust, as we know it, doesn't exist on the Moon, but the gravest danger is in the moondust, that originates from sand. This microscopical dust can penetrate to places you never knew existed. All machines should be cleaned atleast once a month, to assure that they function.

The moondust affects many things, for instance fashion and choice of clothing. Tight latex-clothes on the Moon will surely relieve you of your skin and will make you SUFFER. Loose-fitting clothes of exclusive materials and discrete colors are always appropriate. Lately all kinds of designed hats have been in fashion, but people have had some problems in combining them with discrete clothes Elegance is always a guideline especially in conservative circles.

Traditional money has become history. One of the reasons was the way it spread bacteria. One has totally moved over to plastic cards, the Visage-card for instance is your ID, your money, your insurance certificate, it does your accounttransfers and so on. When travelling on the orbital, one is of course obliged to using "normal money". Preferably, one should handle it with rubber glowes.

Please read Moon Politics in Crisis by Alex Svensson for more information on the political situation on the Moon.

Copyright 1997 Eteläsuomen Rooli- ja Strategiapeliyhdistys ry.
All rights reserved. Copyright of all material is property of the respected owner.
Written by niki.bergman@wanderer.org on 29.07.1998.
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