A Brief Overview of Intra-Solar History and Political Development: Part I- Pre-Lunar Indepedance

Scifi story I'm working on. Don't have a strong summary for it as a lot of its originated as worldbuilding. I'm describing it as the Expanse meets Halo and Mass Effect, add a strong dose of cyberpunk (Altered Carbon), with a small dash of Dune/ Warhammer 40k for style. Set exclusives in our Solar System, far future. No aliens, no ftl. Calling it medium scifi, there is some physics breaking stuff but I have rules for it with hard limits for it.

Early Solar Law (2025-2120)

Early Solar political development can be traced via several historical developments. Each of these three unique historical and material conditions emerged independently of one another, but their unique relationship has shaped the course of Solar history for the past six centuries. These four conditions are referred to as the Lunnestian Proto-Pax Humana or sometimes just as the Pax de Lunestia. These include; All Law is Contract Law; The Creche, and the rise of the Guardian Polis and Interdependence doctrines. As with all things a part of Cellestian history, Mother Luna is the birthplace of all things in Sol.

Early Lunar Settlement: Second Class Citizens

During the latter third of the 21rst Century, The earliest large scale settlement in the Solar System began on the Lunestia (then called simply “The Moon” or Luna, in relation to Old Terra) as joint ventures between multiple nation states and large multinational conglomerates. These settlements might be industrial outposts and research facilities, and corporate campuses, and some recreational and tourism. Colonists signed 2 years contracts that stipulated the conditions of their employment, rules of the colony, etc. Everything was spelled out in a contract. Different people might have different contracts, but they all looked very similar. Colonies were administered by various levels of what were called Joint Lunar Mandate Ventures. Nearly every nation state on earth and the UNited Nations and other Pan-Global organizations passed laws and special exemption for residents on the moon to make up for the fact that most of these contracts (by the very nature of living conditions on the moon) required the violation of numerous human and civil rights.

These outposts were never meant to be permanent residence. Scientists had figured out early that with preventive medical procedures, humans could live in 1/6th G for about 3-5 years before they could no longer safely return home. This is why contracts were no longer than 5 years and had a stipulation requiring colonists to return to earth before they hit this medical point of no return.

However, many people quickly took to the new environment and viewed Lunestia as their new home. , only a small percentage of colonists attempted to stay behind. Most of these were unsuccessful, but a few were successful in staying behind. Initially, Corporate members of Joint Lunar Mandate Ventures were happy to let these individuals' contracts expire, leaving a small class of people who theoretically had no rights (or obligations on the moon), somewhere between a conceptual freeman/yeomen, serf, outcaste, outlaw, or social pariah.

Some of these individuals (with more means) used their freeman status to negotiate with the various Joint Lunar Venture Mandates on Luna to set up their own Subdomains/ Small businesses to service colonists. In some cases these individuals purchased the rights to monopolies /aspects of society within Habitat (water, air, etc.). These eventually expanded into some of their own independent colonies or businesses or fiefdoms from the riches gained from this. Eventually smaller and medium sized firms, wealthy individuals, etc. from Terra began immigrating solely for these purposes. The developments that occurred after the Lunestian War for Independence would set the philosophical and political ambitions of many of these forces up until the Mourning Era.

While this odd alternate status benefitted some, more often than the chances of exploitation were higher than chances for success. Not only was the number of people seeking to purposefully emigrate to the moon rising, but the population of native born Lunnestians was growing rapidly. Native born Lunestians, as they grew into adulthood were even more resentful of their complete pariah legal status, or lack thereof. Thus forcing Terran nations and corporations to create a class of citizenship for peoples on the moon, especially those who could or would never know the Earth as home. They were starforged.

These became known as Lunar Custodial Stewardship Acts whuch attempted to officially cement Luna for the purposes of exploitation by earth, forbade the founding of any sovereign entities or independent states. It also spelled out defined rights and guarantees that the Colonies were responsible for providing its residents (water, food, air, housing, healthcare, etc.). While this was better than being a pariah, it left much to be desired. This new classification gave colonists an actual legal status, granted it was incredibly meager and rendered them even barely second class citizens in just about any context one could imagine.

Pre-Lunestian Law: All Law is Contract Law

Early Lunestian colonists were quick to put in place many things from earth that profit driven interests found troublesome. Unions, government, states, democracy, etc. While some early violent incidents cited in the lead up to the Lunestian independence movement were indeed meant to be revolutionary and subversive in nature, more often than not these actions were simply motivated by instinct and historic precedent.

Early Lunar Mandate Ventures were quick to place things into their contracts to prevent colonists from at least in theory forming governments. As settlements became bigger and the number of “stay behinds” increased, something more resembling a permanent society began to emerge. Both colonists and the corporate colonial overseers saw the need for some form of governance that allowed more flexibility.

Many different solutions initially emerged from all parties, but most took the same route of using the existing legal framework that relied on contract law as the basis of creating a system of governance. It is generally agreed that early Lunestian independent advocates sought to use this idea of contract law as all law as means of achieving independence. Although the mechanisms of this ploy are not well understood (mostly due to the nature of them not being well thought out), this group is credited with introducing the idea into early Lunestian political discourse.

The various Lunar Mandate Ventures were quick to adopt this idea into their own standard colonial tenure contracts which created a template that citizens could use to form agreements amongst one another or collective agreements, specifying the way disagreements were to be handled, allowing for private arbitrators, and finally establishing themselves as the Arbitrators of last and final resort. These arrangements were of course heavily slanted in their favor and geared towards profit and efficiency.

It didn’t take long for human ingenuity to twist and warp the intention of this idea beyond its intention. People quickly fashioned complex sets of contracts and networks of contractual agreements that they essentially became functioning governments/ societies. The sets of contractual agreements became known simply as lawcodes (any collection of laws spelled out with a standard governance template), and those “networks'' of people that adhered to a given law code were referred to as Polis Unions. These oftentimes resemble a mixture of a social club, civic organization, religious institution, government, and Labour unions. Lunar Mandate Ventures essentially created a completely legal framework for the very same things they had been trying to subvert. Some of the Polis Unions would act extremely defiantly towards their associated Lunar Mande Ventures, often seeking to use capitalism, the market and economic power to gain greater concessions. While it gave Lunar Mandate Ventures less control than they had wanted, it nonetheless let them manage the situation for the most part.

It would not take long for this to become the very basis of Lunestian political philosophy. The passing of the Lunar Custodial Stewardship Acts further cemented this model into the mainstream. All law on Lunestia was contract law.

The Creche de Humana and Mother Luna

Very little can be discussed in Solar History without touching on The Creche in some way shape or form, especially when discussing the early formation of political theory in the Sol System. The Creche was conceived in 2027 as the initial plans to settle Lunestia were formed by several political philosophers and visionaries. Dreamed up as some sort of pseudo-utopian vision that incorporates anarcho and socialist thought and many other disparate ideas and theories, the concept and idea morphed drastically from its original broadly defined vision. However the core of the idea remained the same, to view and see the variations possible for arranging human society and finding the most optimum way of arranging human society.

In 2030, a DAO called the Creche de Humana was founded. The basis of the plan can summed up in the following: 1.) Invest big in the moon, primarily Helium-3. 2.) Take said profits and keep them in the DAO to build a colony on the moon for the experiment. 3.) Go to the moon. While the plan was incredibly simple, it also ended up being incredibly successful. By 2041, the Creche De Humana DAO was technically the 20th richest entity on the planet, with assets estimated to be worth approximately 5 trillion USD.

In 2048 the Creche De Humana officially purchased a Lunar Mandate Venture Charter with the support of several Polynesian, African, Central American, and Caribbean Countries and First Nations (to meet the sovereignty requirements by the U.N.). The Creche had begun prematurely building its settlement in 2042, but legal battles kept them from officially being able to occupy it.

In 2055, the Creche De Human received its initial wave of settlers, approximately 5k people. By 2060 their numbers would swell to 80k. In 2062, the Creche Scholastic Collective was formed, to both record and capitalize on the research from all their observations. While a child organization of the Creche De Humana, the Scholastic Collective would become a power in its own right over time, and was created as its own separate settlement close by. By 2075 The Creche de Humana would reach a population of 2.5 million, making it one of the larger settlements on the Moon. The Creche Scholastic COllective would reach a population of anywhere from 300,000 to 600,000 depending on how many students and researchers were on assignment there.

The Creche de Humana had both naturally been attracted to the idea of Contract as Law/ Polycentric law, and had somewhat been forced into the arrangement by the UN and other Lunar Mandate Ventures. The Creche De Humana however created a much more humane standard governance template, this would later go on to the basis for Solar Standard Law.

The Court de Isaac Ombretta, later Court of Shadows (named for being on the Darkside of the Moon and for its founding member) along with the Scholastic Collective, and was meant to be the Arbiter of Final and Last Resort for the various Polis Unions within the Polis (habitat). It ruled on Standard Law and Standard Law Codes, or if necessary claim jurisdiction over a dispute even if no case has been brought before the court. Judges are democratically elected.

The Court of Shadows would go on to be considered a feature of Lunestian society. They were seen as the only “legitimate” court on the moon. The Creche soon began training lawyers and judges trained in various law codes on the moon that existed under the various Luner Mandates. These lawyers would go on to be the best and preferred choice by Polis unions for all sorts of purposes. Initially these lawyers served as both counsel in internal and intra-Polis union disputes and internal Polis Union abritors. Lunar Mandate Ventures started to rely on the Court of Shadows for settling disputes amongst themselves on the moon. Soon colonists began demanding that at least one or more Creche trained judges sit on any Arbitration board enacted or hosted by a Lunar Mandate Venture. Creche trained lawyers also became the go to in cases in which the Polis-UNions were in dispute between the Lunar Mandate Authorities. In fact, several court cases (primarily meant to be symbolic, although some were of tangible strategically valuable) were used as tools during the Lunestian Independence War.

The contributions of the Creche de Humanity are too numerous to list, but of note for this section is the Creches bias towards anarcho-learning philosophies and generally eskewing the concept of a sovereign state.

The Creches contributions can be summed as the following. First the Creche provided both a stable model and preference towards having multiple lawsets/ Polis Guilds in a given Polis. It also introduced the basis of Solar Standard Law. Finally the Creche would be the origin of the Court de Humana.

All these developments would be combined in new and unexpected ways following the Lunnestian War for Independence in 2049 and the Lunnestian Civil War of 2127-2129 and the Lunnestian Civil War of 2442-42.

Part I: The Intra-Solar Compact and the Golden Age of Solar Settlement