Earth Alliance

The unified government of Earth. First pulled together in the late 21st and early 22nd centuries. 
The Earth Alliance was created in the wake of the AI War. It aggressively abolished the business as usual methods of both government and business that have made so much of life on Earth hell for the last 400 years.
==Government==
Government was forced open. Doors in governmental offices were smashed and burned. (To this day there isn't a single door in Earth Dome save the restrooms and the building itself.) Governmental officials at any level that tried to work in secret were dragged into the street and lynched. 
It is considered the right and responsibility of every citizen of Earth to ride the government like a rented horse. People that choose to be political gadflies full time are considered valuable contributors in society.
Personal rights and the protection of personal rights were defined as the only purpose of government. Anything that did not accomplish that was barred. It was decided that since every other theory of government had failed utterly that the ideas of the liberty cranks would be given a shot.
This attitude trickles down through state and local government as well. From the President of the United States (There still is one.) to the local dog catcher there exist aggressively open processes and records. There is strict personal responsibility for all actions in or out of office.
The body politic has taken on a more mellow tone since the early days. No official has been lynched since 2133. However as stated the professions of political crank and gadfly are fully supported.
The most recent citizen action of note saw President (now prisoner) Leyton tossed out of office for attempting to subvert the Earth Alliance government. The anti-subverts noted it was real easy to catch him at it. Proof that corruption is not dead and vigilance must be maintained.
==Business==
The limited liability corporation was taken behind the shed and shot. If the evils of the governments were horrific, the things that the mega-corporations did made them look like Sunday school teachers.
Accountability was made strictly personal. If your company kills people, they put you, the CEO in prison. If your title says you are in change, that is taken seriously. A company that kills is killed. Not the people in it, but the company itself. Operations stooped assets sold and used to compensate the victim and meet contractual expectations in that order.
Even then your contractees can still sue you for breach of contract. Breaking the law and getting caught is no excuse for not fulfilling a contract. So those that really screw up can expect to get boned to the bottom.
Business itself is strong. There was a resurgence in so called "Mom & Pop" businesses. And with a few exceptions they remain the majority of Earth commerce. Things like restaurant chains vanished, their place taken by craft eateries of high quality. In the replicator age anyone running a restaurant is doing it for the love of the craft.
Large companies like Bicorn Industries still exist. Some things, like building starships and running the space elevators cannot be done by small shops. But the old corporate, management heavy, no responsibility business model is dead.
==The Secret Masters of Earth==
No we don't know either. A cabal of light, the last AI of the war, the very accounting networks themselves? However, there is something, someone, that sees that every attempt to subvert the stated purpose of the Earth Alliance has failed. By what ever means. Be it the out right exposure of very secret plans, to a sudden surge in the popularity of the Libertarian Socialist Party.
There are people that would like to know, and not necessarily to thank said being(s). The man that came the closest was Allan Keerzuk, last seen hiding from something on an out of the way colony.
Category:Political Units
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Category:Epiphany Trek
Category:ST-OM