Sketch of Recounton

On this planet, one family rules. The Oligarch family claims their right to rule on the assumption that one of their distant relatives was the captain of the ship that first brought people to the planet, Recounton. This is a rather bogus claim, as almost everyone on Recounton is probably related to the captain of this ship. The colony began with about fifty families. Now, many generations later, almost all of these original fifty families have ties to one another.

In many ways, the political system on Recounton resembles the command on a ship. The Oligarchs are like the captain, with the final say on almost every subject, especially military matters. (Recounton's "military" is more of a militia, able to come together if the need to protect their planet arises, but not needed for any other reason.)

The family does pay attention to the wants and needs of some of the wealthier families on Recounton, not unlike a captain would listen to his nearest subordinates on a ship. (The other families do not claim to be related to any specific crewmember on the first ship to land on Recounton.) Most of the people on this small planet are like crewmembers. They all have jobs and are left alone, as long as they perform their jobs well. The majority of the people have no say in decisions affecting the planet as a whole.

Members inside of the Oligarch family have varying degrees of a say in governmental decisions. Anyone in the family who meets certain qualifications is allowed an equal vote. The family members vote at meetings called by the oldest member of the family whenever the need arises. The most important qualification for voting is that the family member must have been born into the Oligarch family. Men or women marrying into the family are not permitted to vote. However, their children will be allowed to vote (once they meet all of the qualifications), so people marrying into the family still can influence actions the government will take in the future by affecting their children.

Other qualifications for voting include: the person must graduate from the Academy (a school that would be the equivalent of going through first grade through a two-year university on Earth), the person must have a job, and the person must be a member of the church.

The people on Recounton worship the Earth in two forms: the Earth-that-is and the Earth-that- could-be. As Earth is many light-years away from Recounton, and it has been many generations since the first ship containing humans landed on Recounton, the people there only have a notion of how Earth is. It is still inhabited. It is overpopulated, polluted and war is still common. However, it still has some places of beauty that were preserved. The people of Recounton also worship the technology of Earth, especially the more environmentally-friendly technology. The Recountons worship the good aspects of Earth along with its bad aspects.

The Earth-that-could-be is simply the Earth that could exist had people always had the technology they have now (except for weapons of war) and had humans always made the right decisions. No one knows what this Earth would be like.

Recountons do not believe in a heaven or hell. They do believe in a God that put an order to the universe but who, otherwise, does not interfere with events. People's morality does not come from a fear of hell or from a desire for heaven. It comes from the desire to make the right decisions so that they can make Recounton more like the Recounton-that-could-be than people made the Earth-that-could-be.

History is the major part of the religion. People look back to Earth to see how to come closer to perfection. There are holidays celebrating major events on Earth (both good and bad). Reenactments of these events are common. There are monthly masses that are not required by law but are socially required. Church is a big socializing place. News is spread there. There is no need for media in a world as small as Recounton, where people in every town have relatives in every other town.

At mass, an expert gives a lecture on an historical event and there is a discussion following. Masses are very structured. There are certain exchanges between the lecturer and audience at the beginning and end of the mass. The congregation sings songs from Earth in between the lectures and discussion.

There is one church in every town. There is no need for more than one. The church building usually has at least one other use. This is usually a school, a city hall, or a military base.

The most regarded holiday occurs once every five Earth years (only a few days more than five Recounton years). Information about current events on Earth are sent to all of the colonies in the galaxy. Though information could be spread more often, the people in each colony make it a point to be as separate as possible in order to prevent conflict. The people of Recounton gather at the churches to hear about the events on Earth as they are picked up from the satellite. This new information is usually in the church lectures for many months.

Many people travel from town to town, giving lectures. They receive no pay but town members are glad to give them room, board, and money to get to the location of their next lecture. The planet's government gives these people money to research. The government's money comes from very low taxes paid by every citizen of Recounton.

There is no clergy. Each city runs the church building. Each city has a committee that chooses speakers. The committees are usually not very representative of the community. Higher social classes generally have more members on the committee.

When the people who first landed on Recounton arrived, there were virtually no social classes. There was still a clear chain of command. This was necessary in order to establish a colony. Tasks were assigned to all of the crewmembers. As the original colony reproduced, these tasks stayed in the family. Eventually, there were more people in each family than were necessary to perform each task, so these "extra" people began starting other towns nearby. When people first started forming new towns, there was still no money. People were expected to perform their task well enough to provide for the town and, in return, they would have their other needs taken care of.

It didn't take too long for some families to realize that their tasks were so vital that they could benefit by not providing enough for the town. The two families that succeeded the most in this respect were the Oligarch family, which was in charge of water, and the Polity family, which was in charge of agriculture. (Technology is good enough that one family can provide for a whole town.) These two families started making the rest of the colony believe that there was a shortage of food and water. The rest of the worried colonists started thinking it was in their interest to do favors for the Oligarchs and Polities. These favors started out as giving them extra portions of whatever it was the people provided. Gradually, bartering began. The Oligarchs and Polities had more to barter with and became rich.

It wasn't difficult for the Oligarch family to gain political power under the guise that their ancestor was the captain on the first ship. No one could really argue when the Oligarchs were providing water, which was rather complicated. (They had machines that collected hydrogen and oxygen from the atmosphere.)

It was illogical for some families to follow the bartering system. For example, the Democracies, the family that provided transportation, had a problem. Not everyone needed a new mode of transportation or work done on his or her vehicle every year. In addition, the family needing the Democracies' services would have to pay off the work over a period of time. Families could only pay so quickly, and the Democracies found themselves lacking in some supplies. As mentioned above, the Recountons knew much about Earth, so the idea of money was nothing new and seemed like a logical solution to the bartering problem.

The Oligarchs benefited the most from the switch to using money. The Recountons said that they would provide water free for a year in return for all of the goods that each family produced. In addition to water, the Oligarchs would give the family the amount of money their services or goods were worth. The families could use this money to buy the other goods they needed from the Oligarchs. As can be imagined, it was not difficult for the Oligarchs to exploit the other citizens and charge more than they paid for the goods in the first place. The Recountons knew that they were being taken advantage of, but it was difficult to change economic systems in any other way. It was also hard to argue with the family providing water.

The families with the most money mainly associate with each other (outside of church and school) and have more goods. There is some resentments among the other families, but the food and water "keep them in line" and having more goods than others is rather irrelevant in the long run. No one is bad off because everyone has a role. Political power is the greatest benefit that the richer families have.

Family reunions are the largest social events in Recounton. Almost every family is at least distantly related to every other family. Each year, a carnival is held in one town for a week. One family funds it. People come and go all week. Most people on Recounton make an appearance. The Democracies benefit the most from this, as they are in charge of transportation.