November 4417Adelian coastAccording to a former Scientian insider, who wishes to remain anonymous, the Scientian Enclave has a "secret" plan for radical land reclamation off the Adelian coast. The land reclamation project has been nicknamed
Project Reclamation. While not officially classified or recognized by the Scientian state, the project's idea has been confirmed by Scientian Ambassador Norbert Lowell to be a topic of casual debate.
The anonymous source claims that the Scientian leadership has been taken over by a wave of pragmatic sentiment that has caused traditional values of council communism and localism found previously in the preceding Ataraxian Confederation to be abandoned. The source was previously a member of the Scientian Assembly, but left Scientia after becoming disillusioned with what they felt was "creeping elitism". The source goes on to describe the concept as something out of corporate dystopia:
Anonymous former Scientian insider wrote:The Scientian leadership is the old Ataraxian leadership, but with different ideas for the future. They want to abandon council communism and isolated planned communities. Their ultimate plan is to build a semi-autonomous planned corporate city-state built on top of reclaimed land off the Adelian coast. The technologically progressive city-state would be ruled by a totalitarian oligarchy of technocrats that uses a combination of state capitalism and private corporate capitalism to develop and deploy technology. Inequality is accepted as necessary if it results in overall higher living standards for more people. In the name of economic progress and stability, labour unions would be "encouraged" to cooperate with corporate interests. There would be no minimum wage mandated by the state except for those negotiated between labour and corporate agencies. Subsidies from the state, no corporate taxes, along with an extremely pro-technology government would seek to attract investment from major multinational corporations. All sacrifice demanded from those in the present, such as adopting potentially risky emerging technologies and putting them to test in a highly dense urban environment, would be seen as an acceptable part of making a better future.
Ambassador Lowell was asked for comment on what he thought of the anonymous source's claims, which he responded:
Lowell wrote:Yes, we have such in plan in very casual concept phases right now. It's just talk among individuals. I think Scientians have realized for a long time that our present system only works for the very small few who live here. Our population has been extremely stagnant. While we have seen technological innovation, it could be much larger in scope. I think it would be better if we centralize our efforts into a single planned community and end our geographical isolation. Such a land reclamation project would have to be approved by the Hutorian government. That hasn't been done as there has been no proposal for it yet. So, nobody is going to wake up one day and find some kind of smart city off their coast. These things take serious time, money, and planning.
As for the "corporate dystopia", I think that view is a result of misunderstanding and exaggeration. When some people think of "big government" and "big business" they might envision overpopulated, overcrowded, and gloomy metropolises. That's not our style. When we do anything, it's going to be clean, orderly, and convenient. You think even "the rich" want poverty and destitution in their cities? You think they want to wake up to sirens, the smell of garbage, and the mentally ill left to beg on the streets? No. Nobody except the worst of humanity wants that. This demonization of government and business will get us nowhere when both have their uses to make our lives better.
You know neither Scientia or the former Ataraxian Confederation was ever a liberal democracy. We've always accepted that humans are imperfect beings that like anything else must be kept controlled and directed towards the best possible use. Nobody is forced to live the Scientian way of life, but if you do want to live it of course you have to follow the rules.
Despite ample financial reserves, Scientian "profit margins" (residents do not receive wages) have shrunken over the years apparently due to increased reliance on imports for materials such as rare minerals. Their geographic isolation in rural Adelia makes import and export costs higher than in Hutorian cities. As infrastructure ages, raw material imports will only increase. Scientians are concerned that eventually this will lead to an economic collapse. Since there are 65 independent Scientian settlements, it is difficult to fund infrastructure upgrades in all of them and as a result some of them have fallen behind. For this reason, Lowell and the Scientian leadership feel looking for an alternative direction is prudent. They make the claim that abandoning their society's ardent egalitarianism and localism in favour of permitting private enterprise and becoming more of an economy of scale will be necessary for survival and will actually make things better.
The Scientian's predecessor, the Ataraxian Confederation, created and funded Adelia Fibre, a relatively cheap and non-profit high speed networking service that was put under ownership of the Hutorian government. Adelia Fibre utilizes optical fibre cables in the form of fibre to the premises (FTTP) to transmit data, making it the first of its kind in Hutori. This required a steep multi-billion dollar investment that was covered by the Ataraxians in full in order to help foster growth in the information technology sector in Adelia and provide consumers with faster speeds. Scientians want to continue this tradition of investing in technology in Adelia and see it as necessary to promote further technological adoption nationwide.
Lowell wrote:We never "abandoned" communism. Seeking a world where everyone gets what they need and does what they can to contribute is a noble and humane goal. The state can't get us there alone. To fix our world, we're going to need and foster the best and brightest. Capitalism to a degree has been shown to be the most attractive system for that purpose. Does it mean we abandon regulation and leave our people to fend for themselves? No. It does mean that we be pragmatic and look at what solutions work best.