Characterized by the first inter-stellar explorations, the Magothi Wars and early entry into the Consortium. A worldwide governing body establishes itself as the norm (rather than the exception of the Cyber age), though it passes through several different forms. The most stable organization throughout this period is the Hex, a hegemony of six super-corporations that were simultaneously vicious rivals and colluding oligarchs depending upon circumstance.
The Second Fed, properly called the United Federation of Earth, rose from the rubble of the War of Mergers as a populist regime, driven mostly by newly democratic China and newly unified Africa. This government would establish the Meritocracy and the World Regions that would inform human civilization for a millennia.
This was a serious attempt to establish a world-wide democracy, where every person was a voting citizen. The Second Fed was easily the most liberal government to have any lasting success, and moved immediately (and with inconclusive results) to curb the excesses of the Hex, though after much struggle, they conceded that the Hex was ingrained into the economy at this point, and could not be responsibly abolished.
The Right to Sustenance was established, so that no person would be allowed to die of sickness and starvation. This begat a massive redistribution of wealth, causing critics at the time to complaint that they had traded their Right to pursue Happiness for a mandate to sit in marginal squalor. The teeming masses had outvoted the ambitious merchants.
A counterpart to the abolition of fortunes was the Meritocracy, where computers kept track of an individual’s education and achievements and elevated or demoted their status in society accordingly. The phrase “everyone starts at one” originated here, referring to the initial status level of one that every newborn babe was assigned.
Salary, privileges, living conditions and even votes were assigned according to level. Levels one through ten could be achieved by education and hard work, and it became expected, over the years, that any adult of ability could make it at least to ten. Eleven and beyond were capped with a quota. There were only so many 11’s (10% of the current population, meaning the top 10% in total points) and fewer 12’s (9%) and so forth. In the Second Fed, ranks above 20 were political, and intended to be temporary – one only held the rank while in office.
The Second Fed also did away with institutions, not out of ideology as much as technological progress. Medical technology advanced to the point where large hospitals were unnecessary. Children studied in small groups rather than large schools. Prisons were abandoned as relics of the savage past. Offenders were simply reduced in rank. Violent offenders were “chipped” with an implanted circuit that alerted authorities of any biometric signs of agitation occurred.
Much of the damage from the Cyber Age was repaired at this time. The air and water were gradually cleaned, and the soil was coddled into productive use once again. Global warming was too far gone to be reversed, and cities like Houston were swallowed by the sea. New cities arose, and between them vast expanses of suburban estates and enclaves.
The Planex program, humanity’s first systematic exploration of nearby star systems, was still underway, continuing their silent journey to nearby stars throughout the Second Fed. When one of these expeditions encountered hostile aliens, the gradual collapse of the Second Fed accelerated into the Turin Autocracy (named for its seldom seen head-of state) and the entire planet mobilized for war.
Little is known of Turin, for the tyrant took great pains to obscure his true identity. He used only the name Turin, and refused (suppressed in truth) any attempt to bestow him with a formal title. “As ruler of the world, I must be a citizen of the world.” He was oft quoted. Also, “I am the means to a definite end. When this war is over, so am I.”
The last turned out to be a lie, for in the end, Turin, or rather the oligarchy behind him, had to be overthrown by a populist uprising that would coalesce into the Third Fed. But by then, peace talks were underway.
This era saw the completion of the original 10 orbitals, with Station X, exclusively military until well into the Imperium, as the crowning technical achievement. Many of the freedoms enshrined in the Third Fed’s constitution were a correction to the excesses of this era.
[This is the era of the 64 novels]
The Third Fed charted the bumpy and often careening path into the Consortium and by extension, galactic civilization. Having been through the excesses of liberal populism (the Second Fed) and military dictatorship, the Third Fed dedicated itself to the middle. Extremists on either side of the political spectrum were popularly shunned through most of its early history.
The Third Fed was the first Earth government with extra-solar colonies and interstellar trade – however limited it would appear by later standards. The process of terra-forming Venus began in this era, and the first planetary defenses of any merit were put in place.
Historians would come to admire the practicality and moderation of this era of government, and lament that it lasted barely a century. The problem came again from outside invaders – a force the Consortium simply called The Menace. The military regime put in place to direct the war remained in place after its conclusion.