Lore

Economics and Society

Economic systems, labor relationships, property, contracts, and social institutions. Economic life is shaped by high automation, concentrated infrastructure ownership, and uneven access to interstellar mobility. Material abundance coexists with dependency because the machines that produce goods, the licenses that authorize them, and the routes that move them are controlled by large institutions. Status is often measured through autonomy rather than consumption. The ability to travel without permission, repair one’s own equipment, preserve private data, or refuse a contract marks genuine wealth. People lower in the hierarchy may live amid advanced technology while possessing little control over any of it.