We are entering a new era where the definition of crime can’t be split between the mere recognition of a felony versus a misdemeanour, where the start of a crime can’t be measured by the hand of a person, and where the intent for said crime can be determined by the formulation of thought. While the debate itself isn’t a new debate, having existed even before the Roman Empire, it has become an all the more pressing debate where answers are needed. Answers that only a strong state can answer for its citizens, answers that may not fully function or integrate within a state or a community as it has been known insofar.
Citizen Credit System
The Citizen Credit System (CCS) is a reputation system that scales the citizen over four fields; Political Integrity, Economic Stability, Social Integration, and Judicial Credibility. The CCS is meant to encourage and inspire citizens to behaviour that will benefit the community and increase safety through a system of rewards and earned privileges. Since the introduction of CCS reports have shown that criminal activity has gone down, with an improved sense of community in the states where CCS has been implemented alongside an increase in community participation and an overall higher average of happiness experienced by the citizens.
The citizen credit is represented in four numbers that represent each of the four spectrums in which the citizen is rated. Through a special chip implanted in the wrist of the (dominant) hand the credits are tracked and displayed in a low blue light on the wrist. The credit score exists out of four digits, with each digit representing one of the four fields with a number between the 0 to 9 points which is the absolute minimum and maximum one can earn. Special platforms can read the chip which in turn will enable the citizen to go about their daily lives and unlock services such as the use of public transport. The four fields in which citizens can earn points in are:
Political Integrity - 9000 Represented by the first digit Political integrity keeps track of and measures the political and sociological beliefs of the citizen. Voting history is tracked and so will be the participation in certain movements and the coalition with groups. The membership of fraternities and involvement with radicals can affect the score alongside the type of papers that is being read. Taking everything into account it is weighed and measured to see what sort of threat the citizen may pose towards the state. It goes without saying that those who vote for anarchy are more likely to score low. Having a low score in Political Integrity can affect the application for travel permits, as those who score low are seen as potential threats in need of increased supervision. Amongst critics Political Integrity is the most ambiguous number on the scale for the citizens, whereas its supporters believe it to be quite simple; it isn’t a matter of understanding, but following instruction.
Economic Stability - 0900 Traced in the second digit of the CCS is the ability of the citizen to budget and their overall trustworthiness with money. Outstanding debts will bring down the score, but that may be improved by paying off the debts in a timely manner and by moderate budgeting. Failure to pay can hurt the score again while an increased purchasing power and market participation can increase the score as well. Active participation into the labour market and earning a full wage are favourable over the inability to retain a job. Having a high score in Economic Stability means that obtaining a mortgage will be easier, allowing one to buy a house or venture into business, whilst those with a low score are seen as risk categories to invest in. Needless to say Economic Stability is at large determined by money and can thus be increased with money.
Social Integration - 0090 The third digit of the CCS rates the citizens on the relationships and (daily) interactions they have. It is determined by the social circles they are involved in and what crowd they hang with. It encourages networking and discourages sensationalists. A unique feature of Social Integration is the rating system that is accessible to every citizen. Upon meeting, citizens are allowed to rate each other one to five stars, editable at any new meeting that occurs. This popularity rating encourages meaningful encounters and leaving good impressions which are needed as well to boost the credit system. The score in Social Integration can determine the entry into certain establishments, and may affect the enrollment into certain bodies of education, or organisation, to even workplaces where maintaining a clean image is of importance.
Judicial Credibility - 0009 The last digit represented in the CCS is the Judicial Credibility. In here any encounters with the legal system are registered. The score here is a grade given to reflect the supposed understanding of the legal system by the citizen and is at large also impacted and influenced by the score of the aforementioned three fields. The easiest method to increase the rating within Judicial Credibility is by reporting anything that disturbs the good peace of the community, in which the citizen is seen as an active and essential gear within the maintenance of the system. It goes without saying that past convictions can bring the score down, but so can frequent (ab)use of the legal system, and so do false reports. As Judicial Credibility is influenced by Political Integrity, Economic Stability, and Social Integration, having a low score here can also result in limitations in travel, loans, entry of establishment and certain services. It can even affect the weight of the ratings given after each encounter for the grading of Social Integration.
Objection and Appeal
Any changes in the CCS will be announced with the flicker of the score and a sound to the affected citizen, alongside a message with a short explanation why the score increased or decreased. Any citizen has the right to submit an objection within a week’s time to any changes that come through their CCS, alongside a short motivation why they object. Any citizen also gets a chance to appeal after the initial objection is submitted, provided there is a need for further motivation and clarification may be needed in front of a panel. In any case an objection or an appeal will not suspend the changes to the credit score until the objection or appeal are found to be just.
What better prison is there than one at the bottom of the sea? With no land to escape to and with whales and sharks as their guards, with no sun to long for and pray to, and the most powerful element there is known to mankind to keep them barred?
Penal colony Atlantis
Built at the bottom of the ocean Atlantis started as a prototype penal colony where the CCS was first introduced. As a never ending experiment in the search and race for land expansion, residing at the bottom of the ocean. It was built to give criminals a second chance in life. Atlantis is the city where the banished and the unwanted from above go to. Subjected to become live guinea pigs to the whims and whiles of the participating states they hail from.
With the success of CCS to correct the behaviour of its detainees Atlantis has since moved on from being a penal colony exclusively as CCS was introduced by states and areas above the sea. With the growing exchange and retention of information and thirst to collect data a conviction is never forgotten and judgement never fades, however, as prejudice still exists against Atlantis in its whole. Yet, with the kin of the first detainees growing up within Atlantis and within the system they have learnt to navigate themselves through the system and the prejudices.
The appearance of the Citizen Credit System is the response of the continued infantilization of every citizen. Starting with the mothers that feared the ‘premature’ exposition of her children of taboos through education and literature, and continuing with the homeowner association that fears the deviation of height in their lawns, and the instilled fear towards the man whose skin colour doesn’t match the rest, and those who hold a voice that doesn’t match the crowd. It is with the Citizen Credit System that all accountability of the person has been taken and placed by the state who has been tasked and given the power to preside and curate our every action.
The Syndicate - a city within a city
‘Dog down the underdog and it bites’ the saying goes, and it goes especially for the detainees residing in The Syndicate, an enclave residing within Atlantis of those that do not fit within the system.
It started as a means to survive for the guards and the governors of Atlantis, for they were not the detainees banished to the city, but neither belonged to the areas above. To provide them a space of safety The Syndicate was thus formed. As Atlantis grew in population and generations expanded and the status as a penal colony started to fade the original function of The Syndicate started to fade, gaining a new function as it started to house the outcasts and the misfits of Atlantis itself while CCS grew in power and influence.
Nowadays The Syndicate stands synonymous for family and for the underworld. A de jure area in which the rules of the CCS are rejected, but where the sense of community is still known despite the rejection of the community as defined by CCS. The Syndicate is an autonomous area within Atlantis where those believing themselves free of the system reside and where everyone gets graded by their own metric rather than by the one set by CCS.
The definition of state has been under constant change, just as humanity in overall has been. From the separation from religion and the church defining the borders of a state, to a cultural and shared identity, to the recognition of neighbouring states, and the constant disputes from the international community. I hope that, with the existence of the Domes, we can usher in a new identity of state and citizenship. In a world where the emphasis and awareness of a global identity has risen I hope the Domes can provide a space for the international community to come together and show that through cooperation and trust we can live together in peace.
The Domes
Revolutionair, innovative, futuristic, the city with no bounds, lined by glass, contained by a bell. The glass city of the future. That was the initial description of the Domes, floating pods on the sea that exist both above the water as under the sea.
Funded and subsidised by multiple states the Domes started out as research and development pods that finds its theoretical basis on the principles of a greenhouse, built in response to global climate change. Rather than fighting against the rising sea levels the Domes has sought to adapt themselves to the water, with a filtration system allowing for clean air and water within the Domes, while the dome shape itself seeks to maintain a stable climate inside. The R&D within the Domes doesn’t stop here, however, with the monetary support and bound only by international treaties and agreements the Domes allows for a unique space that encourages innovation and experimentation.
Within the Domes there is no limit to the sky, even if its glass ceiling does know a physical limitation for the skyscrapers built within, and the finite space allows all within to come up with creative solutions to leave their mark within.
Operation Secret Garden
Rebel groups naming themselves after flowers because of the way the world has ruined its nature…
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