Luna

Astral Union of Luna
Capital	Scranton
Official languages	Primary language: English Secondary languages: French German Russian Spanish
Demonym	Lunar
Government	Federal technocratic presidential republic
Legislature	Lunar Senate
Formation	2058
Population	58 million
Time zone	Lunar Standard Time

The Astral Union of Luna, commonly known as Luna, is one of the Maincanon's tier I powers. It is based on the Moon, and is considered a superpower despite its low population due to its high level of technological development relative to Earth and due to its ability to maintain a large space fleet and colonial presence throughout the solar system.

Lunar society and culture are something of a mystery to Earth society; however, Luna has close relations with the New Frenco Empire, ostensibly due to similar strategic interests.

Government and politics

Government

Luna borrows the basic structure of its government from the pre-war United States.

A president heads the executive branch and wields a large amount of both hard and soft power.

A judiciary branch oversees the government, and has the power to dismiss members of it, be they senators, cabinet officials, lower justices, or even - theoretically - the president.

Technocracy

Luna is a hybrid technocracy and democracy, in which some parts of the government are elected and other parts are selected (ideally based on their knowledge and expertise).

Over time, a "political class" has slowly formed, wielding perhaps disproportionate influence in Lunar politics. It is often thought of as having taken over some of the political functions a bourgeoisie played in pre-war societies, sparking some alarm among more politically-interested parts of the population.

Foreign policy

Luna maintains a colonial presence throughout the solar system - especially on Mars, though also it utilizes the resources of Mercury, the asteroid belt, comets, and beyond.

Historically, Luna has given the impression of being largely disinterested in the goings-on of Earth. However, it attempts to ensure (via a variety of means, from diplomatic efforts to covert missions) that the planet remains divided and in conflict so as not to pose a threat to the Moon.

Society

Lunar society and culture are often seen as somewhat mysterious and exotic off-Moon.

Structure

Many of the structures, heirarchies, customs, differentiations, and so on present in pre-war human societies have - to differing extents - faded away within Lunar society, and new ones have developed.

Way of life

Lunars live in a luxury afforded by the Moon's post-scarcity economy. They tend to enjoy a lot of spare time, and typically spend it in service of self-fulfillment, self-improvement, socializing, and anything else they might choose.

Children and education

The concept of the nuclear family has, due to a combination of factors - the foremost among them the extremely low birth rate and reliance on hatcheries to maintain a population replacement and growth rate - faded away.

Children raised within Lunar society are raised in groups of varying number by small numbers of adult caretakers, and typically come to see the other members of their group in a way equivalent to siblings. Growing up, they acquire both an extensive practical and academic education in a wide and diverse range of subjects.

Education is divided into several stages:

• Kindergarten, from ages three to six;
• Elementary school, from ages six to fourteen;
• High school, from ages fourteen to eighteen
• Higher education, such as university

The Lunar education system, along with fulfilling other purposes, also serves to instill a sense of "duty" to both the nation and to society.

Views on gender and sexuality

Lunar society takes an extremely liberal view of issues of gender and sexuality, similarly to Frenkish society.

Culture

Festivals

Lunar culture retains many of the same festivals and public holidays as the cultures which colonized the Moon. Important cultural festivals include, but are not limited to:

• New Year, celebrated on 1st Germinal
• Independence Day, celebrated on 12th Brumaire
• Midsummer, celebrated on 24th Fructidor
• Yuri Day, celebrated on each anniversary of the first manned spaceflight, 10th Vendemiaire
• Halloween, celebrated on 30th Nivose
• Christmas, celebrated on 24th Ventose

(see this page for an explanation of the Moon's calendar)

Popular culture

The Moon's social and economic setups allow popular culture to flourish; since the time, resources, and tools necessary to contribute to it are available to anybody (or rather, anybody willing to invest a part of the vast amount of spare time Lunars enjoy), it has been able to become decentralized, rich, and varied.

Lunar names

Children are generally given both a first and last name (and possibly middle names) by their caretakers; however, this last name is seen as provisional, and everybody is eventually expected to choose a surname of their own liking. Choosing an 'adult' surname is seen as an important event in one's childhood.

It is not uncommon or seen as odd for Lunars to end up changing their first name (though most do not), or to adopt/drop middle names.

Economy

Luna is a moneyless post-scarcity command economy. Dedicated artificial intelligence systems conduct a large part of the economic management with relatively little human intervention. Such systems continually maintain the system and adjust its operation in order to perform tasks such as fulfilling public demand as optimally as possible and ensuring the most efficient distribution of resources to every sector and area as appropriate.

The majority of economic activity is automated with qualified staff overseeing the process. Access to the goods produced (those which are not set aside for other purposes, such as upkeep of the military, public services, education, etc.) is based on being a member of Lunar society.

This entails access to physical, material goods, but also the open sharing of intellectual property. Furthermore, facilities with specialist equipment for public use – for example, workshops – are somewhat common. Emphasis is also placed on allowing the individual to manufacture or modify goods to suit their own needs or wants as far as is possible; to this end, technical skills (such as engineering) are part of the basic curriculum.

Technology

Luna is notable for being perhaps the most technologically-advanced faction in the Maincanon.

Biotechnology

A highly advanced understanding and application of the twin fields of biology and cybernetics is perhaps the most visible aspect of Lunar technology.

This entails a capability to manipulate and synthesise new biological systems of varying complexities, and to integrate them with more conventional technology; this translates into military, scientific, medical, and industrial applications (for example, it was used in the development of a variety of synthetically-created cyborg combat units).

Biotechnology is the primary field behind the Generation II Humanity program.

Advanced Weaponry

Luna is unique in being the only power to field a service rifle not based on firing ballistic projectiles; instead, many Lunar weapons - most notably the L2 ILaW - are based on advanced laser technology.