Poverty
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Poverty |
Even in the most civilized regions of the Nexus there are differences between sophonts which amount to one being in a state of relative poverty compared to others. This poverty can be the result of various factors.
Those who waste their resources -money- sooner or later go bankrupt, or whatever the equivalent is in the place they exist. This occurs a lot in the Terragen sphere, where so many utilities and luxuries are to be had. Raw Hedonism has been responsible for driving whole clades into abject misery. There's often a social net in place in most systems but with some the tendency to mess up again and again is as consistent as fungus in old habitats.
Those who live in isolation have less access to resources of the centralized universe. The state of isolation isn't limited to remoteness, in a sense being physically very far removed from the central fount of wealth, resource, progress and information. It can also occur right next to the affluent, out of sheer belligerence, out of habit, chronic bad luck or similar reasons. One doesn't need to be eccentric in constitution or beliefs to be cut off from the flow of capital, ideas and evolution which is nearly universal in Civilized Galaxy.
In the back corridors of old, semi-derelict habitats live virtuals, cyborgs, baselines, xenosophonts, provolves and everything in-betweens in a state of relative poverty. Most of them still have it better than even the most affluent of the early Information Age baselines, but they also face challenges far greater or more complex than can be expected of any normal human. The same occurs on out-of the way places on even the most civilized planets, where people have just fallen in the cracks of the pavement. It can be simple to just refer to these simpletons as 10500 AT "sapientrash" but just everybody does.
Imagine these beings, scurrying about their everyday existences, generally preoccupied in some manner with a distinct cycle of activity - one which has no meaning or significance to the rest of the Galaxy, but which has become a self-sustaining loop to them.
The persistent, stubborn decision to refrain from taking part in the universal progress has always been a common one and is not necessarily limited to religious taboo or a luddite antipathy for one or more technological capabilities. Politics or the legacies of history can also play a dominant role in why Sophonts, even the most subjectivist kind, can dismiss the use of a fundamental and otherwise rewarding resource. The resulting poverty and misery is taken for granted or often glorified as a symbolic token of moral character. The number of cults always travelling through a system in a state of visible anguish is testament that this behaviour is all-too common in large parts of the Nexus. Colorful though these dogmatics can be, they are also pathetic - and they can be a nuisance when they insist on impressing the merits of their plight upon others less so inclined.
Apart from a mental attitude limiting oneself (an ideology or dogma) there's also the possibility that a sophont in the Nexus or anywhere in the Terragen sphere, is so intellectually off, strange or "lateral" in thought it cannot, by virtue of it's identity or physique, immediately acquire or share in all the riches of the Terragen sphere. This occurs even in the wealthiest of systems anywhere.
Sometimes unbridled jealousy of the poor can keep them in their place; a jealous attitude running amok can result in defeatism. To some the use of self-improvement is nil if they can't be top dogs or top of the food chain. No amount of effort will make any difference in their perspective. They will prefer to turn inwards, mope and ignore the outside universe altogether. With a little luck they will seek out their own world or solar system to mutter and complain but quite a percentage don't, and stay trapped in this psychological profile.
Sometimes available technology is so standardized or restricted it simply isn't directly accessible. A minority of Xenosophonts or exotic tweaks in any given system may have radically different chemical compositions and may always be one step behind the rest in developing themselves. Also the locals may not be too keen on helping these or similar minorities from attaining the relative power they hold so dear.
Another problem is the issue of free will. Can one be forcibly "cured" from a negative lifestyle, without interfering with free will by rewriting of minds/attitudes/beliefs/memories via nanite psycho-neuronal modification? Many in the Nexus of civilized systems think the answer to that is "no".
