And so begins the story of mankind in outer space. It has always been the dream of all human beings to venture out and colonize the rest of the universe, but it wasn't until the 20th Century until we actually had the capability to do so. The first attempts at permanent colonization were risky, slow, and fraught with danger. But by the middle to late 22nd century, the advent of hyperdrive made it possible to travel over large distances in a safe and economical way. With the discovery of advanced alien civilizations, it was decided by the nations of Earth to form a much more unified world government to ensure the safety and prosperity of our species. It was thus that the United Earth Directorate was born, with me as its first president...
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May 1st, 2231
Location: New York, NY. Earth
I gazed out the window toward Manhattan Island, staring at the 3 Arcologies that dominated the rest of the sky line. I felt good, since my party, the Federalists, have won the first election by a landslide. It would seem that the people are just as satisfied with our policies as I am, since they have proven to be so successful thus far. The colonization phase has ended, and our trade routes are now well established with the Torian, Acrean, Drengin Empires and the Krynn Consulate. Of the over 50 worlds under our control, the vast majority of them lie within the Rigel and Selene provinces. However far we go out, though, all of humanity will be sure to remember that the Core, or the Cradle as its called in the popular press, will always be our home. While we consider our empire to be quite large, our astrophysicists assure us that this is only a tiny fraction of the Orion Arm, and that there is lots more to explore within our galaxy, or indeed even this immense sector, with its 8 advanced civilizations and humanity.
But now is not the time to relax. With our colonization phase ended and our galactic economy established, I now turn to other matters, such as defense and diplomacy. We have had little contact with the other alien civilizations to date; indeed the Torians once confused our merchants with our embassadors! Our military strategists are worried since the other empires are already building up an impressive standing army, while we do not have any to speak of as of yet. So, under their recommendation I have diverted more funds to weapons and defense research, and letting the defense contractors use their imagination to come up with something.
At the same time, the Department of Housing and Extrasolar Development has recommended that I also divert resources to building up our infrastructure, both on the planets and in space. This is especially needed because with the exception of my core worlds (in each of the 5 provinces), there is almost no infrastructure. Indeed, more than 3/4 our worlds are still without starports! So, I have decided to put foward the Interstellar Development Bill, which would address our needs and also aim to build up our military might. Ultimately, the plan is to have about 8 core research worlds, 10 Industrial worlds, and the rest either a mix of large population centers and cultural worlds, or a combination of research, industrial, etc. The capital worlds in each of the provinces, and Earth, will be the major cultural and trade worlds, of course. The development plan is expected to take a speedy 4.5 years.
As I look out the window, I take stock of the huge responsibility that lies ahead of me. I am responsible of a rapidly growing population, now totalling nearly 270 billion men, women, and children, and over 50 worlds. A recent report by the UED Census Bureau suggests that all of our worlds have the capacity to carry over 600 billion to a trillion human beings. It is clear that we are no where near our population cap yet. And this is just with our initial worlds.
