User:Cusku'i/Terra Ethica

Terra Ethica (English "Ethical Land") is a first person, unitary sovereign state residing in the ocean Utilitatem, on the planet Arbitrium somewhere in the Tegmark level IV multiverse. Having its capital Mattheus as the center of commerce and scientific activity, the nation is known for its unique history, and civic culture. Governed by the Moral Parliament of Terra Ethica, it exercises jurisdiction over not only the island, but also epiphenomenally as a side effect of being acausally connected to Earth. The people of Terra Ethica have long had a respect for democratic norms, yet it took until the year 18 B to establish the constitution of the land, which set into place a series of democratically held elections, and subsequently the tradition of voting on all major personal decisions.

Once a land ruled by superstition and naive intuitionisism, the people of Terra Ethica have sought to codify their ethical conduct by dividing themselves into well defined, philosophically rigorous camps. The major ruling faction consists of the Consequentialists, which are further subdivided into the Utilitarians, the Egoists, and the Ethical Pluralists. On the periphery of the moral landscape, there exist small factions consisting of Virtue Ethicists and Deontologists. Once every six months, or whenever the prime minister deems it necessary to hold a snap election, the members of parliament are re-elected to serve another term.

Since the land itself is a bountiful paradise—as the seeds of decay, petty crime, and scarcity have long been driven from the island—the primary focus of their governmental activities is to influence the decisions of Matthew Barnett of Earth. The two entities share a close bond, despite being only two indices of the set of possible worlds. The fate of the one determines the fate of the other, so naturally, they have developed a tight relationship with each other.

History
Current theories describe Terra Ethica as having always existed, timelessly, in the block universe. Despite describing all known natural phenomena, from the astrophysical to the biological, with exquisite mathematical detail, the philosophers and physicists of Terra Ethica still remain confused as to the problem of existence, or indeed whether such a problem exists at all. Some younger fellows of the island sometimes suggest that the universe was created by the great Ethical Dragon from mythology, but the older folks dismiss this as a mysterious answer to a mysterious question.

What is well understood is the cosmological origins of the universe. In the year 0 B, the universe consisted only of a bubbly soup of elementary particles. Over time, these fundamental particles became attracted to each other as described by the forces of particles physics. Eventually, planets formed, and along with it, Arbitrium. Having evolved relatively quickly due to strong evolutionary pressures, the people of Terra Ethica saw first hand the pitiless cruelty of natural selection, and vowed early to abolish this state of affairs forever. The early inhabitants of Terra Ethica formed a bold coalition, known colloquially as The Initial Conditions. The Initial Conditions' population ethics were characterized by their strong pro-natalist tendencies, as they grew the size of the budding nation by a thousand fold. This period, also known as the Oops Period, was marked by its stunning display of unquestioning irrationality. Despite this, science developed rapidly, and the meme of developing mathematical theories to describe the world burgeoned at the same time technology enabled people to change their environment for the better.

Tossing aside old legends and strange devotion to non-reductive mental entities, the people of Terra Ethica seized control of their cosmic endowment by eliminating all self-imposed existential threats to their existence. After discovering that the overwhelmingly simple answer to the anthropic puzzle of why they in particular exist was to posit the existence of a vast multiverse, news quickly enveloped the young nation that The Initial Conditions were going to pre-commit to multiverse cooperation with their ultimate ensemble pairbond, Matthew Barnett. As decreed in the year 18 B, The Initial Conditions handed over their power by writing a constitution which established a new government that would serve as the epicenter of domestic and inter-multiverse legislative power.

Geography
Surrounded by the vast ocean Utilitatem, Terra Ethica sits alone among large landmasses on Arbitrium. Early explorers searched Arbitrium for other societies, but found none. Subsequent exploration of the surrounding terrestrial systems returned similar results. There are four port cities on Terra Ethica, each named after one of the virtues of rationality. Travel was made much quicker in 11 B when the means of transportation underground at high velocities was finally achieved for an economically viable price. Still, Terminal Value Station connects to the Port of Empiricism by the Track of Calibration.

Politics
The political culture of Terra Ethica is defined by a strong respect for democratic norms, a mutual love of wisdom, and a style of debate characterized by the collaborative search for truth. Mandatory state education requires all citizens to be trained in the art of peaceful political participation. After concessions to the virtue ethics and deontological minority groups, The Initial Conditions also established a list of virtues and rules directly in the constitution, to be openly pronounced and reflected upon during each electoral season. These virtues are listed below. Although voting in elections is voluntary, no citizen has missed an opportunity to vote since the creation of the constitution in 18 B.
 * Act as though your opponent is your best friend. Treat them with more respect than you would hope to expect from them.
 * Insults to others are insults to oneself. We are all one in Terra Ethica.
 * Whenever you disagree with someone, remember that someone's model is simply confused. There is no evil here.

Electoral system
Terra Ethica's constitution states that representatives shall be apportioned to the parliament according to the proportion of population that subscribes to each ethical system. The house of parliament consists of 1000 seats from all 10 provinces. The citizens of Terra Ethica meet once every six months, or whenever deemed necessary by the prime minister during a snap election. They are given two ballots. The first ballot contains a list of publically registered ethical systems, of which citizens are allowed to vote for a single choice. The second ballot lists candidates who are registered to run for their ethical system, and citizens are able to vote via a ranked single transferable vote.

During parliamentary meetings, sitting members are asked to vote on the agenda items, which usually consist of crucial life decisions that Matthew Barnett must make. According to the constitution, Matthew Barnett then decides by choosing a single ballot via the single stochastic vote. Unbeknownst to the parliament, however, Matthew Barnett actually just takes the decision which received the most votes, in order to avoid the cost of randomization. Immediately following an election, members of parliament are seated and a prime minister is elected. As of the most recent election, the prime minister is MP Giving. Customarily, although not required by the constitution, an opposition leader is chosen following each election. The opposition leader is currently MP Selfish.

Electoral History
There has only been one election so far, as of March 31, 18 B. The results of the election are displayed on the right, with the Utilitarian ethical system pulling a solid majority at 57% of the vote. The main opposition is Egoism, at 28% of the vote.

Informal Institutions
Recently, scholars have warned about the potential of lobbyists from Akrasia, an extremist group in Terra Ethica dedicated to a sedentary lifestyle at the cost of everything else, including reason itself. Although a military defense force is not currently mandated by the constitution, as it was not deemed necessary due to Terra Ethica's apparent singleton status, some concerned citizens have hypothesized that extraterrestrial civilizations could potentially threaten the peace—if their interests are not aligned. Therefore, an advisory board in the Port of Curiosity has been assembled to analyze this threat.