The commentary and timeline below refer to generalizations about conditions in some of the significant Earth nations. Of course, there are as many social conditions as there are people, so don't feel that your PC has to live by (or like) any of the developments described on this page.
| 2002 | First World Rally for Women's Rights. Taliban and similar movements die shortly afterwards. | |
| 2007 | Sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws come into force in the USA (4 years earlier in the EU) but gay weddings are still illegal. | |
| 2018 | Anti-addiction drugs are invented for cocaine and heroin. These drugs become more popular for people who just want to experiment a bit, but it turns out the anti-addiction properties fade after about a year. In addition, the social problems of drug use increase. For about four years (2018-2022), many nations legalize most drugs, but then make them illegal again when it is "proven" that they are societally detrimental | |
| 2021 | The US allows gay unions under a different blanket from marriage. The government redefines marriage for tax and property laws. | |
| 2025 | The EU abolishes marriage as a state institution. Religions continue to endorse it, but the government no longer takes part. Instead, property contracts become popular. All current marriages are grandfathered in as having implicit property contracts | |
| 2031 | A new medical procedures allow people to completely disguise their outward gender appearance and become "non-gendered." A new craze starts up around this, with adherents committing to celibacy or "alternative sex" (drugs, electrical stimulation, etc). The new non-gendered population calls for end to gender segregation in housing, stores, sports and even bathrooms. They go by, for example, Non Smith or N. Smith (instead of Mr., Ms., etc). Gender-neutral names (like Chris) become popular. | |
| 2034 | Extensive public dialog about what forms of gengineering should be allowed. Finally, laws are drafted that gengineering can be used to treat certain diseases. An international organization called the Genetic Standards Board (GSB) is created to act as an evaluator for which diseases are allowed to be treated and which treatments are permitted (kind of like genetics equivalent of the FDA) | |
| 2036 | After years of "Don't ask, don't tell" started by the Non society, gender privacy laws take effect and it becomes illegal to forcibly investigate someone's gender. | |
| 2040's | Low impact living becomes one of the fads for the decade. People advocating extreme environmentalism live close to nature in greater numbers than any time since people had to live close to nature. A limited amount of ecoterrorism helps to polarize the issue. | |
| 2050 | Ethical question arise from technology of growing cloned transplant organs. Can organ be tweaked and made better than the original? At first, its a question of fixing problems (say, a kidney that will fail again soon anyway) but then it grows to include elective improvements (improved lung capacity, longer fingers, etc) which are forbidden by the GSB. | |
| 2056 | When the first of the robot scouts sent word back that Alpha Cen B was habitable, fervor was stirred about the question of whether to colonize or not. Some folks bemoaned the disjoining of humanity due to the vast gulf of space between the homeworld and the proposed colonies. Others looked forward with untamable excitement to the prospect of life on a new planet. Many religious groups and special interest groups (e.g. environmentalists or Libertarians) contracted to establish their own Utopias on some of these colonies. Still others argued that there were still so many problems to solve at home that we shouldn't waste resources flying off into space. | |
| 2064 | The so-called Biowar happens when Peru and Columbia attack each other with synthesized biological agents. The byproduct sweeps over Brazil. Although the actual number of deaths are moderate (less than 2000), this skirmish inspires vast fear in the world's population over the concept of biological holocaust. This inspires many international treaty talks over the issue of biowarfare. Although the outcome seems positive, many people remain fearful that their end is at hand. | |
| 2072 | The last coal-burning plant on Earth is finally
shut down, much to the joy of environmentalists. The Earth has run
out
of all easy sources of fossil fuels, so all power comes from physics instead of chemistry (fusion, solar, geo, etc) |
|
| 2070's | In the tough reality of colonial life, the concept of environmentalism is put "temporarily" aside on many newly settled worlds. | |
| 2080's | Beginning of the policy to export some criminals to the colonies involuntarily. | |
See also: Genetics and biologyReturn to player background