by Shifter Club
"I cannot let that happen. I was elected to represent and lead all of humanity, Qualified and Unqualified. I refuse to use the word Dirt for those who are not Qualified any longer. For you, the Unqualified, I say here today that we are going to institute changes. I have already spoken to the leaders of the System Congress, and have submitted bills to speak.
"Long before we had a System-wide government, the nations of this planet represented many different areas. I myself come from North America, where about six hundred years ago another group of what we can only call Unqualifieds stood up against the man who lived in this building behind me now. They rioted, they looted, they burned, they fought, and they won their freedom. From them, a new society rose, one which a few hundred years later became the most powerful on Earth at the time. While that nation, America, has faded into the pages of history, the fact is some of their ideas have stood the test of the centuries.
"Opportunity should not be limited to just those who are Qualified. History has shown us that regardless of their status, every human being has the potential to make something of themselves. While our current society tries to provide that opportunity for everyone, the fact is that some manifest their talents at times later than others. Some manifest those talents in situations they would never have before. Abraham Lincoln was a failure as a lawyer, and was barely mediocre as a state legislator. Yet, when confronted with the crisis of the First American Civil War, he led the nation and held it together.
"Even in more modern history, we see this lesson. Tamara Villalobos Griorgina was born to one of the most extreme levels of poverty ever seen. Growing up in the Australian outback, she writes in her autobiography that she often had to catch locusts that would infest the solar farm her father worked at in order to have enough to eat. Yet, she went on to pass her Qualified exam and stand where I am today, as President of the Solar System.
"Therefore, in agreement with the heads of the Space Agency and with the leaders of the major parties of the System Congress, I am pleased to announce that opportunity has again arisen for every resident of the Solar System, Qualified and Unqualified alike, one that hasn't been seen in human society in two centuries.
"Five years ago, we as a people were greeted with great news, long in the waiting. Professor Ravid Karrlson discovered the first truly Earth like planet in orbit around another star. While Professor Karrlson has been rewarded greatly for his efforts including the Nobel Prize, his discovery sat dormant for far too long, tantalizingly out of reach due to the limits of our technology. Recent technological breakthroughs however have allowed us a new future. Starting in two weeks, construction begins on humanity's first interstellar colony ship. This new kind of vessel will be the first of many, to take humanity out of just our neighborhood and into the wider galactic neighborhood. As such, it is with only a hint of sentimentality that we have agreed to name the ship Glorious Enterprise.
"The Enterprise is designed to be able to carry five thousand colonists from our Solar System to Iðavöllr and allow them to set up the first human colony on another Earth like planet. While the ship's crew will be made up of mostly Qualified individuals in order to ensure those with sufficient levels of skill and education are present on this adventure, they make up only one hundred members of the total crew. The rest of the crew will be colonists, composed of both Qualified and Unqualified members alike.
"At the behest of the Party for an Equal Society, I have agreed that the colonial crew will reflect human society, with two thirds of the remaining colonists coming from the Unqualified. With that in mind, I am announcing the Great Colonial Lottery. All Unqualified citizens of the Solar System who wish will be eligible to enter a random lottery for slots on the Enterprise, and for later consideration upon her sister ship to launch later, the Columbia Ascendant. Upon reaching Iðavöllr, the potential and possibilities of a new world await anyone who can seize it in their own two hands.
"With that however, there are certain rules that must apply. Only those who are citizens of the Solar System are eligible for the Lottery. As such, those of you who are rioting, or are convicted of a felony, will be stripped of your eligibility for the Lottery. So I advise all of you who are rioting now, go home. Put down your rocks and your firebombs, and rebuild. Enter the Lottery, and take control of your own future. I thank you, and wish everyone the best of luck."
The few members of the assembled press corps called out questions, but the President ignored them, going inside Buckingham Palace without another word. By the end of the news day however, the details had emerged, released by his press office. There wasn't much that wasn't already known.
Any citizen with voting rights (Qualified or Unqualified) had the opportunity to enter for one of the slots available to their particular group. Officially, that meant of the 5000 colonists (the crew would be separate), one thousand would be for Qualified colonists, while another 4000 would be set aside for Unqualified colonists. The only requirements were to be healthy, and between the ages of fifteen and forty five. If you wished to enter, you only had to go to a governmental health facility to get a checkup and enter your name. Two thousand Quals and five thousand Unquals would be picked, with the leftovers being backups and offered first slot on the Columbia.
The results were just as those in power anticipated. Within twenty four hours, those in the most severely affected areas of rioting quieted down, while those in the areas where tension was high but nothing had broken out yet were flooding their local health facilities in order to sign up for the trip. Of course, few if any of the potential colonists noticed the fact that by accepting a berth upon the Glorious Enterprise, they were rescinding all claims to land or property within the Terran solar system.
Just as the powers that be intended...
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